Handling safety in French research reactors

The French Research Reactors (RRs) original safety demonstration was mainly focused on preventing core accidents. Over the years, handling safety has yet become an important issue as operations such as fuel management, radioactive waste management and experiments preparation need heavy loads handling inside the RRs' building. Moreover, the transportation of radioactive material is carried out with heavy containers handled inside the nuclear facilities, often in the reactor hall. As a result, the French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Institute (IRSN), as the main technical support organization to the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), faces an increasing number of modification files related to irradiated fuel and waste management's safety. In addition, the French regulation requires that the operators carry out a Periodic Safety Review (PSR) of their RR every ten years, which especially implies a facility's safety re-assessment considering the current safety standards and the state-of-the-art. A comprehensive handling safety analysis is expected to be produced by the operators in this frame. Finally, handling safety is now better taken into account at the design stage. (author)