Commitments: environment, safety, and health

Environmental protection: a corporate project

Environmental protection is an integral part of daily practice at AREVA's Cadarache facility.

As such, organization of environmental management is based on:

• Involvement of upper management, whose role is to define the environmental policy and its organization, and ensure that it is followed.
• Total Quality, including Environmental Management (policy, objectives, action plan, audits, managerial reviews) and its system (documentation, reporting).
• Nuclear Safety and security (conformity, oversight).
• The environment and especially respect of Significant Environmental Aspects (SEA).
• Human Resources who handle training and skill of personnel and make employees aware of indicators and progress objectives. Logistics, in charge of management of radioactive and conventional waste.
• Communication, whose mission is to provide information on the operations of the facility and to respond to the requests of stakeholders (elected officials, Local Information Commission, associations, journalists, general public...).

Health and security in the workplace

Medical monitoring

All AREVA Cadarache personnel are medically monitored by the workplace health service at the facility. Those individuals most likely to be exposed as part of their work are scheduled for two medical appointments a year.

Employee dosimetry

Other than the safety of the installations, the security of personnel remains AREVA's priority. Operations in packaging waste, cleanup, dismantling, inspection and maintenance near the glove boxes subject the personnel to external radiological exposure, and thus require precautions to be taken.

Individuals likely to be exposed to radioactivity fall into one of the two following categories per regulation:

• Category A includes the employees who are most commonly exposed.
• Category B for all other individuals authorized to enter the nuclear zone.

This exposure is individually monitored. Since March of 2005, the annual exposure limit of workers exposed to ionizing radiation has been set at 20 mSv for 12 consecutive months by radiation protection regulations.

AREVA Cadarache has set as it target value that no employee will be exposed to more than 13mSv for 12 consecutive months.

In 2008, the average of all employees undergoing dosimetry was less than 3 mSv. 

Workplace safety

The positive safety results logged in 2007 for AREVA personnel were confirmed in 2008 and extended across outside companies (no workplace accident resulting in interruption during 2008 was reported for AREVA personnel and outside companies).

At the end of December 2008, the facility counted more than 877 days, i.e. nearly 2 years without any work accidents resulting in interruption for AREVA personnel and 400 days, i.e. more than 1 year without any workplace accident resulting in interruption for personnel of outside companies.

In 2009, the facility enacted measures to advance safety and security with three main areas of priority:

• Reinforcement of risk management in work stations while accounting for the development of our operations.
•  Orientation of our managerial practices toward a greater degree of proximity and increased dialog.
•  Involvement of subcontractors in our policy for continual improvement.

Job management and capitalization of competence

Reassignment of personnel

The implementation from 2001 onwards of a personnel reassignment module has made it possible to support employees in their path to new projects. In all, since 2001, 148 people have found an adaptive employment solution and 27 have taken advantage of retirement or a pre-retirement arrangement.

Training of personnel

In terms of change, capitalization of know-how and maintenance of skills remain major factors for the control of performance and solidity of plant assets.

The skills development plan has risen to more than 11% of payroll, i.e. around 65 training hours on average per employee.

Participation in professional integration

The facility is involved in a professional integration effort through receiving youths following a work/study program or an internship in preparation for a diploma or to earn a certification.  

Placement of handicapped workers

In 2008, the employment rate of handicapped workers was 6.0%.

Employees involvement

2008 marks the end of the production activities and the beginning of dismantling operations, which will last until the end of 2012. This year has been a full year in terms of job management, capitalization of skills and workplace security for AREVA Cadarache.

To navigate this transition, a project called &uot;Challenge 2013&uot; has been created for the purpose of redirecting the plant's operations towards the dismantling project.

The objective is to arrive between now and 2012 at the decommissioning of the site and to turn the empty, cleaned premises over to their owner, the CEA.

2008 was marked by the negotiation of a second PSE intended to support employees in their reclassification until the end of 2012.