The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) announced Thursday that it alerted EDF to the situation of employees of service providers operating in French power plants in order to provide them with sufficient protection in the context of the coronavirus epidemic.
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In this context, EDF must " clearly define which maintenance or logistics activities for which continuity is essential so that there is no ambiguity for these companies and their employees, " ASN said in a information note. The group must also " ensure that health and safety conditions are communicated and set up correctly on the sites for all employees ".
ASN has also adapted its own organization to the context of the coronavirus by suspending its inspections with on-site trips, barring exceptions, and replacing them with remote controls relating in particular to the examination of documents related to the current operation of nuclear center.
EDF, for its part, favors the operation of its sites, which is essential for the supply of electricity, and is currently studying the conditions for continuing reactor maintenance activities during refueling outages.
The group had to modify the radioactivity control procedures in its power plants in mid-March after the exercise by a few employees - the vast majority of providers - of their right of withdrawal due to fear of contamination by the coronavirus.