ASN Report 2018

very local contaminations resulting from incidents or past industrial activities, and which do not represent a health risk. On the basis of the nationwide radioactivity monitoring results published in the RNM and in accordance with the provisions of ASN resolution 2008-DC-0099 of 29 April 2008, as amended, IRSN regularly publishes a report on the radioactive state of the French environment. The third edition of this report was published at the end of 2018 and covers the period 2015-2017. In addition to this report, IRSN also produces regional radiological findings to provide more precise information about a given area. 4.3  ̶  Measurement quality Articles R.1333-25 and R.1333-26 of the Public Health Code require the creation of a National Monitoring Network (RNM) and a procedure to have the radioactivity measurement laboratories approved by ASN. The RNM working methods are defined by the above-mentioned ASN resolution of 29 April 2008 amended. This network is being deployed for two main reasons: ∙ ∙ to pursue the implementation of a quality assurance policy for environmental radioactivity measurements by setting up a system of laboratory approvals granted by ASN resolution; ∙ ∙ to ensure transparency by making the results of this environmental monitoring and information about the radiological impact of nuclear activities in France available to the public on a specific RNM website (see point 4.2.1). The approvals cover all environmental matrices for which regulatory oversight is imposed on the licensees: water, soil or sediment, biological matrices (fauna, flora, milk), aerosols and atmospheric gases. The measurements concern the main artificial or natural gamma, beta or alpha emitting radionuclides, as well as the ambient gamma dosimetry (see Table 9). The list of the types of measurements covered by an approval is set by the above-mentioned ASN resolution of 29 April 2008 amended. In total, about fifty types of measurements are covered by approvals. There are just as many corresponding Inter- Laboratory comparison Tests (ILT). These tests are organised by IRSN in a 5-year cycle, which corresponds to the maximum approval validity period. 4.3.1  –  Laboratory approval procedure The above-mentioned ASN resolution 2008-DC-0099 of 29 April 2008, as amended, specifies the organisation of the national network and sets the approval arrangements for the environmental radioactivity measurement laboratories. The approval procedure includes: ∙ ∙ presentation of an application file by the laboratory concerned, after participation in an Inter-laboratory Comparison Test (ILT); ∙ ∙ review of it by ASN; ∙ ∙ review of the application files – which are made anonymous - by a pluralistic approval commission which delivers an opinion on them. The laboratories are approved by ASN resolution, published in its Official Bulletin . The list of approved laboratories is updated every six months. The above-mentioned ASN resolution of 29 April 2008 was modified by ASN resolution 2018-DC-0648 of 16 October 2018, more specifically in order to introduce a new type of approval for measuring radon 222 in water. This revision aligns the procedures for the approvals issued by ASN for the RNM and by the Directorate General for Health (DGS) for the health oversight on waters intended for human consumption, respectively, which are based on common technical requirements: to obtain approval from the DGS, these laboratories must now first have obtained approval from ASN. 4.3.2  –  The approval commission The approval commission is tasked with ensuring that the measurement laboratories have the organisational and technical competence to provide the RNM with high-quality measurement results. The commission is authorised to propose approval, rejection, revocation or suspension of approval to ASN. It issues a decision on the basis of an application file submitted by the candidate laboratory and its results in the inter-laboratory comparison tests organised by IRSN. It meets every six months. The commission, chaired by ASN, comprises qualified persons and representatives of the State services, laboratories, standardising authorities and IRSN. ASN resolution CODEP- DEU-2018-046580 of 26 September 2018, appointing candidates to the environmental radioactivity measurement laboratories approval commission, renewed the mandates of the commission’s members for a further five years. 4.3.3  –  Approval conditions Laboratories seeking approval must set up an organisation meeting the requirements of standard NF EN ISO/IEC 17025 concerning the general requirements for the competence of calibration and test laboratories. In order to demonstrate their technical competence, they must take part in Inter-laboratory Comparison Tests (ILTs) organised by IRSN. The ILT programme, which now operates on a five- yearly basis, is updated annually (see Table 9). It is reviewed by the approval commission and published on the national network’s website ( mesure- radioactivite.fr ) . Up to 70 laboratories sign up for each test, including a number of laboratories from other countries. The approval commission defines the assessment criteria used for analysis of the ILTs. When the result obtained in an ILT by a laboratory is not conclusive enough, ASN may, on the advice of the approval commission, issue an approval for a trial period of one to two years for example, or make issue of the approval dependent on the provision of additional data, or even the participation in a further corroborating test. In 2018, IRSN organised six ILTs. Since 2003, 76 ILTs have been carried out, covering nearly 58 types of approval. The most numerous approved laboratories (53) are in the field of monitoring of radioactivity in water. About thirty to forty laboratories are approved for measurement of biological matrices (fauna, flora, milk), atmospheric dust, air, or ambient gamma dosimetry. 30 laboratories deal with soils and sediments. Although most laboratories are competent to measure gamma emitters in all environmental matrices, only about ten of them are approved to measure carbon-14, transuranic elements or radionuclides of the natural chains of uranium and thorium in water, soil and sediments and the biological matrices (grass, plant crops or livestock breeding, milk, aquatic fauna and flora, etc.). ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018  151 03 – REGULATION OF NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES AND EXPOSURE TO IONISING RADIATION 03