ASN Report 2018

1.3.2  –  National response organisation In a radiological emergency situation, each Ministry – together with the decentralised State services – is responsible for preparing for and executing national level measures within its field of competence. In the event of a major crisis requiring the coordination of numerous players, a governmental crisis organisation is set up, under the supervision of the Prime Minister, with the activation of the Interministerial Crisis Committee (CIC). The purpose of this Committee is to centralise and analyse information in order to prepare the strategic decisions and coordinate their implementation at interministerial level. It comprises: ∙ ∙ all the Ministries concerned; ∙ ∙ the competent safety Authority and its technical support organisation (IRSN); ∙ ∙ representatives of the licensee; ∙ ∙ administrations or public institutions providing assistance, such as Météo-France (national weather service). 1.4  ̶  Protecting the population The steps to protect the populations during the emergency phase, as well as the initial actions as part of the post-accident phase, aim to protect the population from exposure to ionising radiation and to any chemical and toxic substances that may be present in the releases. These measures are mentioned in the PPIs. 1.4.1  –  General protective actions In the event of a major nuclear or radiological accident, a number of measures can be envisaged by the Prefect in order to protect the population: ∙ ∙ Sheltering and awaiting instructions: the individuals concerned, alerted by a siren, take shelter at home or in a building, with all openings closed, and wait for instructions from the Prefect broadcast by the media. ∙ ∙ Administration of stable iodine tablets: when ordered by the Prefect, the individuals liable to be exposed to releases of radioactive iodine are urged to take the prescribed dose of iodine tablets. ∙ ∙ Evacuation: in the event of a risk of large-scale radioactive releases, the Prefect may order evacuation. The populations concerned are asked to prepare a bag of essential personal effects, secure and leave their homes and go to the nearest assembly point. The Prefect may also take measures to ban the consumption of foodstuffs liable to have been contaminated by radioactive substances as of the emergency phase (before the facility has been restored to a controlled and stable state). The predicted doses are generally calculated over a maximum period of 24 hours for a one year old child (age at which sensitivity to ionising radiation is highest) exposed to the releases. In the event of the release of radioactive substances into the environment, measures are decided on to prepare for management of the post-accident phase. They are based on the definition of area zoning to be implemented as of the end of the releases on exiting the emergency phase and including: ∙ ∙ a Population Protection Zone (ZPP) within which action is required to reduce both the exposure of the populations to ambient radioactivity and the consumption of contaminated food, as far as is reasonably possible (for example a ban on consumption of produce from the garden, restriction on access to wooded areas, ventilation and cleaning of homes, etc.); ∙ ∙ a Heightened Territorial Surveillance Zone (ZST), which is larger and which is more concerned with the economic management of the area, within which specific surveillance of foodstuffs and agricultural produce will be set up; ∙ ∙ if necessary, an evacuation perimeter is created within the ZPP, defined according to the ambient radioactivity (external exposure); the residents must be evacuated for a varying length of time depending on the level of exposure in their environment. Transposition of the “BSS” Directive: case of emergency situations The European “BSS” Directive of 5 December was transposed through the publication of Decree 2018-434 containing various nuclear-related provisions, Decree 2018-437 relative to the protection of workers against the risks of ionising radiation and Decree 2018-438 of 4 June 2018 relative to protection against the risks of ionising radiation to which certain workers are exposed. “Reference levels” were introduced by the Ordinance of 10 February 2016. They are mainly used in the case of radiological emergency and post-accident situations and constitute a “baseline” for the optimisation approach. For emergency situations, the value chosen is 100 mSv/year effective dose received during the radiological emergency situation for exposure of the population (R. 1333-82). The corresponding “baseline values” are as follows: ཛྷ ཛྷ 50 mSv effective dose: evacuation decision; ཛྷ ཛྷ 10 mSv effective dose: sheltering; ཛྷ ཛྷ 50 mSv effective dose: distribution of iodine tablets. These doses are calculated for the duration of the releases. The provisions concerning the health and safety of workers intervening in a radiological emergency situation are transferred in full to the Labour Code (R. 4451-96 to R.4451-110), in order to allow harmonised implementation of the provisions applicable to workers intervening in a radiological emergency situation, whether on the site of the accident, within the perimeter of the facility, or outside in the areas in which special measures have been taken to protect the populations. Two groups of responders in an emergency situation have been defined. The responders are assigned: ཛྷ ཛྷ to the first group, when the effective dose from occupational exposure is liable to exceed 20 mSv during the radiological emergency situation; ཛྷ ཛྷ to the second group when they are not in the first group and the effective dose is liable to exceed 1 mSv during the radiological emergency situation. The reference level in a radiological emergency exposure situation is 100 mSv for the effective dose liable to be received by a worker intervening in such a situation and is 500 mSv in an exceptional situation (to save lives, prevent serious radiation-induced health effects or prevent the onset of catastrophic situations). 162  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018 04 – RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY AND POST-ACCIDENT SITUATIONS