ASN Report 2018

4 —  Outlook In accordance with the nuclear emergency duties entrusted to it by the Environment Code, ASN makes an active contribution to the review process currently being carried out by the public authorities following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, with the aim of improving the national radiological emergency organisation. ASN is thus taking part in the work to implement the Major Nuclear or Radiological Accident National Response Plan and more particularly supports the Ministry for the Interior and the offices of the Prefects. This regional implementation will continue to be tested in 2019 during exercises, in particular in those départements in which there is no BNI. Following the Government’s September 2016 adoption of the principle of extending the radius of the PPI perimeter around NPPs from 10 to 20 km, the preparation for immediate evacuation out to 5 km and the pre-distribution of stable iodine tablets out to 20 km, ASN will in 2019 contribute to continuation of the PPI update work done by the offices of the Prefects and to the new population information and iodine tablets distribution campaign for inhabitants in the zone between 10 and 20 km from the NPPs. In 2019, ASN will continue to be actively involved in the continued work on the roadmap for the Major Nuclear or Radiological Accident National Response Plan, in particular the work coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior with regard to the PPI perimeters for BNIs other than NPPs. It will also initiate the revision of the post-accident doctrine through the work of the Codirpa in accordance with the guidelines validated at the end of 2018. In 2019, in order to prepare the offices of the Prefects for implementation of population protection or post-accident measures, a number of exercises will, as in 2018, be extended with a phase focused on civil security objectives (in particular the preparation for immediate evacuation within a 5 km radius around the NPPs) or workshops on the post-accident phase. Finally, in 2019, ASN will be publishing a guide concerning reference documents regarding preparedness for and management of emergency situations, including the PUI, following on from the approval of ASN resolution 2017- DC-0592 of 13 June 2017 concerning the obligations of BNI licensees regarding preparedness for and management of emergency situations. At this stage, it is possible to identify the initial results of the implementation of the French system for the response to a major nuclear or radiological accident. This system, described above, is robust, but could be perfected and several areas for improvement have been identified: ∙ ∙ One should bear in mind the specific nature of a nuclear emergency; it does not stop with technical management of the event, at the moment the installation is made safe, nor the safeguard of persons. The public authorities must take account of the implications of low doses over a long period of time, along with the psychosocial effects. The work done by the Codirpa to update the 2012 doctrine is helping to ensure that this is taken into account on the appropriate scale. ∙ ∙ It is clear that the correct means of involving the populations concerned in the exercises has not yet been found, with priority being given to preventing disruption of economic activity and avoiding risks for the population. Efforts must be continued with the aim of achieving greater involvement of the populations in the preparation phases. ∙ ∙ Although ASN regularly holds completely unannounced simulations with licensees, it is relatively rare for unannounced exercises to be carried out with the involvement of the public authorities. An exercise of this type is planned for 2019. For its part, ASN has this year started to conduct unannounced simulations with its on-call team, further enhancing the professionalism of its staff. ∙ ∙ Finally, management of a real emergency would necessarily involve the CIC. This national committee is only activated once every three years for a nuclear-related exercise and the next one on this scale could be held in 2019. Means of enabling this CIC to be simulated must be sought in order to make the decision-making circuit more realistic during the other national exercises. Experiments along these lines will be carried out in 2019 by the Ministry of the Interior. ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018  169 04 – RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY AND POST-ACCIDENT SITUATIONS 04