ASN Report 2018

In 2018, the working group coordinated by the HFDS of the Ministry responsible for the Environment and in which ASN participates, continued its work to prepare a Ministerial Order setting technical and organisational requirements to be implemented by those responsible for nuclear activities to protect their sources against malicious acts. This order, whose publication is planned for 2019, will enter into effect progressively. The requirements aim in particular, applying a graded approach based on categories A, B, C and D, to put in place an internal organisation with regard to security, to limit source access to duly authorised persons, to place one or more physical protective barriers between the sources and persons not authorised access to them, and to make intrusion detection devices mandatory or to ensure the tracking of these sources. It will cover the installations and transport. Operators and stakeholders have been invited to take part in some of this work in order to give their opinions and comments on the proposed principles. They will be consulted on the draft Ministerial Order. 2.4  ̶  Licensing and notification of ionising radiation sources used for industrial, research or veterinary purposes 2.4.1  –  Integration of the principles of radiation protection in the regulation of non-medical activities ASN verifies application of the three major principles governing radiation protection which are written into the Public Health Code (Article L. 1333-2), namely justification, optimisation of exposure and dose limitation. Assessment of the expected benefit of a nuclear activity and the corresponding health drawbacks may lead to prohibition of an activity for which the benefit does not seem to outweigh the risk. Either a generic prohibition is declared, or the license required for radiation protection purposes is not issued or is not extended. For the existing activities, the elements supporting implementation of the justification principle are recorded in writing by the person responsible for the nuclear activity, and are updated every five years and whenever there is a significant change in available knowledge or techniques. Optimisation is a notion that must be considered in the technical and economic context, and it requires a high level of involvement on the part of the professionals. ASN considers in particular that the suppliers of devices are at the core of the optimisation approach (see point 4). They are responsible for putting the devices on the market and must therefore design them such that the exposure of the future users is minimised. ASN also checks application of the principle of optimisation when examining the license applications, when conducting its inspections, and when analysing any reported significant events. Categorisation of radioactive sources Since 2011, the IAEA has classified radioactive sources into five categories, from 1 to 5, on the basis of predetermined exposure scenarios, according to their ability to create early harmful effects on human health if they are not managed safely and securely. Category 1 sources are considered extremely dangerous while those in category 5 are considered very unlikely to be dangerous. Sources in categories 1 to 3 are considered dangerous for humans to varying degrees. This categorisation is based solely on the capacity of the sources to produce deterministic effects in certain exposure scenarios and therefore must not under any circumstance be considered as proof that there is no danger in exposure to a category 4 or 5 source, as such exposure could cause stochastic effects in the longer term. The principles of justification and optimisation must therefore be respected in all cases. This IAEA work has been taken up in an Appendix to the Public Health Code amended by Decree 2018‑434 establishing various provisions in the nuclear field. Nevertheless, the IAEA categories 4 and 5 have been grouped together in category D of this code. Breakdown of the regulatory oversight of protection of sources against malicious acts 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Ministry of Defence HFDS (Defence and Security High Official) ASN ASN and HFDS The sources in category A of the Public Health Code (PHC) correspond to the IAEA category-1 sources. The PHC category-B sources correspond to: – the IAEA category-2 sources, and – the IAEA category-3 sources contained in a mobile or portable device. The PHC category-C sources correspond to the IAEA category-3 sources not contained in a mobile or portable device. Category 1 AIEA Category 3 AIEA Category 2 AIEA Graph 5 240  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018 08 – SOURCES OF IONISING RADIATION AND THEIR INDUSTRIAL, VETERINARY AND RESEARCH APPLICATIONS