ASN Report 2020

1. Developing relations between ASN and the public 1.1  Raising awareness in the public at large and developing a radiation protection culture among citizens ASN works to ensure that citizens have reliable information on the nuclear risk and that they develop the right radiation protection reflexes in all circumstances. It fosters, for example, a prevention activity against the risks of exposure of medical personnel and patients in medical activities involving radioactive sources. To this end, ASN develops complete communication vectors combining printed publications, the website, the social networks, press relations and meetings and interchanges with the stakeholders. 1.1.1 The website asn.fr With more than 62,000 visits per month on average, the asn.fr website is at the heart of the system for informing the various audiences. It posts the majority of draft opinions and resolutions for consultation. The website is also a reference source of information for the more informed audiences: expert citizens, members of environmental associations and professionals. In all, more than 2.5 million pages of the website were viewed in 2020. To satisfy the needs for explanations inherent to a wide audience, the publication formats are varied and meet new expectations, particularly on the social networks. New educational content is also regularly put online. ASN takes care to translate into English the majority of the information notices, press releases, publications and content concerning major issues. These English translations support ASN’s work in large international organisations and foster a concerted global vision of nuclear safety and radiation protection. Lastly, ASN sends its two-monthly Lettre de l’Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (Nuclear Safety Authority Newsletter) to more than 5,000 subscribers. This publication provides a summary of the most noteworthy topical issues and information relative to ASN resolutions and actions, including on the international front. To subscribe to the ASN newsletter, simply register on asn.fr . On another note, further to the irregularities discovered at the Creusot Forge plant in 2016, ASN has stepped up the fraud prevention and detection measures in the nuclear sector. These measures include a readily accessible reporting system: the website asn.fr provides a secured form for submitting reports, guaranteeing the protection of whistle-blowers and the confidential treatment of the information received. 1.1.2 The social networks The website content, which can be consulted on smartphones or tablets, is also shared on the main social media (primarily Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn). The news feeds of the ASN social media accounts convey the main position statements. The major events in which ASN participates (parliamentary hearings, public meetings) are announced and can be followed in real time on the social networks. At ASN, the French Nuclear Safety Authority, informing the public and other audiences is the centre of its activities. The Acts of 2006 on Transparency and Security in the Nuclear Field and 2015 on Energy Transition for Green Growth entrusted ASN with the mission of making a statement on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France. Consequently, throughout the year ASN informs the citizens, the media, the institutional and professional audiences of the situation of the Basic Nuclear Installations (BNIs) and small-scale nuclear activities with respect to the safety and radiation protection requirements. It presents its regulatory and oversight activity and the actions it takes in this respect, and widely disseminates its resolutions and position statements, explaining them where necessary. After each inspection, ASN publishes an “inspection follow-up letter” which sets out its findings and the recommendations for the licensee: nearly 25,000 follow-up letters can thus be consulted on line. It also publishes notices, guides and reports intended for the professionals and accessible to the public. ASN promotes the involvement of civil society and considers it very important that the citizens should contribute to the maintaining of nuclear safety and radiation protection: it consults, for example, the stakeholders and the public on its draft resolutions. To this end, it ensures that the principles of nuclear safety and radiation protection are understood by the widest possible audience, it produces explanatory documents and it endeavours to render even the most technical issues understandable. In 2020, in order to continue its activity of informing the public and other audiences despite the constraints linked to the health crisis, ASN developed new ways of sharing information and having interchanges: remote press conferences, online presentation of the annual report, video conferencing for the Local Information Committee (CLI) meetings, online hearings, etc. All these means, combined with putting new resources on line (films, ASN-IRSN exhibition) and increased presence on the networks, have enabled the dialogue with the various audiences to be maintained throughout the year. Informing the public and other audiences 05 186 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020