ASN Report 2020

Since the publication of Decree 2014-996 of 2 September 2014 amending the nomenclature of the ICPEs, some facilities previously licensed by Prefectoral Order under the Environment Code for the possession and use of sealed radioactive sources are now regulated by ASN, under the Public Health Code. The requirements applicable to these installations are now those of the Public Health Code. The transitional period set in Article 4 of the abovementioned Decree, which provided that the license or notification issued under the former section 1715 continued to be valid and deemed a license or notification under the Public Health Code, on condition that no change was made to the nuclear activity, for a maximum period of five years, that is to say until 4 September 2019 at the latest, has now ended. These facilities must therefore have a license or a notification acknowledgement issued under the Public Health Code. Only the facilities possessing unsealed radioactive substances in quantities exceeding 1 tonne (t) or managing radioactive waste in quantities exceeding 10 cubic metres (m 3 ) for either of the activities are subject to the system governing ICPE (excluding the medical sector and particle accelerators). Any sealed radioactive sources also possessed or used by these establishments are regulated by ASN under the Public Health Code. Nuclear materials are subject to specific regulations provided for in Article L. 1333-1 et seq. of the Defence Code. Application of these regulations is overseen by the Minister of Defence for nuclear materials intended for defence needs, and by the Minister in charge of energy for nuclear materials intended for any other use. 2.2  Unjustified or prohibited activities 2.2.1 Application of the ban on the intentional addition of radionuclides in consumer goods and construction products The Public Health Code states “ that any addition of radionuclides […] to consumer goods and construction products is prohibited ” (Article R. 1333-2). Thus, the trading of accessories containing sources of tritium such as watches, key-rings, hunting equipment (sighting devices), navigation equipment (bearing compasses) or river fishing equipment (strike detectors) is specifically prohibited. Article R. 1333-4 of this same Code provides that waivers to these prohibitions can, if they are justified by the advantages they bring, be granted by Order of the Minister responsible for health and, depending on the case, by the Minister responsible for consumer goods or the Minister responsible for construction, after obtaining the opinion of ASN and of the High Council for Public Health (HCSP). ASN considers that granting waivers to the regulations must remain very limited. It was implemented for the first time in 2011 for a waiver request concerning the use of a neutron analysis device in several cement works of the Lafarge-Holcim group (Order of 18 November 2011 from the Ministers responsible for health and construction, ASN opinion 2011-AV-0105 of 11 January 2011 and ASN opinion 2011-AV-0124 of 7 July 2011). In 2017, the waiver was renewed for ten years for two cement works, the third cement works mentioned in the initial Order of 2011 having closed (Order of 19 April 2017 of the Ministers responsible for health and construction respectively, ASN opinion 2017-AV-0292 of 7 March 2017). In 2019, another waiver was granted for a third cement works (Order of the Ministers responsible for health and ecological transition of 4 December 2019, ASN opinion 2019-AV-0333 of 1 August 2019). The opinion of ASN was requested in 2020 for a project concerning a waiver for the use of a neutron analysis device in a cement works of the CALCIA group; it is currently under review. It was also applied in 2014 for light bulbs containing very small quantities of radioactive substances (krypton-85 or thorium-232), serving mainly for applications requiring very high intensity lighting such as public places, work places, or for certain vehicles (Order of 12 December 2014 of the Ministers responsible for health and construction, ASN opinion 2014-AV-0211 of 18 September 2014). The waiver was renewed in 2019 (Order of 25 May 2020 of the Ministers responsible for ecological and solidarity-based transition, for solidarity, health, and the economy and finance (ASN opinion 2019-AV-0340 of 26 September 2019). A waiver was moreover granted in 2019 to the Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin for the use of neutron analysis devices (Order of the Ministers responsible for health and ecological transition of 19 August 2019, ASN opinion 2019-AV-0326 of 21 May 2019). Conversely, a waiver request to allow the addition of radionuclides (tritium) in some watches was denied (Order of 12 December 2014, ASN opinion 2014-AV-0210 of 18 September 2014). The list of consumer goods and construction products con­ cerned by an ongoing waiver request or for which a waiver has been granted is published on the website of the French High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Security (HCTISN). 2.2.2 Application of the justification principle for existing activities The justification of existing activities must be re-assessed periodically in the light of current knowledge and technological changes in accordance with the principle described in point 2.4.1. If the activities are no longer justified by the benefits they bring, or with respect to other non-ionising technologies that bring comparable benefits, they must be withdrawn from the market. A transient period for definitive withdrawal from the market may be necessary, depending on the technical and economic context, particularly when a technological substitution is necessary. Smoke detectors containing radioactive sources Devices containing radioactive sources have been used for several decades to detect smoke in buildings as part of the fire- fighting policy. Several types of radionuclides have been used (americium-241, plutonium-238 and radium-226). The activity of the most recent sources used does not exceed 37 kBq, and the structure of the detector, in normal use, prevents any release of radioactive substances into the environment. New non-ionising technologies have gradually developed for smoke detection. Optical devices now provide comparable detection quality, and can therefore satisfy the regulatory and normative fire detection requirements. ASN therefore considers that smoke detection devices using radioactive sources are no longer justified and that the seven million ionic smoke detectors installed on 300,000 sites (figures estimated in the early 2000’s when the public authorities began reflecting on their withdrawal) must be gradually replaced. The regulatory framework governing their withdrawal was put in place by the Order of 18 November 2011 and the two ASN resolu­ tions 2011-DC-0252 and 2011-DC-0253 of 21 December 2011. This regulatory framework aimed at: ∙ planning the removal operations over ten years; ∙ supervising the maintenance or removal operations, which necessitate certain precautions with regard to worker radiation protection; ∙ preventing any uncontrolled removals and organising the collection operations in order to avoid detectors being directed to an inappropriate disposal route, or even simply being abandoned; ∙ monitoring the pool of detectors. 246 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 08 – SOURCES OF IONISING RADIATION AND THEIR INDUSTRIAL, VETERINARY AND RESEARCH APPLICATIONS