3.4 Exposure of non-human species (animal and plant species) The international radiation protection system was created to protect humans against the effects of ionising radiation. Environmental radioactivity is thus assessed with respect to its impact on human beings and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it is today considered that the current standards guarantee the protection of other species. Protection of the environment against the radiological risk and more specifically the protection of non-human species, must however be guaranteed independently of the effects on humans. Pointing out that this objective is already incorporated in French legislation, ASN ensures that the impact of ionising radiation on non-human species is effectively taken into account in the impact assessments of nuclear facilities and activities. On the basis of the IRSN expert assessment report, the Advisory Committee for Radiation Protection in Industrial and Research Applications of Ionising Radiation and for the Environment (GPRADE) adopted an opinion in September 2015. Following the recommendations of this opinion, at the end of 2017 ASN set up a pluralistic and multi-disciplinary working group coordinated by IRSN to produce a methodological guide for assessing the impact of ionising radiation on the flora and fauna. The draft guide was submitted to ASN at the end of 2020 and presented to the GPRADE in June 2021. It is planned to publish the guide at the very beginning of 2022. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 115 01 – NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES: IONISING RADIATION AND HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS 08 07 13 04 10 06 12 14 03 09 05 11 02 01 AP
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