pronounced in universities which have historically stored their expired/disused sealed radioactive sources and their waste con– taminated by radionuclides, sometimes over very long periods of time rather than disposing of them regularly, which today poses two main problems: ∙ in view of their diversity, the radioactive waste and expired/ disused radioactive sources cannot be further managed without first being precisely identified and characterised; ∙ this retrieval, to which must be added prior characterisation where applicable, represents a significant financial cost which has often been neither foreseen nor budgeted for. The technical, economic and regulatory difficulties concerning the disposal of legacy sealed sources therefore persist, de– spite entry into effect on 1 July 2015 of Decree 2015‑231 of 27 February 2015 relative to the management of disused sealed radioactive sources. In effect, this text, which aims to facilitate the disposal of sealed sources, gives source holders the possibility of seeking alternative disposal routes with source suppliers or Andra without making it obligatory to return the source to its original supplier. ASN has moreover identified areas for progress, which will remain points requiring particular attention in the next inspections, especially the performance and traceability of the checks before final disposal of the waste, as traceability is still incomplete, if not –as in many cases– absent. The inspections in 2021 have revealed a lack of rigour in complying with the license conditions, particularly those concerning the use of the rooms, or license updating if there is a change in practices. Lastly, a few deviations are noted due to failure to fully apply the periodic verifications programme (verifications that are incomplete or lacking). Entry into effect of the Order of 23 October 2020 concerning the radiation protection verifications of equipment and workplaces gives the RPA’s more responsibilities in this area. Particular attention shall be paid to this point in the next inspections. As in 2020, 2021 saw continued improvement in the systematic setting up of systems for recording and analysing adverse events and ESR’s. In effect, virtually all the inspected facilities had an events recording system. In 2021, ASN recorded 35 ESRs concerning research activities (see Graph 12). The reported ESRs are essentially of three types: ∙ discovery of sources (63 %); ∙ slight contamination of workers or the work environment during the handling of sources (26%); ∙ transfer of waste to an inappropriate disposal route (6%). The discoveries of sources can be explained in particular by poor overall traceability: this often results from the failure to take action to dispose of them when laboratories cease their activity, or from irregular and incomplete keeping of source inventories. Whereas cases of contamination of workers or the environment were virtually inexistent in 2020 due to the reduction or even the stoppage of manipulations because of the Covid-19 pandemic this type of event constitutes a quarter of the ESR’s in 2021. These contaminations are often due to equipment deficiencies, which are discovered during the in-house verifications; however, the doses received by the workers remain below the regulatory limits. GRAPH Breakdown of particle accelerators by end-purpose in 2021 10 0 5 10 15 20 25 1 1 3 3 3 3 5 5 11 25 2 2 4 Number of licensees Neutron analysis Electron beam welding Other Surface treatment (including polymer cross-linking) Measuring instrument calibration Veterinary radiotherapy Ion implantation Sterilisation Logging Security inspection Design of accelerators for commercialisation Non-destructive inspection Scientific research SYNCHROTRONS Belonging to the same family of circular particle accelerators as the cyclotrons (see point 4.2), the synchrotron, which is much larger, can attain energy levels of several gigaelectronvolts by using successive accelerators. Owing to the low mass of the particles (generally electrons) the acceleration created by the curvature of their trajectory in a storage ring, produces an electromagnetic wave when the speeds achieved become relativistic: this is synchrotron radiation. This radiation is collected at various locations called beam lines and is used to conduct scientific experiments. 254 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 08 – SOURCES OF IONISING RADIATION AND THEIR INDUSTRIAL, VETERINARY AND RESEARCH APPLICATIONS
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