The transport of certain radioactive substances (notably fissile substances) must first be notified by the consignor to ASN and to the Ministry of the Interior, seven days prior to departure. This notification stipulates the materials carried, the packagings used, the transport conditions and the details of the consignor, the carrier and the consignee. It is a means of ensuring that the public authorities have rapid access to useful information in the event of an accident. In 2021, 1,418 notifications were sent to ASN. 2.5 Preparedness for management of emergency situations The management of emergency situations is the final level of “Defence-in-Depth”. In the event of an accident involving transport, it should be able to mitigate the consequences for persons and the environment. As a transport accident can happen anywhere in the country, it is probable that the emergency services arriving on the scene would have no specific training in radiological risks and that the population in the vicinity would be unaware of this particular risk. It is therefore particularly important that the national emergency response organisation be robust enough to take account of these points. In this respect, the regulations set obligations on the various stakeholders in the field of transport. All those involved must therefore immediately alert the emergency services in the event of an accident. This is more particularly true for the carrier, who would in principle be the first party to be informed. It must also transmit the alert to the consignor. Furthermore, the vehicle crew must have written instructions available in the cab, stipulating the first steps to be taken in the event of an accident (for example: trip the circuit-breaker, if the vehicle is so equipped, to prevent any outbreak of fire). Once the alert has been given, the parties involved must cooperate with the public authorities to assist with the response operations, including by providing all pertinent information in their possession. This in particular concerns the carrier and the consignor who have information about the package and its contents that is of great value for determining the appropriate measures to be taken. To meet these regulatory obligations, ASN recommends that the parties involved implement emergency response plans allowing the organisation and tools to be defined in advance, enabling them to react efficiently in the event of an actual emergency. The driver may be unable to give the alert, if injured or killed in the accident. In this case, detection of the radioactive nature of the consignment would be the entire responsibility of the first responder emergency services. The orange-coloured plates and the trefoil symbols on the vehicles thus indicate the presence of dangerous goods: the emergency services are then instructed to automatically evacuate an area around the vehicle, usually with a radius of 100 metres, and to notify the radioactive nature of the load to the Office of the Prefect, which will then alert ASN. Management of the accident is coordinated by the Prefect, who oversees the response operations. Until such time as the national experts are in a position to provide him or her with advice, the Prefect relies on the emergency plan adopted to deal with these situations. Once its national emergency centre has been activated, ASN is able to offer the Prefect assistance by providing technical advice on the more specific measures to be taken. The Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) assists ASN in this role, by assessing the condition of the damaged package and anticipating how the situation could develop. Furthermore, the ASN regional division dispatches a staff member to the Prefect to facilitate liaison with the national Emergency Centre. At the same time, human and material resources would be sent out to the scene of the accident as rapidly as possible (radioactivity measuring instruments, medical means, package recovery means, etc.). The fire service teams specialising in the radioactive risk (the Mobile Radiological Intervention Units –CMIR) would be called on, along with IRSN’s mobile units, or even those of certain nuclear licensees (such as the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission– CEA, or EDF), which could be requisitioned by the Prefect if needed, even if the shipment in question does not concern these licensees. As with other types of emergency, communication is an important factor in the event of a transport accident so that the population can be informed of the situation and be given instructions on what to do. In order to prepare the public authorities for the eventuality of an accident involving a shipment of radioactive substances, exercises are held to test the entire response organisation that would be put into place. ASN will continue in 2022 to support adequate preparedness by the public authorities for emergency situations involving a transport operation, in particular by promoting the performance of local emergency exercises and issuing recommendations on the steps to be taken in the event of an accident. Finally, ASN intends to update the guide on the performance of risk assessments required for transport installations or infrastructures (marshalling yards, ports, etc.) which could accommodate dangerous goods. The purpose of this guide is to ensure that the risks linked to radioactive substances are adequately assessed, to enable the licensees to define any relevant measures needed to reduce them, under the supervision of the Prefect. ASN recommendations in the event of a transport accident The response by the public authorities in the event of a transport accident comprises three phases: ∙ the emergency services reach the site and initiate “reflex” measures to limit the consequences of the accident and protect the population. The radioactive nature of the substances involved is discovered during this phase; ∙ the entity coordinating the emergency response confirms that the substances are indeed radioactive, alerts ASN and IRSN and gives more specific instructions to the responders, pending activation of the national Emergency Centres; ∙ once the ASN and IRSN emergency centres are operational, a more detailed analysis of the situation is performed, in order to advise the person in charge of the emergency operations. During the first two phases, the emergency services must manage the situation without the support of the national experts. In 2017, with the assistance of IRSN and the national Nuclear Risk Management Aid commission (MARN), ASN produced a document to help direct the actions of the emergency services. It contains general information about radioactivity, general recommendations for the emergency services so that their response can take account of the specific nature of radioactive substance transports, plus sheets organised per type of substance, providing more detailed information and advice for the emergency response coordinator during phase 2. 268 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 09 – TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NjQ0NzU=