In order to approve the applicant organisations, ASN ensures that they perform the inspections in accordance with their technical, organisational and ethical obligations and in compliance with the rules of professional good practice. Compliance with these provisions should enable the required level of quality to be obtained and maintained. ASN ensures that benefit is gained from the approval, in particular through regular exchanges with the organisations it has approved and the mandatory submission of an annual report. Examination of these reports on the one hand makes it possible to check that the mandatory verifications have actually been carried out and, on the other, enables the licensees to be questioned about the steps taken to remedy any nonconformities. In 2022, the Approved Organisations for Radiation Protection (AORPs) verifications carried out 28,439 verifications, with the breakdown per type of source and per field being given in Table 2. The main reason for the drop in the number of verifications is specified subsequently. The reports of the verifications performed in each facility by the AORP verifications are at the disposal of and examined by ASN personnel on the occasion of: ∙ licence renewals or modifications requiring ASN authorisation; ∙ inspections. ASN also approves laboratories to conduct analyses requiring a high level of measurement quality if the results are to be usable. It thus approves laboratories to monitor radioactivity in the environment (see point 4.3). In addition, on the advice of the standing sub-committee in charge of the transport of hazardous goods within the High Council for the Prevention of Technological Risks (CSPRT), ASN approved: ∙ the training organisations for drivers of vehicles carrying radioactive materials; two organisations have been approved; ∙ the organisations responsible for certifying the conformity of packagings designed to contain 0.1 kilogramme (kg) or more of uranium hexafluoride (UF6); ∙ the organisations responsible for type approval of tank containers and swap tanks intended for the carriage of class 7 dangerous goods; ∙ the organisations responsible for the initial and periodic inspections of tanks intended for the carriage of class 7 dangerous goods. Two organisations are approved for the qualification of tankcontainers and for certification of the conformity of UF6 packagings. As at 31 December 2023, the following are approved or accredited by ASN: ∙ ten organisations responsible for radiation protection verifications. No initial approval or approval renewal was issued during the course of 2023; ∙ 77 organisations responsible for measuring radon activity concentration in buildings (level 1), 15 of which are also approved to identify sources and entry routes and transfer of radon in buildings (level 2). In 2023, 42 new approvals or approval renewals were issued, 34 of which were level 1 and eight of level 2; ∙ four organisations qualified for NPE inspections as part of the new NPE conformity assessment; ∙ two organisations qualified for NPE inspections as part of in-service monitoring; ∙ three organisations qualified for PE and simple pressure vessels within the perimeter of BNIs (in-service monitoring); ∙ 18 inspection departments qualified for in-service monitoring of NPE and simple pressure vessels within the perimeter of NPPs; ∙ 67 laboratories for environmental radioactivity measurements covering 966 approvals currently valid as at 1 January 2024, of which 149 are approvals or approval renewals delivered or maintained during the course of 2023. Since 2020, the regulations have gradually restricted the scope of intervention of the AORP by delegating the verification duties set out in the Labour Code to verification organisations accredited by the French Accreditation Committee (Cofrac). All of these verifications (Labour and Public Health Codes) were carried out under the previous regulations solely by the AORPs. In addition, the Public Health Code verifications no longer concern the BNIs. The number of AORP has significantly fallen as a result of these changes to the regulations. In 2023, the regulations concerning the verifications and services performed by the AORPs changed. Since 1 January 2023, the Order of 24 October 2022 relative to the procedures and frequencies of the checks on the rules put into place by the person RNA repealed ASN resolution 2010-DC-0175 of 4 February 2010 defining the procedures for verification of the AORPs. This text modifies the scope of the AORP verifications. The Order applies to medical and industrial nuclear activities subject to the systems set out in Article L. 1333-8 of the Public Health Code when these activities generate effluents or waste contaminated by radionuclides, or liable to be so contaminated, including by activation. It does not apply to nuclear activities from which the only waste generated is inseparable activated parts of a particle accelerator, as defined in Appendix 13-7 to the Public Health Code. ASN resolution 2022-DC-747, which entered into force on 5 February 2023, supplements this Order. TABLE Radiation protection verifications performed in 2022 by organisations approved for radiation protection verifications MEDICAL VETERINARY RESEARCH/ TEACHING INDUSTRY EXCLUDING BNIs BNIs TOTAL Sealed sources 128 0 353 13,072 724 14,277 Unsealed sources 133 0 223 12,471 83 12,910 Mobile electrical generators of ionising radiation 228 0 1 60 0 289 Fixed electrical generators of ionising radiation 249 4 204 497 7 961 Particle accelerators 0 0 0 2 0 2 Total 738 4 781 26,102 814 28,439 2 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 149 • 03 • Regulation of nuclear activities and exposure to ionising radiation 03 05 15 08 11 04 14 06 07 13 AP 10 02 09 12 01
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