The guidelines of the RNM (for examine, the new types of measurements to be integrated into the RNM) are decided by a network steering committee made up of representatives from all the stakeholders in the network: ministerial departments, ARS, representatives of nuclear licensee or association laboratories, members of the CLIs, IRSN, ASN, etc. After the RNM website was launched in 2009 and overhauled for the first time in 2016, ASN and IRSN undertook work to modernise the tool in 2022 so that it was more in line with the needs of web users, whether the general public or more informed visitors. A pluralistic working group consisting of the main nuclear licensees, representatives of civil society, ministers, IRSN and ASN, therefore met between 2022 and 2023 in order to identify areas for improvement and propose a number of changes to the site. Some have already been made, such as improving the function for performing searches around the sites. Modernisation of the website will continue in 2024 and 2025. At the same time, thought is being given to how to reinvigorate the working of the network steering committee and ensure closer involvement by the stakeholders. The ASN Chairman’s resolution CODEP-DEU-2023-053424 of 29 November 2023 enacted the broadening of the composition of the RNM steering committee, notably appointing representatives of the CLIs, of the National Association of Local Information Committees and Commissions (Anccli), of environmental protection associations and of the Dreal, as members of the committee. 4.2.2 The purpose of environmental monitoring The licensees are responsible for monitoring the environment around their facilities. The content of the monitoring programmes to be implemented in this respect (measurements to be taken and frequency) is defined in amended ASN resolution 2013-DC-0360 of 16 July 2013, and in the individual requirements applicable to each installation (Creation Authorisation Decrees or ASN resolutions regulating water intake and discharges), independently of the additional measures that can be taken by the licensees for the purposes of their own monitoring. This environmental monitoring: ∙ contributes to understanding the radiological and radioecological state of the facility’s environment through measurements of parameters and substances regulated in the requirements, in the various environmental compartments (air, water, soil) as well as in the biotopes and food-chain (milk, plants, etc.): a datum is determined before the facility is created and monitoring the environment throughout the lifetime of the facility enables any changes in this datum to be followed; ∙ helps verify that the impact of the facility on health and the environment is in conformity with the impact assessment; ∙ detects any abnormal increase in radioactivity as early as possible; ∙ ensures that the licensees comply with the regulations and that there are no facility malfunctions, notably by analysing the ground water; ∙ contributes to transparency and information of the public through the transmission of monitoring data to the RNM. 4.2.3 Content of monitoring All the nuclear sites in France that produce discharges are subject to systematic environmental monitoring. This monitoring uses a graded approach to the environmental risks or detrimental effects of the facility, as presented in the authorisation file, particularly the impact assessment. The regulation monitoring of the environment of BNIs is tailored to each type of facility, depending on whether it is a nuclear power reactor, a plant, a research facility, a waste disposal centre, and so on. The minimum contents of this monitoring are defined by the amended Order of 7 February 2012 setting the general rules for BNIs and by the above-mentioned modified resolution of 16 July 2013. This resolution obliges BNI licensees to have approved laboratories take the environmental radioactivity measurements required by the regulations. Depending on specific local features, monitoring may vary from one site to another. Table 7 (see next page) gives examples of the monitoring performed by the licensee of an NPP and of a “fuel cycle” plant. When several facilities (whether or not BNIs) are present on the same site, joint monitoring of all these installations is possible, as has been the case, for example, on the Cadarache and Tricastin sites since 2006. These monitoring principles are supplemented in the individual requirements applicable to the facilities by monitoring measures specific to the risks inherent in the industrial processes they use. Each year, in addition to sending ASN the monitoring results required by the regulations, the licensees transmit nearly 120,000 measurements to the RNM. 4.2.4 Environmental monitoring nationwide by IRSN IRSN’s nationwide environmental monitoring is carried out by means of measurement and sampling networks dedicated to: ∙ air monitoring (aerosols, rainwater, ambient gamma activity); ∙ monitoring of surface water (watercourses) and groundwater (aquifers); ∙ monitoring of the human food chain (milk, cereals, fish, etc.) ; ∙ terrestrial continental monitoring (reference stations located far from all industrial facilities). This monitoring is based on: ∙ continuous on-site monitoring using independent systems (remote-monitoring networks) providing real-time transmission of results. This includes: ‒ the Téléray network (ambient gamma radioactivity in the air) which uses a system of continuous measurement monitors around the whole country. The density of this network is being increased around nuclear sites within a radius of 10 to 30 km around BNIs, ‒ the Hydrotéléray network (monitoring of the main watercourses downstream of all nuclear facilities and before they cross national boundaries); ∙ continuous sampling networks with laboratory measurement, for example the atmospheric aerosols radioactivity monitoring network; ∙ laboratory processing and measurement of samples taken from the various compartments of the environment, whether or not close to facilities liable to discharge radionuclides. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 161 • 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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