1.3 THE MEDIA ASN maintains regular relations with the regional, national and foreign media throughout the year. Each year, the ASN spokespersons respond to more than 500 press requests and give some twenty local and national press conferences. The news in 2023 was largely taken up by the debates concerning the energy policy in France, with the Government announcing the construction of several Evolutionary Power Reactors (EPRs). The media also focused attention on the state of safety of the nuclear fleet and the continued operation of the reactors beyond 50 years. The regional conferences provided local information for the media on the latest news of the oversight of the facilities, the risk culture and how it is integrated by the population. ASN also maintains relations with the medical press on the subjects of patient and medical personnel radiation protection. Each year at the time of the publication of its annual Report on the situation of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France, ASN meets regional press journalists. Nine regional conferences held between late May and July 2023 brought together 70 journalists. 1. According to Article L. 592-32 of the Environment Code. At these meetings, the ASN regional divisions report on ASN’s assessment of the safety of the facilities in the regions. The current regional news in the area of radiation protection is addressed, whether it concerns the medical and industrial sectors, sites contaminated by radioactive substances, population exposure to radon, or former mining sites, etc. Lastly, ASN has a duty to inform the public in the event of an emergency situation(1). In order to prepare for this, ASN staff receive specific training and take part in exercises. Emergency exercises are held each year, with simulated media pressure from journalists designed to test ASN’s responsiveness to the media, as well as the consistency and quality of the messages put across by the various players, both nationally and locally (see chapter 4). The social networks have been integrated in these simulations since 2011. 1.4 ELECTED OFFICIALS AND INSTITUTIONAL BODIES Each year, ASN presents its annual Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France to the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices (OPECST). This report, which constitutes the reference document on the state of the activities regulated by ASN, is also submitted to the President of the Republic, to the Government and to Parliament. It is sent out to more than 2,000 addressees: heads of administrative authorities, elected officials, licensees and persons/entities in charge of regulated activities or installations, associations, professional unions and learned societies, etc. Each year, ASN is given about ten hearings before Parliament on its activity, on subjects relating to nuclear safety and radiation protection and in the context of the budget bill. ASN also maintains regular contact with the national and local elected officials, advising and assisting them at their request. 1.5 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ASN invests itself on the international scene to promote the sharing of best practices in informing the public. It participates in the transparency working group of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG); it takes part in the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the working group on public communication of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). 2 Reinforcing the right to information and participation of the public ASN is extremely vigilant in the application of all the legislative and regulatory provisions relative to transparency and access of the various audiences to information. ASN also ensures they are applied by the licensees under its oversight, and it endeavours to facilitate interchanges between the stakeholders. 2.1 INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE LICENSEES The main nuclear activity licensees implement a proactive public information policy. They are also subject to a number of legal obligations, either general, such as the environmental report required by the Commercial Code for joint stock companies, or specific to the nuclear sector as detailed below. The annual public information report drawn up by the BNI licensees All BNI licensees must establish an annual report concerning more specifically their situation and the steps they take with regard to the prevention of risks for public health and the environment, in accordance with Article L. 125‑15 of the Environment Code. These reports are made public and transmitted to the CLI for the installation concerned and to the French High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety (HCTISN – Article L. 125-16). Access to the information held by the licensees The nuclear sector has a system that fosters public access to information. In application of Article L. 125-10 of the Environment Code, licensees must communicate to any person who so requests, the information they hold on the risks their activity presents for public health and the environment and on the measures taken to prevent or reduce these risks. This right to information on the risks also concerns those responsible for the transport of radioactive substances when the quantities involved exceed the thresholds set by law. A number of subjects received particular attention from the media and the public opinion in 2023: the stress corrosion cracks discovered on certain reactors, the Flamanville EPR reactor construction site and the problems with welds, the fourth periodic safety review of the 900 MWe reactors, the revival of nuclear energy and the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), the nuclear sector’s need for skills, the management of radioactive waste and taking climate change into account in the nuclear installations. The incidents that occurred on certain nuclear sites (Bugey, Blayais) also interested the local media. With regard to current events in the medical sector, the press focused on the events that occurred in certain radiotherapy departments, on dose optimisation, especially in the area of nuclear medicine, and exposure to radon. THE SUBJECTS THAT FOCUS MEDIA ATTENTION 186 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 • 05 • Informing the public
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