particularly regarding the management and storage of sources and waste/effluents, with shortcomings in the performance and recording of checks prior to their disposal. The research facilities also still have difficulties in assimilating the new regulations concerning radiation protection verifications, which can prove complicated to apply in the “Unités Mixtes de Recherche” – UMRs (Joint Research Units). ASN therefore considers that the conditions of storage and removal of sealed radioactive sources at end of life and of radioactive waste and effluents are still the main difficulties encountered by the research units. This situation is particularly pronounced in universities, where the limited financial resources of public laboratories can be an obstacle hindering more specifically the recovery of waste and expired/disused sources. ASN thus remains attentive to the situation in certain universities, with tightened monitoring or even enforcement measures, particularly regarding the management of the substantial “legacy” in certain laboratories which have not removed their waste or expired/disused sources. The technical, economic and regulatory difficulties concerning the disposal of old sealed sources also persist. With regard to occupational radiation protection, the inspections in 2023 brought to light persistent shortcomings in the organisation and performance of the radiation protection verifications of equipment, workplaces and radiation protection instrumentation due to the difficulties the research units have in assimilating the regulations in force. This chiefly concerns the full application of the periodic verifications programme (verifications incomplete or not carried out) or the performance of the verifications. The performance concerning this indicator tends to be down with respect to the situation in 2022. The same goes for the verifications provided for under the Public Health Code by the Order of 24 October 2022 and the Order of 18 January 2023 approving ASN resolution 2022‑DC‑0747, for which the situation can be improved. In effect, only 47% of the inspected research units perform these verifications correctly. In 2023, 61% of the inspected sites have systems for recording and analysing adverse events and ESRs, compared with 76% in 2022. In 2023, ASN registered 23 ESRs concerning research activities (see Graph 12), all rated level 0 on the INES scale. The majority of the ESR notifications concern the discovery of sources (39%), then in order of frequency of occurrence, the exposure of workers, without exceeding the regulatory limit values (17 %), the storage of sources in unauthorised places, (13 %) and the loss of integrity of sealed sources (13 %). The other four notified events were of diverse origins: unauthorised environmental discharges (two ESRs), loss of sealed radioactive sources (one ESR) and failure to protect information relative to sources (one ESR for which a file containing the identities and serial numbers of a laboratory’s personnel access badges was freely accessible on the Internet). The discoveries of sources can be explained in particular by poor general traceability, often resulting from failure to take action to dispose of them when the laboratories cease their activity, or irregular and incomplete keeping of the source inventories. With regard to worker exposure, diverse causes are identified, such as the contamination of a worker’s shoes on leaving a work zone, the contamination of a worker when transferring a waste container, or the intervention of an outside contractor in a regulated work area despite being forbidden to do so by the ordering customer. ASN reactivated its collaboration with the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) in 2023. The IGESR is the competent body for labour inspection in the public research sector. The agreement signed in 2014, which provides for mutual information sharing to improve the effectiveness and complementarity of the inspections, is currently being updated. Annual meetings are also organised between ASN and the IGESR. 4 Manufacturers and distributors of radioactive sources and their oversight by ASN 4.1 THE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES The aim of ASN oversight of the suppliers of radioactive sources or devices containing them is to ensure the radiation protection of the future users. It is based on the technical examination of the devices and sources with respect to operating safety and radiation protection conditions during future utilisation and maintenance. It also allows the tracking of source transfers and the recovery and disposal of disused or end‑of‑life sources. Source suppliers also play a teaching role with respect to users. At present, only the suppliers of sealed radioactive sources (or devices containing them) and of unsealed radioactive sources are regulated in France (see point 2.3.1). ASN lists around 110 suppliers with safety‑significant business, including 36 low and medium‑energy cyclotrons which are currently licensed under the Public Health Code in France. Of these 36 cyclotrons, 31 are active and produce radionuclides. Cyclotrons are used to produce positron‑emitting radionuclides in unsealed sources (primarily fluorine‑18). These radionuclides are used either for medical applications, especially in vivo diagnosis, or in clinical trial protocols (human subject research), or for research activities. 4.2 CYCLOTRONS Operation As at 31 December 2023, four cyclotrons were on standby, one shut down and 31 in service. Among the 31 cyclotrons in routine operation, 25 are used to produce radiopharmaceuticals intended at least for in vivo diagnosis, sometimes with medical or non‑medical research as an additional end‑purpose, five produce radionuclides for medical or non‑medical research purposes, and one produces radionuclides exclusively for non‑medical research. After undergoing tests in the second half of 2023, the cyclotron of the university hospital of the Martinique will enter service in early 2024 to produce fluorine‑18 initially, and subsequently carbon‑11, oxygen‑15, zirconium‑89 and copper‑64, with a view to conducting in vivo diagnostics and participate in clinical tests. Another two cyclotrons will be licensed by ASN in the near future for tests before starting nominal operation in the course of 2024. Evaluation of the radiation protection situation in facilities using cyclotrons ASN has been exercising its oversight in this area since early 2010. Each new facility or any major modification of an existing facility undergoes an extensive examination by ASN. The main 264 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 • 08 • Sources of ionising radiation and their industrial, veterinary and research applications
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