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Public information in a radiological emergency
The ways in which the general public is informed in
a radiological emergency situation are covered by a
specific EU Directive (Directive 89/618/Euratom of
27th November 1989 on informing the general public
about health protectionmeasures to be applied and steps
to be taken in the event of a radiological emergency).
This Directive was transposed into French law by Decree
2005-1158 of 13th September 2005 concerning the
off-site emergency plans for certain fixed structures
or installations, implementing Article 15 of Act 2004-
811 of 13th August 2004 on the modernisation of civil
protection.
Two implementing orders were published:
•
the Order of 4th November 2005 concerning public
information in the event of a radiological emergency
situation;
•
theOrder of 8thDecember 2005 concerning themedical
aptitude check-up, radiological surveillance and training
or information of the personnel involved inmanaging
a radiological emergency situation.
1.2.4 Protection of the general public
in a long-term exposure situation
The contamination of sites by radioactive substances is the
result of a nuclear activity in the remote or more recent
past (use of unsealed sources, radium industry, etc.) or
an industrial activity utilising rawmaterials containing
non-negligible quantities of natural radionuclides of the
uraniumor thorium family (activity generating exposure
to “enhanced” natural radiation, see point 2.3.2). Most
of these sites are listed in the inventory sent out and
updated periodically by the French National Agency
for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra).
The contamination of the sites can also be the result of
accidental releases of radioactive substances into the
environment (see chapter 5).
These different exposure situations are qualified
as “lasting exposure” in the Public Health Code
(since 2007, ICRP publication 103 uses the expression
“existing exposure situation”). For these situations, in
accordance with the international texts, no exposure
limit for the general public has been set at the regulatory
level, as the management of these sites is chiefly based
on a case-by-case application of the optimisation
principle.
A guide on the management of sites potentially polluted
by radioactive substances (published inDecember 2011),
drafted under the coordination of ASN and the Ministry
of the Environment, assisted by IRSN, describes how to
deal with the various situations that could be encountered
in the framework of the remediation of sites (potentially)
contaminated by radioactive substances.
1.2.3 Protection of persons in a radiological
emergency situation
The general public is protected against the hazards
of ionising radiation in the event of an accident or
of radiological emergency situations through the
implementation of specific actions (or countermeasures)
appropriate to the nature and scale of the exposure. In
the particular case of nuclear accidents, these actions
were defined in the government Circular of 10thMarch
2000which amended theOff-site Emergency Plans (PPI)
applicable to BNIs, by expressing intervention levels in
terms of doses. These levels constitute reference points
for the public authorities (Prefects) who have to decide
locally, on a case-by case basis, what action is to be taken.
Reference and intervention levels
The intervention levels were updated in 2009 by ASN
statutory resolution 2009-DC-0153 of 18th August
2009, with a reduction of the level concerning exposure
of the thyroid. Henceforth, the protectionmeasures to be
taken in an emergency situation, and the corresponding
intervention levels, are:
•
sheltering, if thepredictedeffectivedose fromthe releases
exceeds 10mSv;
•
evacuation, if thepredictedeffectivedose fromthe releases
exceeds 50mSv;
•
distribution of Thyroid Blocking stable Iodine (ITB)
when the predicted equivalent dose to the thyroid from
the releases is liable to exceed 50mSv.
The regulatory exposure limits set by the Labour Code
do not apply to emergency workers. On the basis of the
optimisation principle, “reference levels”, comparable to
guideline values to be considered for the performance
of any intervention in circumstances such as these, are
definedby the regulations (ArticleR. 1333-84 andR. 1333-
86 of the Public Health Code). Two groups of emergency
workers are thus defined:
•
the first group comprises the personnel making up the
special technical or medical response teams set up to
deal with a radiological emergency. These personnel
benefit fromradiological surveillance, amedical aptitude
check-up, special training and equipment appropriate
to the nature of the radiological risk;
•
the second group comprises personnel who are not
members of the special response teams but who are
called in on the basis of their expertise. They are given
appropriate information.
The reference individual exposure levels for theparticipants,
expressed in terms of effectivedose, shouldbe set as follows:
•
the effective dose which may be received by personnel
in group 1 is 100 mSv. It is set at 300 mSv when the
interventionmeasure is aimedat protectingother people;
•
the effective dose which may be received by personnel
in group 2 is 10 mSv. In exceptional circumstances,
volunteers informedof the risks involved in their actsmay
exceed the reference levels, in order to save human life.
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CHAPTER 03:
REGULATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015