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3.1.2 Review of the applications required
by the Public Health Code
ASN is responsible for reviewing applications to possess
and use ionising radiation sources in the medical and
industrial sectors. ASN also deals with the specified
procedures for the acquisition, distribution, import,
export, transfer, recovery and disposal of radioactive
sources. It in particular relies on the inspection reports
from the approved organisations and the reports on the
steps taken to remedy nonconformities detected during
these inspections.
In addition to the internal inspections carried out under
the responsibility of the facilities and the periodic checks
required by the regulations, ASN carries out its own
verifications. In this respect it directly carries out checks
during the procedures for issue (pre-commissioning
inspections) or renewal (periodic inspections) of the
authorisations to possess and use radiation sources
granted on the basis of Article R. 1333-23 of the Public
Health Code. The authorisation notifications can only
be issued if the requests submitted by ASN following the
checks have been taken into account. These checks are in
particular designed to compare the data contained in the
files with the actual physical reality (sources inventory,
check on the conditions of production, distribution and
utilisation of the sources and the devices containing them).
They also enable ASN to ask the facilities to improve
their in-house provisions for source management and
radiation protection.
3.2 Regulation of facilities
and activities
ASN regulates nuclear activities and facilities in order to
check that the licensees and those responsible for nuclear
activities comply with the regulatory requirements and
conditions specified in their authorisation license.
3.2.1 The types of facilities and activities regulated
Regulation and monitoring of Basic Nuclear
Installations
Safety covers the technical and organisational measures
taken at all stages in the operation of nuclear facilities
(design,creation,commissioning,operation,finalshutdown,
decommissioning) to prevent or mitigate the risks for
safety, public health and the environment (see chapter 3).
This notion thus includes themeasures taken to optimise
waste and effluent management.
The safety of nuclear installations is based on the following
principles, defined by the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) in its fundamental safety principles for
nuclear installations (Safety series No. 110) and then to
a large extent incorporated into the European Directive
on Nuclear Safety of 8th July 2014, whichmodifies that
of 2009:
•
responsibility for nuclear safety lies primarily with the
licensee;
•
theorganisation responsible for regulationandoversight is
independent of theorganisationresponsible forpromoting
or using nuclear power. It must have responsibility for
licensing, inspection and formal notice, andmust have
the authority, expertise and resources necessary for
performance of the responsibilities entrusted to it. No
other responsibility shall compromise or conflict with
its responsibility for safety.
In France, pursuant to the Environment Code, ASN is
the body that meets these criteria.
The Energy Transition for Green Growth Act (TECV)
makes provision for expanding the scope of regulation and
monitoring by ASNbeyond the activities of the licensee,
to enable the inspectors to carry out inspections at the
suppliers’ and the contractors’ or subcontractors’, including
outside the BNIs, when they carry out activities important
for the protection of individuals and the environment.
In its regulatory duties, ASN is required to look at
the equipment and hardware in the installations, the
individuals in charge of operating it, theworkingmethods
and the organisation, fromthe start of the designprocess up
to decommissioning. It reviews the steps taken concerning
nuclear safety and the monitoring and limitation of the
doses received by the individuals working in the facilities,
and thewastemanagement, effluents dischargemonitoring
and environmental protection procedures.
Regulation of pressure vessels
Numerous systems in nuclear facilities contain or carry
pressurised fluids. In this respect they are subject to the
regulations applicable to pressure equipment, which
include ESP and ESPN (see chapter 3, point 3.6).
The Environment Code states that ASN is the administrative
Authority with competence for issuing individual
resolutions and checking the in-service monitoring of
the pressure equipment installed within the perimeter
of a BNI.
Pressure equipment operation is regulated. This regulation
in particular applies to the in-service surveillance
programmes, non-destructive testing, maintenancework,
disposition of nonconformities affecting these systems
and periodic post-maintenance testing of the systems.
ASN also assesses the regulatory conformity of the most
important new nuclear pressure equipment items. It
approves andmonitors the organisations responsible for
assessing the conformity of the other nuclear pressure
equipment.
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CHAPTER 04:
REGULATION OF NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES AND EXPOSURE TO IONISING RADIATION
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015