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A
SN’s international role
was recognisedand legitimisedby the legislativeprovisions
contained in the Environment Code
1
. ASNconsiders that the development of its
international relations is essential to promoting a high level of safetyworldwide,
while consolidating its competence and its independence.
Even if nuclear safety and radiation protection remain a national prerogative,
they are increasingly a part of an international move towards sharing and harmonisation of
knowledge and practices. A countrywill therefore seek to benefit fromthe experience of other
countries in order to improve its expertise. Moreover, a significant nuclear accident or event
occurring in one country can affect other, sometimes remote countries, as was the case with
the Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi accidents.
ASN’s international action concerns twokey issues: on the one hand, identifying andpromoting
best practices in terms of nuclear safety and radiation protection and, on the other – should
an accident occur – informing, being informed and being able to react rapidly.
1. Article L.592-28 of the of Environment Code states that
“ASN sends the Government its proposals to define
the French position in international negotiations in the fields of its competence”
and that
“it participates, on
request by the Government, in the French representation in the bodies of international organisations and
of the European Communities competent in these fields”.
Article L.592-33 also states that
“To implement
international agreements or European Union regulations relative to radiological emergency situations, ASN is
empowered to warn and inform the Authorities of third States or to receive their warnings and information”
.
These legislative arrangements underpin the legitimacy of ASN’s international actions.
1. ASN OBJECTIVES IN EUROPE
AND WORLDWIDE
The regulatory context has changed in Europe in recent
years with the adoption of European Directives in the
fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection.
These directives set the requirements and standards
to be applied by the Member States of the European
Union, with transposition into their legislative and
regulatory frameworks. In coordinationwith the French
administrations concerned, ASN thus actively participates
in drafting and revising directives concerning its fields
of activity.
In the construction of this legal corpus, the European
Commission is assisted by ENSREG (EuropeanNuclear
Safety Regulators Group), a group comprising experts
from the European Commission and from the Member
States of the EuropeanUnion (the national delegations are
made up of heads of safety regulators and representatives
from theMinistries for the Environment and Energy, each
group representing half the members).
The safety regulators have also set up associations in
which their heads are represented, such as WENRA
(Western EuropeanNuclear Regulators Association) and
HERCA (Heads of the European Radiological protection
Competent Authorities).
For several decades now, outside Europe, international
cooperation has been intensified under the supervision
of organisations such as the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), a UN agency founded in 1957, and the
OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency, created in 1958. IAEA
and NEA are the most important inter-governmental
organisations in the field of nuclear safety and radiation
protection. One of the key activities of IAEA is to draft
international nuclear safety and radiation protection
standards. NEA is an ideal forum for the exchange of
information and experience, leading to identification
of the best practices that the Agency wishes to promote.
ASN participates actively in the work being carried out
within these international organisations.
IntheaftermathoftheChernobylaccident(26thApril1986),
the international community negotiated a number of
conventions for preventing accidents linked to the use
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CHAPTER 07:
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015