ASN Report 2015

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The 8thmeeting of the FRAREG associationwas held in
Belgium in November 2015. Each member presented
the regulatory changes concerning the nuclear reactors
in its country. Eachmember also reviewed the measures
adopted following the FukushimaDaiichi accident. Several
countries, including France, presented their experience of
steamgenerator replacement operations. Other subjects,
such as the issues involved in extending the operating life
of the NPPs, or the anomalies discovered on the reactor
vessels in Belgium, were also discussed.
The 9th meeting is to be held in South Korea in 2017.
3.6 The United Nations Scientific
Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation (UNSCEAR)
The UnitedNations Scientific Committee on the Effects
of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) was created in 1955.
It examines all scientific data on radiation sources and
the risks this radiation represents for the environment
and for health. This activity is supervised by the annual
meeting of the national representations of the Member
States, comprising high-level experts, including an ASN
Commissioner, Margot Tirmarche.
The last UNSCEAR reports cover a variety of topics
such as risks other than cancers, the attributable risk
and its interpretation, taking account of the uncertainty
of the dose received and its impact on the incidence
of cancers. An advisory committee was thus set up to
study the exposure levels and the foreseeable effects for
the general population and the workers exposed during
the accident in the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. Following
the 2013 Fukushima Daiichi report, published in 2014,
a supplementary document was published in 2015,
summarising the publications which have appeared since
2013 and providing a guide for the future programme
that the scientific committee will need to consider when
assessing post-Fukushima risks.
3.7 The Committee on Radiation
Protection and Public Health (CRPPH)
In April 2015, ASN took part in the 73rd meeting of
the NEA’s CRPPH. This committee, which consists of
radiation protection experts, is recognisedworldwide and
works in close cooperation with the other international
organisations active in the field of radiation protection
(ICRP, IAEA, European Commission, World Health
Organisation (WHO), UNSCEAR).
More informationaboutNEA/CRPPHactivities canbe found
at the following address:
3.8 The International Commission
on Radiological Protection (ICRP)
The ICRP is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)
created in 1928 for the purpose of assessing the state of
knowledge on the effects of radiation in order to identify
their implicationswith regard to the radiological protection
rules to be adopted. The ICRP analyses the results of
the research work carried out around the world and
examines the work of other international organisations,
such as in particular that of UNSCEAR. It issues general
recommendations on the protection rules and exposure
levels not to be exceeded, intendedmore particularly for
the regulatory bodies.
Margot Tirmarche is a member of the “Health effects of
radiation” C1 committee of the International Commission
on Radiological Protection and chairs a working group
evaluating cancer risks linked to alpha emitters. In
2015, this group met for a week from 28th September
to 2nd October, at ASN headquarters in Montrouge,
and worked on finalising a report concerning uranium
and plutonium.
4. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
ASN acts as the national point of contact for the two
conventions dealing specifically with nuclear safety (the
Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Joint Convention
on the Safety of Spent fuel Management and on the
Safety of Radioactive Waste Management). ASN is
also the competent authority for the two conventions
dedicated to the operational management of the possible
consequences of accidents (the Convention on the Early
Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention
on Assistance in the case of a Nuclear Accident or
Radiological Emergency).
4.1 The Convention on Nuclear
Safety
The Convention on Nuclear Safety is one of the results
of international discussions initiated in 1992 in order to
contribute to maintaining a high level of nuclear safety
worldwide. This convention sets a certain number of
safety objectives and defines appropriate measures for
achieving them. France signed it on 20th September
1994, the date on which it was opened for signature
at the IAEA General Conference, and approved it on
13th September 1995. The Convention onNuclear Safety
came into force on 24thOctober 1996. As of July 2015,
it had been ratified by 78 States.
213 CHAPTER 07: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015