ASN Report 2015

1. THE PRINCIPLES OF NUCLEAR

SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION

1.1 Fundamental principles

Nuclear activitiesmust be carried out in compliancewith

the principles that underlie the legislative texts.

This primarily concerns:

•

at the national level, the principles enshrined in the

Environment Charter, which has the same value as the

Constitution, and in the various codes (Environment

Code and Public Health Code);

•

at the European level, rules defined by Directives

establishing a community framework for the safety

of nuclear facilities and for the responsible and safe

management of spent fuel and radioactive waste;

•

at an international level, ten fundamental safety principles

defined by IAEA (see box on page 66 and chapter 7,

point 3.1) implemented by the Convention onNuclear

Safety (see chapter 7 point 4.1), which established the

international framework for the oversight of nuclear

safety and radiation protection.

These various measures of differing origins extensively

overlap. They canbe grouped into the eightmainprinciples

presented below.

1.1.1 Principle of licensee responsibility

This principle, defined in Article 9 of the Convention on

Nuclear Safety, is the first of IAEA’s fundamental safety

principles. It stipulates that responsibility for the safety

of nuclear activities entailing risks lies with those who

undertake or perform them.

It applies directly to all nuclear activities.

1.1.2 “Polluter-pays” principle

The “polluter-pays” principle, stipulating the principle

of the operator’s responsibility, ensures that the costs

of measures to prevent or reduce pollution are borne

by those responsible for environmental damage. This

principle is defined in Article 4 of the Environment

Charter in these terms:

“An individual must contribute to

reparation of the environmental damage he or she has caused”.

This principle entails the taxation of Basic Nuclear

Installations (BNI) (“BNI” tax and contribution to IRSN),

the taxation of radioactive waste producers (additional

waste taxes), of disposal facilities (additional “disposal”

tax) and of Installations Classified on Environmental

Protection grounds (ICPE) (fraction of the General Tax on

Polluting Activities – TGAP). These taxes are presented

in greater detail in point 3.

uclear safety

is defined in the Environment Code as

“the set of technical

provisions andorganisationalmeasures – related to the design, construction, operation,

shutdown and decommissioning of BasicNuclear Installations (BNIs), as well as the

transport of radioactive substances – which are adopted with a view to preventing

accidents or limiting their effects”. Radiationprotection is definedas “protectionagainst

ionising radiation that is the set of rules, procedures and means of prevention and surveillance aimed

at preventing or mitigating the direct or indirect harmful effects of ionising radiation on individuals,

including in situations of environmental contamination”.

Nuclear safety and radiation protection obey principles and approaches that have been put

in place progressively and continually enhanced by a process of feedback. The basic guiding

principles are advocated internationally by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In France, they are included in the Constitution or enacted in law, as well as now figuring in

European Directives.

In France, the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection for civil nuclear activities

is carried out by the French Nuclear Safety Authority, ASN, an independent administrative

Authority, in liaisonwithParliament andother State stakeholders,within theGovernment and the

offices of the Prefects. This regulation is basedon technical expert assessment services provided

more particularly by the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).

CHAPTER 02:

PRINCIPLES AND STAKEHOLDERS IN THE REGULATION OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION

ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015