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a significant increase in water intake or discharges into
the environment of the installation.
1.1.5 The principle of justification
The principle of justification, defined in Article L. 1333-2
of the Public Health Code, states that:
“A nuclear activity
or an intervention may only be undertaken or carried out
if its individual or collective benefits, more specifically its
health, social, economic or scientific benefits so justify, given
the risks inherent in the human exposure to ionising radiation
that it is likely to entail”.
Assessment of the expected benefit of a nuclear activity and
the corresponding drawbacksmay lead to prohibition of an
activity for which the benefit would not seem to outweigh
the health risk. For existing activities, justification may
be reassessed if the state of know-how and technology
so warrants.
1.1.6 The principle of optimisation
The principle of optimisation, defined by Article L. 1333-2
of the PublicHealthCode, states that:
“The level of exposure
of individuals to ionising radiation […], the probability of
occurrence of this exposure and the number of persons exposed
must be kept as low as is reasonably achievable, given the
current state of technical knowledge, economic and social
factors and, as necessary, the medical goal in question”.
This principle, referred to as the ALARA (As Low As
Reasonably Achievable) principle, leads for example to
reducing the quantities of radionuclides present in the
radioactive effluents from nuclear installations allowed
1.1.3 Precautionary principle
The precautionary principle, defined in Article 5 of the
Environment Charter, states that:
“the absence of certainty,
in the light of current scientific and technical knowledge,
must not delay the adoption of effective and proportionate
measures to prevent a risk of serious and irreversible damage
to the environment”
.
Application of this principle results, for example, in the
adoptionof a linear, no-thresholddose-effect relationship
where the biological effects of exposure to low doses of
ionising radiation are concerned. This point is clarified in
chapter 1 of this report.
1.1.4 Public participation principle
This principle allows public participation in the taking of
decisions by public authorities. In line with the Aarhus
Convention, it is defined in Article 7 of the Environment
Charter as follows:
“Withintheconditionsandlimitsdefinedby
law,allindividualsareentitledtoaccessenvironmentalinformation
in the possession of the public authorities and to take part in the
taking of public decisions affecting the environment”.
In the nuclear field, this principle leads in particular
to the organisation of national public debates, which
are mandatory prior to the construction of a nuclear
power plant for example, as well as public inquiries, in
particular during the examination of the files concerning
the creation or decommissioning of nuclear facilities, to
public consultation concerning draft resolutions with
an impact on the environment, or to the basic nuclear
installation licensee providing access to its file on the
modification of its installation, which is liable to cause
RESPONSABILITY
of licensees and responsibility of ASN
The Nuclear
Safety
Authority (ASN)
Major licensees:
EDF, CEA, Andra, Areva
Other licensees or users
of ionising radiation
Reviews whether these procedures
are capable of achieving these objectives
Defines general safety and
radiation protection objectives
Propose procedures
for achieving the objectives
Implement the approved
provisions
Supervises the implementation
of these provisions
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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