73 / 536
taken. It informs the general public of the situation, of any
releases into the environment and their consequences. It
acts as the competent Authority within the framework
of international conventions, by notifying international
organisations and foreign countries of the accident.
Chapter 5 of this report describes ASNactions in this field.
In the event of an incident or accident concerning a
nuclear activity and pursuant to Decree 2007-1572 of
6th November 2007 concerning technical inquiries into
accidents or incidents concerning a nuclear activity, ASN
may carry out a technical inquiry.
Information
ASN participates in informing the public in its areas of
competence. Chapter 6of this report describesASNactions
in this field.
Research monitoring
The quality of ASN’s resolutions and decisions relies
primarily on robust technical expertise which, in turn,
requires the best andmost up-to-date knowledge. In this
respect,Ordinance2016-128of 10thFebruary2016 issued
pursuant to the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act,
comprises measures giving ASN competence to monitor
the adaptation of public research to the needs of nuclear
safety and radiation protection.
Consequently, ASN is already concerned about the
availability of the knowledge required to underpin
the expertise it may need to call upon in the medium
and long term. ASN is also attentive to the quality of
research initiatives, with the prospect of them being
integrated by the licensees into their safety cases and
impact assessments.
ASN calls on a Scientific Committee to examine its
proposed orientations concerning the research work to
be conducted or taken further in the fields of nuclear
safety and radiation protection. In a resolution dated
8th July 2014, the ASN Commission renewed for a
further four years the mandates of the nine members of
the Committee, appointed for their expertise in the field
of research. Under the Chairmanship of Ashok Thadani,
former head of research at the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Committee comprises
Bernard Boullis, Jean-Claude Lehmann, Michel Schwarz,
Patrick Smeesters, Michel Spiro and Victor Teschendorff,
as well as Christelle Roy and Catherine Luccioni,
appointed in 2015 following the departure of
Marie-Pierre Comets. The Scientific Committee met
twice in 2015.
On the basis of thework done by the Scientific Committee,
ASN issued a first opinion in April 2012 underlining the
importance it attaches to research, and identifying the
initial research topics to be further investigated in the
fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection.
A secondopinionwas issued in early 2015 on the research
topics to be taken further in the following fields:
•
waste packaging;
•
deep geological disposal;
•
transport of radioactive substances;
•
severe accidents.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident also highlighted
the need for more research in the field of nuclear safety.
A call for projects in the field of nuclear safety was
therefore issued by the French National Research Agency
(ANR) under the Investing in the Future programme.
ASN is a member of the steering committee for this
call for projects.
From left to right: Jean-Claude Lehmann, Michel Spiro, Christelle Roy, Ashok Thadani, Michel Schwarz, Bernard Boullis, Victor Teschendorff and Catherine Luccioni (not in photo: Patrick Smeesters).
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
73
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