ASN Report 2015

substances - which are adopted with a view to preventing

accidents or limiting their effects”

Radiation protection is defined as

“the set of rules,

procedures and prevention and surveillance means aimed at

preventing or mitigating the direct or indirect harmful effects

of ionising radiation on individuals, including in situations

of environmental contamination”.

Article L. 593-42 of the

Environment Code, created by Ordinance 2016-128

comprising various nuclear provisions, specifies that

“the

general rules, prescriptions andmeasures taken in application

of this Chapter and of Chapters V and VI for the protection

of public health, when they concern occupational radiation

protection, concern the collective protection measures which

are the responsibility of the licensee and designed to ensure

compliance with the principles of radiation protection defined

in Article L. 1333-2 of the Public Health Code. They apply

to the design, operation and decommissioning phases of the

installation and are without prejudice to the obligations

incumbent on the employer in application of Articles L. 4121-1

et seq. of the Labour Code”

Nuclear transparency is defined as

“the set of provisions

adopted to ensure the public’s right to reliable and accessible

information on nuclear security as defined in Article L. 591-1”

Article L. 591-2 of the Environment Code, stipulates

the State’s role in nuclear security: it

“defines the nuclear

security regulations and implements the checks necessary

for their application”.

The Ordinance of 10th February

2016 supplements this Article, stipulating that the State

“ensures that the regulations concerning nuclear safety and

radiation protection and their oversight are assessed and

improved, taking into account, where applicable, experience

acquired in operation, lessons learned from the nuclear

safety analyses carried out for the nuclear installations

in operation, technological developments and the results

of research on nuclear safety if they are available and

relevant.”

In accordance with Article L. 125-13 of the

Environment Code,

“the State ensures that the public is

informed of risks linked to nuclear activities defined in the

first paragraph of Article L. 1333-1 of the Public Health

Code and of their impact on individual health and safety

as well as on the environment”

. The general principles

applicable to nuclear activities are mentioned in turn

in Articles L. 591-3 and L. 591-4 of the Environment

Code. These principles are presented in point 1.1 of

chapter 2.

Chapter II of Title IX of Book V of the Environment Code

creates ASN, defines its general duties and attributions,

and specifies its composition and operation. Its missions

are presented in points 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 of chapter 2.

1. Nuclear safety, within the meaning of Article L. 591.1 of the

Environment Code, is thus a more limited concept than that of the

objectives of the BNI legal system as described in point 3 of this

chapter.

Chapter V of Title II of Book I of the Environment Code

addresses information of the public about nuclear security.

This subject is developed in greater detail in chapter 6.

Other codes or acts containing requirements

specific to nuclear activities

The Labour Code defines specific requirements for the

protection of workers, whether or not salaried, exposed

to ionising radiation. They are presented in point 1.2.1

of this chapter.

Chapter II of Title IV of Book V of the Environment

Code, which codifies Planning Act 2006-739 of

28th June 2006 concerning sustainable management

of radioactive materials and waste, sets the framework

for the management of radioactive materials and waste.

It obliges the BNI licensees to make provision for the

cost of managing their waste and spent fuel, and for

decommissioning their facilities. Chapter 16 describes

the main contributions of this act in detail.

Finally, the Defence Code contains various measures

concerning protection againstmalicious acts in the nuclear

field, or the regulation of defence-related nuclear activities

and installations. They are presented in point 5.3 of

this chapter.

The other regulations concerning

nuclear activities

Some nuclear activities are subject to a variety of rules

with the same goal of protecting individuals and the

environment as the above-mentioned regulations, but

with a scope that is not limited to the nuclear field alone.

This for example includes international conventions

(e.g. Aarhus Convention), European or Environment

Code provisions concerning impact assessments, public

information and consultation, and the regulations

governing hazardous materials transport or pressure

equipment. The applicability of some of these rules to

nuclear activities is mentioned in the applicable chapters

of this report.

Signed on 25th June 1998 in Aarhus (Denmark), the

Convention onAccess to Information, Public Participation

inDecision-making andAccess to Justice inEnvironmental

Matters (Aarhus Convention), was ratified by France

on 8th July 2002 and entered into force in France on

6th October 2002. With the aim of helping to protect

the right to live in a clean environment that guarantees

health andwellbeing, the signatory States guarantee the

right of access to information about the environment,

public participation in the decision-making process and

access to justice in environmental matters.

CHAPTER 03:

REGULATIONS

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