ASN Report 2015

Its legislative part is only little affected by the transposition

of Directive 2013/59/Euratom. However, it does require

that the authorisations issued by ASN in accordance

with the BNI Systems and the Public Health Code

be examined on the basis of information concerning

occupational exposure, thus making it necessary to

clarify the responsibilities of the employer and those

of the party responsible for a corresponding nuclear

activity. Articles L.1333-27 of the PublicHealthCode and

L.593-41 of the Environment Codewere thus introduced.

They specify that the general rules, prescriptions, means

andmeasures aimed at protecting the health of workers

from ionising radiation, implemented pursuant to the

PublicHealthCode andBNI System, concern the collective

protectionmeasures to be taken by the party responsible

for a nuclear activity and designed to ensure compliance

with the radiation protection principles defined in Article

L. 1333-2 of the Public Health Code. These measures

concern 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.

AGeneral Directorate for Labour/ASN joint Circular No. 4

of 21st April 2010 indicates the conditions of application

of the provisions of the Labour Code concerning the

radiation protection of workers.

Articles R. 4451-1 to R. 4451-144 of the Labour Code

create a single radiation protection system for all workers

(whether salaried or not) liable to be exposed to ionising

radiation during the course of their professional activities.

The transposition of Directive 2013/59 is an opportunity

to update this regulatory part of the Labour Code, to take

account of the work done in recent years at the request

of the General Directorate for Labour (DGT) and ASN,

in order to more closely tailor the requirements to the

actual risks faced by the workers.

The following provisions of the Labour Code should

be mentioned:

•

application of the optimisation principle to the

equipment, processes andwork organisation (Articles

R. 4451-7 to R. 4451-11), which leads to clarification

of where responsibilities lie and how information is

circulated between the head of the facility, the employer,

in particular when he or she is not the head of the facility,

and the person competent in radiation protection;

•

the annual dose limit (Articles R. 4451-12 to 4451-15)

set at 20mSv for 12 consecutivemonths, barringwaivers

resulting from exceptional exposure levels justified in

advance, or emergency occupational exposure levels;

•

the dose limits for pregnant women (Article D. 4152-5)

or more accurately for the unborn child (1mSv for the

period fromthe declaration of pregnancy upuntil birth).

The annual dose equivalent limit for the lens of the eye

which is currently set at 150 mSv, will be lowered to

20 mSv on the occasion of the transposition of Directive

2013/59.

In line with the Aarhus Convention, Article 7 of the

Environment Charter states that

“everyone has the right,

within the conditions and limits defined by the law […] to

take part in the drafting of public decisions with an impact on

the environment”.

Most of the resolutions issued by ASN,

whether statutory or individual, fall within this category.

Articles L. 120-1 to L. 120-2 of the Environment Code

set the conditions and limits for implementation of the

principle of public participation in the statutory and

individual resolutions with an impact on the environment.

In both cases, these are “subsidiary” public participation

procedures, in other words, procedures which apply if

specific texts do not stipulate a particular procedure.

For statutory resolutions with an impact on the

environment, Article L. 120-1 of the Environment Code,

in force since 1st January 2013, requires that the draft

resolution be made available to the public in electronic

format for a time which may not be less than 21 days,

except in the event of urgency relating to protection of

the environment, public health or public order.

For individual resolutions with a direct or significant

impact on the environment, Article L. 120-1-1 of the

Environment Code, in force since 1st September 2013,

requires that the draft resolution or, when the resolution is

issued on request, the application file, bemade available

to the public in electronic format for a time that may

not be less than 15 days except in the case of urgency

relating to protection of the environment, public health,

or public order.

ASN has adopted a structured approach towards

implementing this procedure for public participation

in the drafting of its resolutions (see chapter 6).

1.2 The regulations applicable

to the various categories

of individuals and the various

situations involving exposure

to ionising radiation

The various exposure levels and limits set by the regulations

are presented in the appendix to this chapter.

1.2.1 General protection of workers

The Labour Code contains various specific provisions

for the protection of workers, whether salaried or not,

exposed to ionising radiation (Title Vof Book IVof part IV)

which supplement the general prevention principles.

It establishes a link with the three radiation protection

principles contained in the Public Health Code.

CHAPTER 03:

REGULATIONS

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