ASN Report 2015

placed in contact with them, cosmetic products, toys and

personal ornaments. The Government Order of 5thMay

2009 specifies the content of the waiver application file

and the consumer information procedures stipulated in

Article R. 1333-5 of the Public Health Code. This waiver

arrangement was used in 2011 to cover the gradual

phase-out of ionisation smoke detectors (see chapter 10)

used in fire protection. This prohibition principle does

not concern the radionuclides naturally present in the

initial components or in the additives used to prepare

foodstuffs (for example potassium-40 in milk) or for

the manufacture of constituent materials of consumer

goods or construction products (for example: uranium

and its daughter products in granite).

Furthermore, the use of materials or waste from a nuclear

activity is also prohibited, when they are contaminated

or likely to have been contaminated by radionuclides,

including by activation, as a result of this activity.

The Public Health Code comprises regulatory provisions

(Article R. 1333-14) to limit the natural radioactivity

in construction materials, if necessary, when this

radioactivity is naturally present in the constituents

used in their manufacture. This provision has never yet

been applied. The transposition of the new Euratom

Directive should further tighten up this restriction

through an obligation to measure the radiation emitted.

Further to a proposal from ASN, the French High

Committee for Transparency and Information on

Nuclear Security (HCTISN) set up a working group

for the information and consultation procedures in the

event of a request for waivers concerning the ban on

the intentional addition of radionuclides in consumer

goods or construction products. This group should

shortly resume its work, interrupted in 2014 owing to

the renewal of the HCTISN (see chapter  6).

Radioactivity and the environment

ANational Network for theMeasurement of environmental

radioactivity (RNM) was set up in 2002 (Article

R. 1333-11 of the Public Health Code). A centralised

system for collection of these measurements was

implemented in 2009. The data collected must be used

to help estimate the doses received by the population.

The network’s orientations are defined by ASN and it

is managed by IRSN (ASN resolution 2008-DC-0099

of 29th April 2008, amended, on the organisation of a

National Network for theMeasurement of environmental

radioactivity and setting the conditions for laboratory

approval). To guarantee the quality of the measurements,

the laboratories in this network must meet approval

criteria, which in particular include participation in

intercomparison benchmarking tests.

A detailed presentation of the RNM is given in chapter  4.

Radiation protection checks

Technical control of sources and devices emitting

ionising radiation, protection and alarm devices and

measuring instruments, as well as ambient environment

checks, can be entrusted to the French Institute for

Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), to the

department with competence for radiation protection or

to organisations approved under application of Article

R. 1333-97 of the Public Health Code. The nature

and frequency of the radiation protection technical

checks are defined by ASN resolution 2010-DC-0175

of 4th February 2010.

These technical checks concern sources and devices

emitting ionising radiation, the ambient environment,

measuring instruments and protection and alarmdevices,

management of sources and of any waste and effluents

produced. Some of these controls are carried out as part

of the licensee’s in-house inspection processes and some

by outside organisations (the outside checks must be

performed by IRSN or an organisation approved under

Article R. 1333-97 of the Public Health Code – see

point 2.1.4).

Radon in the workplace

(See point 2.3.1).

1.2.2 General protection of the general public

Apart from the special radiation protection measures

included in individual nuclear activity licenses for the

benefit of the general public and the workers, a number

of general measures included in the Public Health Code

help to protect the public against the dangers of ionising

radiation.

Public dose limits

The annual effective dose limit (Article R. 1333-8 of the

Public Health Code) received by a member of the public

as a result of nuclear activities, is set at 1 mSv/year; the

equivalent dose limits for the lens of the eye and the skin

are set at 15mSv/year and 50mSv/year respectively. The

calculationmethod for the effective and equivalent dose

rates and the methods used to estimate the dosimetric

impact on a population are defined byMinisterial Order

of 1st September 2003.

Radioactivity in consumer goods

and construction materials

The intentional addition of natural or artificial

radionuclides in all consumer goods and construction

materials is prohibited (Article R. 1333-2 of the Public

Health Code). Waivers may however be granted by the

Minister of Health after receiving the opinion of the

French High Council for Public Health (HCSP) and

ASN, except with respect to foodstuffs and materials

CHAPTER 03:

REGULATIONS

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