ASN Report 2021

concerned are asked to prepare a bag of essential personal effects, secure and leave their homes and go to the nearest assembly point. Taking stable iodine tablets is a means of saturating the thy– roid gland and protecting it from the carcinogenic effects of radioactive iodines. The Circular of 27 May 2009 defines the principles governing the respective responsibilities of a BNI licensee and of the State with regard to the distribution of iodine tablets. This Circular requires that, as the party responsible for the safety of its facilities, the licensee finances the public information campaigns within the perimeter of the PPI and carries out permanent preventive distribution of the stable iodine tablets, free of charge, through the network of pharmacies. To supplement the pre-distribution in 2016 within the 0-10 km radius, the national campaign of iodine tablets distribution to the populations within the zone covered by the PPIs between 10 and 20 km around the NPPs, was launched in September 2019. Outside the zone covered by a PPI, tablets are stockpiled to cover the rest of the country. In this respect, the Ministries for Health and for the Interior decided to create stocks of iodine tablets, positioned and managed by Santé Publique France (more particularly taking over the roles previously held by the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Organisation –Eprus). Each Prefect defines the procedures for distribution to the population in their département, relying in particular on the mayors for this. This arrangement is described in a Circular of 11 July 2011 concerning the storage and distribution of potassium iodide tablets outside the zones covered by a PPI. Pursuant to this circular, the Prefects implemented plans to distribute stable iodine tablets in a radiological emergency situation, which can involve exercises being held for the local implementation of the PNRANRM. The Prefect may also take measures to ban the consumption of foodstuffs liable to have been contaminated by radioactive substances as of the emergency phase (until the facility has been restored to a controlled and stable state). The purpose of these measures, taken before the releases cease, is to facilitate management of the post-accident phase. Once the releases are over and the facility has returned to a stable state, further population protection steps are decided on, according to the deposition of radioactive materials in the environment. Depending on the ambient radioactivity level, this could involve: ∙ evacuating the population for a variable length of time; ∙ restrictions on the self-consumption of foodstuffs produced locally; ∙ checks on foodstuffs prior to marketing, in accordance with the maximum allowable levels of radioactive contamination defined at European level for the sale of foodstuffs. 1.3.2 Care and treatment of exposed persons In the event of a radiological emergency situation, a significant number of people could be contaminated by radionuclides. These persons shall be cared for by the emergency response teams duly trained and equipped for this type of operation. The Circular of 18 February 2011 regarding national doctrine for the use of emergency resources and care to deal with an act of terrorism using radioactive substances, specifies the provisions which also apply to a nuclear or radiological accident, and which aim to implement a unified nationwide methodology for the use of resources, in order to optimise efficiency. The Medical intervention following a nuclear or radiological event Guide, the drafting of which was coordinated by ASN and which was published in 2008, accompanies Circular DHOS/HFD/DGSNR No. 2002/277 of 2 May 2002 concerning the organisation of medical care in the event of a nuclear or radiological accident, giving all the information of use for the medical response teams in charge of collecting and transporting the injured, as well as for the hospital staff. Under the aegis of the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN), a new version of this Guide taking account of changes to certain practices, is currently under preparation. 1.4 Understanding the long-term consequences The post-accident phase concerns the handling over a period of time of the consequences of long-term contamination of the environment by radioactive substances following a nuclear accident. It covers the handling of consequences that are varied (economic, health, environmental and social), by their nature complex and that need to be dealt with in the short, medium or even long term, with a view to returning to a situation considered to be acceptable. As part of its ongoing analysis of the management of the postaccident phase, the Codirpa, set up by ASN in 2005 at the request of the Prime Minister, worked to learn the lessons from the postaccident management employed in Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, but also the experience feedback from emergency exercises. Following this work, the Codirpa recommended a number of changes to post-accident doctrine, which ASN transmitted to the Prime Minister, who accepted them in June 2020. The main one is simplification of the post-accident zoning, constituting the basis for the population protection measures: PANELS OF CITIZENS TO INVOLVE THE POPULATION IN DEFINING POST-ACCIDENT DOCTRINE The purpose of these panels, decided on by the Codirpa, is to assess the population’s understanding of the proposed protection measures, to test their acceptability and to collect proposals. ASN and the CLIs jointly organised these discussions with the public. The chosen topic concerns the management of the consequences of a nuclear accident, more particularly with regard to local fresh produce (vegetable gardens, orchards) and products from hunting, fishing and gathering. Two workshops were held in 2021, one in Golfech in November, the other in Tricastin in December. The discussions with the participants were constructive and the opinions collected were reported to the Cordirpa “foodstuffs” working group, with a view to updating national doctrine. This approach, which aims to anticipate the consequences of a major accident, also enables a “safety culture» to be developed among the stakeholders concerned (regional authorities, public services, NGOs, population); this is a crucial area f or progress, as proven by recent emergencies (Lubrizol accident, Covid-19 pandemic). 172 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 04 – RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY AND POST-ACCIDENT SITUATIONS

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