In addition to the impact assessments produced on the basis of discharges from the facilities, the licensees are required to carry out environmental radioactivity monitoring programmes (aquatic environments, air, earth, milk, grass, agricultural produce, etc.), more specifically to verify compliance with the hypotheses used in the impact assessment and to monitor changes in the radioactivity level in the various compartments of the environment around the facilities (see point 4.1.1). The doses from BNIs for a given year are estimated on the basis of the actual discharges from each installation accounted for the year in question. This assessment takes account of discharges from the identified outlets (stack, river or sea discharge pipe), the diffuse emissions not channelled to the outlets (for example tank vent) and the sources of radiological exposure to ionising radiation present in the installation. In accordance with the provisions of Articles R.1333-23 and R.1333-24 of the Public Health Code, the estimation is calculated for a “person representative” of the persons most exposed within the population, except for those with extreme or rare habits and according to scenarios that are as realistic as possible. These scenarios take account of parameters specific to each site: distance from the site, meteorological data, etc. The differences observed from one site to another and from one year to another can to a large extent be explained by the use of these specific parameters. The Table entitled “Radiological impact of BNIs since 2018” in chapter 1 presents an assessment of the doses due to BNIs calculated by the licensees. For each of the nuclear sites presented, the radiological impact remains far below, or at most represents about 1% of the limit for the public, this limit being 1 mSv/year. Therefore in France, the discharges produced by the nuclear industry have an extremely small radiological impact. 4.1.3 Monitoring within the European framework Article 35 of the EURATOM Treaty requires that the Member States establish the facilities needed to carry out continuous monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the air, water and soil and to ensure compliance with the basic standards of health protection for the general public and workers against the hazards of ionising radiation. All Member States, whether or not they have nuclear facilities, are therefore required to implement environmental monitoring arrangements throughout their territory. Article 35 also states that the European Commission (EC) may access the monitoring facilities to verify their operation and their effectiveness. During its verifications, it gives an opinion on the means implemented by the member states to monitor radioactive discharges into the environment and the levels of radioactivity in the environment around nuclear sites and over the national territory. It notably gives its assessment of the monitoring equipment and methodologies used and of the organisational setup. Since 1994, the EC has carried out about ten verification visits to different types of nuclear facilities in France (nuclear power plants, “fuel cycle” plants, research centres, former uranium mines). 4.2 Environmental monitoring 4.2.1 The French National Network for Environmental Radioactivity Monitoring In France, many parties are involved in environmental radioactivity monitoring: ∙the nuclear facility licensees, who perform monitoring around their sites; ∙ASN, IRSN (whose duties as defined by Decree 2016-283 of 10 March 2016 include participation in radiological monitoring of the environment), the Ministries (General Directorate for Health, General Directorate for Food, General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud control, etc.), the services of the State and other public players carrying out monitoring duties across the national territory or in particular sectors (foodstuffs controlled by the General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud control, for example); ∙the approved air quality monitoring associations (local authorities), environmental protection associations and Local Information Committees (CLIs). The French National Network of Environ- mental Radioactivity Measurements (RNM) federates all these players. Its primary aim is to collect and make available to the public, by means of a dedicated website (mesure-radioactivite.fr) all the regulation environmental measurements taken on French territory. The quality of these measurements is guaranteed by a laboratories approval procedure (see point 4.3). The RNM guidelines (for example, the new types of measurements to be integrated into the RNM) are decided by a network steering committee made up of representatives from all the stakeholders in the network: ministerial departments, ARS, representatives of nuclear licensee or association laboratories, CLI members, IRSN, ASN, etc. The ASN Chairman’s resolution CODEP-DEU-2023-053424 of 29 November 2023 enshrined the expansion of the composition of the RNM steering committee, notably by appointing representatives of the Dreal as members of the committee. After the RNM website was launched in 2009 and overhauled for the first time in 2016, ASN and IRSN undertook work to modernise the tool in 2022 so that it was more in line with the needs of web users, whether the general public or more informed visitors. A pluralistic working group consisting of the main nuclear licensees, representatives of civil society, ministers, IRSN and ASN, therefore met between 2022 and 2023 in order to identify areas for improvement and propose a number of changes to the site. Some have already been made, such as improving the function for performing searches around the sites. Modernisation of the website will continue in 2025. 4.2.2 The purpose of environmental monitoring The licensees are responsible for monitoring the environment around their facilities. The content of the monitoring programmes to be implemented in this respect (measurements to be taken and frequency) is defined in amended ASN resolution 2013-DC-0360 of 16 July 2013, and in the individual requirements applicable to each installation (Creation Authorisation Decrees or ASN resolutions regulating water intake and discharges), independently of the additional measures that can be taken by the licensees for the purposes of their own monitoring. This environmental monitoring: ∙contributes to understanding the radiological and radio-ecological state of the facility’s environment through measurements of parameters and substances regulated in the requirements, in the various environmental compartments (air, water, soil) as well as in the biotopes and foodchain (milk, plants, etc.): a datum is determined before the facility is created and monitoring the environment throughout the lifetime of the facility enables any changes in this datum to be followed; ∙helps verify that the impact of the facility on health and the environment is in conformity with the impact assessment; ∙detects any abnormal increase in radio- activity as early as possible; ∙ensures that the licensees comply with the regulations and that there are no facility malfunctions, notably by analysing the ground water; ∙contributes to transparency and information of the public through the transmission of monitoring data to the RNM. 162 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 Regulation of nuclear activities and exposure to ionising radiation
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