Home > Highlights > Nuclear Safety Authority

	Introduction The year 2010 Nuclear Safety Authority The Commission ASN's organisation Highlights of 2010
	Nuclear activities: ionising radiation, health and evironmental risks The principles and stakeholders in nuclear safety, regulation, radiation protection and protection of the environment Regulations Regulations of nuclear activities and exposure to ionising radiation Radiological emergencies Public information and transparency International relations Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection
	Medical uses of ionising radiation Non-medical uses of ionising radiation Transport of radiactive materials Nuclear power plants Nuclear fuel cycle installations Nuclear research facilities and various nuclear installations Safe decommissioning of basic nuclear installations Radiactive waste and polluted sites
	ASN's annual report 2010 PDF format Previous annual report The INES scale The ASN-SFRO scale
	Nuclear Security and Transparency Act Waste Act Commissioner's biographies

Nuclear Safety Authority

Competence – Independence – Rigour – Transparency

Its disciplines

Regulation

ASN contributes to drafting regulations, by giving the Government its opinion on draft decrees and ministerial orders, or by taking regulatory decisions of a technical nature. ASN also takes the individual resolutions required by the Public Health Code.

Monitoring

ASN is responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules and requirements applicable to the facilities or activities within its field of competence. Inspection is one of ASN's main means of monitoring, although it also has appropriate powers of enforcement and sanction.

Information

Primarily through its website www.asn.fr and its Contrôle magazine, ASN informs the public and the stakeholders (local information committees, environmental protection associations, etc.) of its activity and the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France.

In the event of an emergency, ASN assists the Government.
It in particular sends the competent Authorities its recommendations concerning the civil security measures to be taken.

Regulation of diverse activities and installations

Nuclear power plants, radioactive waste management, nuclear fuel shipments, radioactive material packages, medical facilities, research laboratories, industrial activities, and so on. ASN regulates a wide variety of activities and installations. This regulation covers:

58 nuclear reactors producing nearly 80% of the electricity consumed in France, along with the EPR reactor currently under construction;
all French fuel cycle facilities, from fuel enrichment to reprocessing;
several thousand facilities or activities which use sources of ionising radiation for medical, industrial or research purposes;
several hundred thousand shipments of radioactive materials made annually nationwide.

A few key figures

More than 450 staff, of whom nearly half are in the 11 regional divisions.
248 inspectors spread around the regional divisions and the departments.
As at 01.01.2011: a total budget of about €146 million, of which €78 million are devoted to assessments.
More than 820 inspections per year in the nuclear facilities and the transport of radioactive materials.
More than 1,130 inspections per year in the medical, industrial and research sectors.
More than 7,000 inspection follow-up letters published on the www.asn.fr website.

The help of experts

When taking certain resolutions, ASN calls on the expertise of technical support bodies.
This is primarily the case with the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).
ASN also requests opinions and recommendations from scientific and technical Advisory Committees.

Regional organisation

ASN comprises head office departments and eleven regional divisions with competence for one or more administrative regions. This organisation enables ASN to carry out its regulation and monitoring duties over the entire country and in the overseas territories of France.