ASN Report 2017

295 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 10  - Sources of ionising radiation and their industrial, veterinary and research applications The devices used in the veterinary sector are sometimes derived from the medical sector. However, the profession is increasingly adopting new devices specially developed to meet its own specific needs. 2.3 Particle accelerators A particle accelerator is defined as a device or installation in which electrically charged particles undergo acceleration, 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2016 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 GRAPH 4: Use of electrical devices generating ionising radiation for veterinary activities Number of veterinary authorisations Number of veterinary notifications SIMPLIFIED DIAGRAM of the operation of a cyclotron Semi-cylindrical D-shaped hollow electrodes Magnetic field generated by two electromagnets Progressively accelerated particles Electric field AC voltage generator Beam extraction channel Isotopes transferred and then used in shielded cells Target in which the isotopes are generated Source of electrically charged particles Electromagnet Semi-cylindrical hollow electrode emitting ionising radiation at an energy level in excess of 1 megaelectronvolt (MeV). When they meet the characteristics specified in Article 3 of Decree 2007-830 of 11th May 2007 concerning the BNI nomenclature, these facilities are listed as BNIs. Certain applications require the use of particle accelerators which produce photon or electron beams, as applicable. The inventory of particle accelerators in France, whether linear (linacs) or circular (cyclotrons - see point 3 - and synchrotrons), comprises about 60 identified installations (excluding BNIs) which can be used in a wide variety of fields: ཛྷ ཛྷ research, which sometimes requires the coupling of several machines (accelerator, implanter, etc.); ཛྷ ཛྷ radiography (fixed or mobile accelerator); ཛྷ ཛྷ radioscopy of lorries and containers during customs checks (fixed-site or mobile accelerators); ཛྷ ཛྷ modification of material properties; ཛྷ ཛྷ sterilisation; ཛྷ ཛྷ conservation of foodstuffs; ཛྷ ཛྷ etc. In the field of research, two synchrotron radiation production facilities can be mentioned in France: the ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility) in Grenoble, and the Soleil (Optimised source of energy light) synchrotron in Gif-sur-Yvette. Particle accelerators have been used for a few years now in France to fight fraud and large-scale international trafficking. This technology, which the operators consider effective, must