ASN Report 2017

31 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Industrial and research sectors have been using sources of ionising radiation in a wide range of applications and locations for many years now. The radiation sources used are either radionuclides – essentially artificial – in sealed or unsealed sources, or electrical devices generating ionising radiation. The main applications are industrial irradiation, gamma radiography inspection of materials, verification of physical parameters such as dust or density, and various detection techniques. Electrical devices emitting ionising radiation are used mainly in non-destructive testing and for veterinary diagnostic radiology. Assessment In 2017, ASN examined and notified 280 new licenses, handled 942 license renewals or updates and revoked 235 licenses for users and holders of ionising radiation sources. It granted 146 licences and renewed 319 licenses to use electrical devices generating X-rays and issued 346 notification acknowledgements. With regard to the suppliers, 62 licence or license renewal applications were examined. ASN also carried out 340 inspections of users and suppliers. Industrial radiography activities remain an inspection priority for ASN, with 106 inspections in this field in 2017. ASN finds that the way the companies address the risk varies widely. ASN considers that the preparation for interventions is on the whole inadequate and that the flaws observed in radiological zoning is worrying, because this is the main means of radiation protection, more particularly in a worksite configuration. As in 2016, contrary to previous years, no incident was rated level 2 on the INES scale in 2017. Analysis of the 18 notified events confirms that zoning is a key step in preparing for gamma radiography inspection sites. Experience feedback also shows that a correct check on the safety position of the source is essential in controlling the dosimetric consequences of this activity. The most significant incident in 2017 concerns the abnormal exposure of two operators who were working in the operation area while the source had not been returned to its safety position. The operators’ passive dosimeters recorded effective doses of 3 and 9 mSv, which, for one of the operators, corresponded to an overdose in a single operation of more than one quarter the regulation annual individual dose limit (20 mSv). In the veterinary sector, after the efforts made by the profession in recent years, the ASN inspectors observe that good practices are observed in the field in most structures. ASN also continued its monitoring of facilities equipped with a cyclotron and producing radionuclides. The radiation 10 Sources of ionising radiation and industrial, veterinary and research uses of these sources Outlook In the field of radiotherapy, ASN will continue to support the work done by the learned societies looking to implement clinical peer reviews (audits) of practices, considering that these audits constitute a necessary complement to the quality management system it has been monitoring for several years. ASN will remainparticularly attentive to the question of the means needed to deploy these audits. ASN will also set up a committee to coordinate intelligence regarding new techniques and new practices using ionising radiation in the medical field, bringing together the institutions, learned societies and professional associations involved in radiotherapy. Finally, work to better anticipate andmanage organisational and technical changes will be continued in 2018, with volunteer radiotherapy centres and the assistance of professionals, hospital federations and health care institutions. Verification of the control of doses in medical imaging remains a priority for ASN, particularly when associated with interventional practices. The recent and rapid development of new imaging techniques, including the arrival of CT scanners in the operating theatre and their implementation by specialists (surgeons, neurosurgeons, cardiologists, urologists, rheumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons, etc.) who too frequently are insufficiently trained inmatters of radiation protection, justifies reinforcement of the actions conducted by ASN. ASN called on the Advisory Committee for Radiation Protection in medical and forensic applications of ionising radiation to issue recommendations to improve the radiation protection of both professionals and patients in operating theatres. At the beginning of 2018, ASNwill publish a new action plan for improved control of doses in imaging, in order to continue to promote a radiation protection culture among professionals, following on from the plan drawn up in 2011. Significant events and outlook