LES ACTIVITÉS NUCLÉAIRES : RAYONNEMENTS IONISANTS ET RISQUES POUR LA SANTÉ ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT 1.4.5 – International relations In the international arena, in 2025, ASNR took steps to continue the many actions that were underway or planned within ASN and IRSN to protect the public and the environment. At international level, the new International Department endeavoured to support ASNR's actions and ambitions through the exchange of best practice and feedback, the promotion of French approaches and practices in safety and radiation protection, and the strengthening of alliances and international research partnerships. Establishing ASNR on the international scene First and foremost, ASNR has endeavoured to take on responsibilities at major international meetings that are commensurate with its resources and ambitions. In March 2025, ASNR assumed its role as a leading authority by chairing the 8th review meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. This meeting brought together 67 countries in Vienna for 15 days. It is part of a three-year peer review process during which each contracting party reports on its national programme. It is the only global international convention in this field. It is therefore a major international event. In September, during the 69th IAEA General Conference, an annual highlight for the international nuclear community, ASNR organised or co-organised three parallel events on the regulation of nuclear fusion, on HERCA and on strengthening the regulatory capacities of African countries. This third event highlighted ASNR's leading role in the European INSC project launched in 2025, which will involve Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa over a 48-month period. During the General Conference, the Chairman of ASNR also met the Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, to present ASNR to him and take stock of current safety issues. ASNR has fully embraced its role at European level. It continues to chair and provide the technical secretariat for HERCA, the European Association of Radiation Protection Regulators, and in 2025 joined the European Technical Safety Organisations Network (ETSON), as well as the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP). It was also reappointed Vice-Chair of WENRA in November. The year 2025 was also an opportunity for ASNR to meet its European and international counterparts to explain its structure and operations. Bilateral meetings were organised with South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Spain and Belgium. In the current context of nuclear revival, certain European countries, which are considering reorganising their system for regulating nuclear activities, have shown their interest in the process of how ASNR was created and the way it operates. Discussions were held with the UK and Sweden to explain the French context, the objectives of the merger and the structure of the new organisation. Finally, ASNR affirmed that it would maintain its ambitions in the field of research, an area where international alliances and partnerships have become indispensable. These enable and will continue to enable large-scale projects that would be difficult to carry out in isolation. This is the case, for example, of the joint ASNR-National University of Singapore (NUS) laboratory, the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute (SNRSI), based in Singapore, which carries out research into radiobiology, radiochemical measurements and reactor safety analysis, particularly for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). This is also the case for PIANOFORTE, the European partnership for research into radiation protection coordinated by ASNR. Launched in 2022 with 58 partners, it will have over 100 partners by 2025 and will help to improve the protection of the public, workers, patients and the environment against environmental, occupational and medical exposure to ionising radiation. In 2025, ASNR was a signatory to 67 multilateral cooperation agreements or projects, and 74 bilateral cooperation agreements or projects. Reaffirming the fundamentals of safety and radiation protection In a context where all safety and radiation protection authorities are faced with the dual imperative of safety and efficiency, ASNR has promoted, to international bodies and during its bilateral meetings with its counterparts, a vision of safety based on solid scientific facts, the best available knowledge and rigorous and adversarial decision-making processes. Together with its counterparts, it initiated the declaration published in June 2025 by HERCA on “the importance of preserving confidence in the international radiation protection system and the independence of the regulatory authorities”. It reiterated this message at a number of international meetings, including the 55th meeting of the International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), which brings together the heads of nine nuclear safety authorities and was held under its leadership in Paris in May. Exchanging and collaborating with our counterparts to progress forward together Nuclear safety and radiation protection cannot be confined to national borders. ASNR has a lot to offer, but also a lot to learn from its counterparts; from their practices, their OEF. With this in mind, exchanges and collaboration with other safety authorities, particularly in Europe, are helping to improve both safety and performance, and to provide better support for innovation, following the example of the Joint Early Review (JER) carried out on the Nuward small modular reactor project (see chapter 9, Highlight No. 1). Another example of such collaboration is the working group on the impacts of climate change, created in 2023 by ASN and ONR, which now includes Belgium, the Netherlands and, since 2025, Finland. Regular technical exchanges between these five safety authorities have made it possible to discuss the ways in which climate change should be taken into account, both in terms of regulations and the HIGHLIGHT No. 2 ORRCH-IDEes: Pluralistic approach to research on chronic risks. Dunkerque Initiative on Environment and Health In response to continuing public concern about the effects of environmental pollution on health and ecosystems, ASNR has initiated a process to open up scientific research to public participation. The aim is twofold: to gain a better understanding of the combined effects of multiple pollutants on human health, and to enable citizens to play an informed role in controlling their exposure. In this context, and following on from the ORRCH and LILAS projects, the ORRCH-IDEes project has been launched, as the winner of a "Science with and for Society" call for projects. This year, 2025, has been marked by the creation of a panel of citizens and non-profit organisations (50 people), the organisation of three discussion workshops between January and April, and three discussion sessions with researchers from different disciplines in May, the aim being to bring to the fore issues relating to health and the environment in the Dunkerque area. Three research issues emerged: • How can we better characterise (multiple) exposures (taking account of inequalities) across the country? • What is the impact of these (multiple) exposures on human health? • How are studies and expert reports on pollution in the Dunkerque area produced and received? ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025 131 01 02 05 09 06 10 03 07 11 13 04 08 12 A / Z
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