LES ACTIVITÉS NUCLÉAIRES : RAYONNEMENTS IONISANTS ET RISQUES POUR LA SANTÉ ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT of individuals designated as the RPEs, the means at their disposal and the support of their management team. The radiation risks in many research laboratories are fairly low or tending to decrease, resulting in their nuclear activity changing from the licensing system to the registration system. This trend is being confirmed from one year to the next. Furthermore, the cessation of nuclear activities in the research sector continues as techniques using ionising radiation are abandoned in favour of alternatives that do not. ASNR has nevertheless identified areas for improvement on which particular attention will be focused in the next inspections, particularly regarding the management and storage of sources and waste/effluents, where shortcomings in the performance and recording of checks prior to their disposal persist. The research laboratories still have difficulties in assimilating the new regulations concerning radiation protection verifications, which can prove complicated to apply in the “Unités Mixtes de Recherche” – UMRs (Joint Research Units). ASNR therefore considers that the conditions of storage and disposition of disused sealed radioactive sources and of radioactive waste and effluents are still the main difficulties encountered by the research units. This situation is particularly pronounced in universities, where the limited financial resources of public laboratories can be an obstacle hindering more specifically the recovery of waste and disposition of expired/disused sources. ASNR thus remains attentive to the situation in certain universities, with increased oversight or even enforcement measures, particularly regarding the management of the substantial “legacy” in certain laboratories which have not removed their waste or expired/ disused sources. ASNR has also taken coercive measures against certain facilities for failure to comply with administrative requirements for nuclear activities and unauthorised discharges of radioactive effluents. These facilities are therefore subject to a reinforced monitoring system to ensure a lasting return to regulatory compliance and to prevent any recurrence. 7. According to Article R. 4451-57 of the Labour Code, workers are classified in Category A if they are likely to receive, over a period of 12 consecutive months: an effective dose exceeding 6 mSv; and/or an equivalent dose exceeding 150 mSv for the skin and/or extremities. The technical, economic and regulatory difficulties concerning the disposal of legacy sealed sources also persist. With regard to occupational radiation protection, the inspections in 2025 confirmed persistent shortcomings in the organisation and performance of the radiation protection verifications of equipment, workplaces and radiation protection instrumentation due to the difficulties the research units have in assimilating the regulations in force. This still concerns the full application of the periodic verifications programme (verifications incomplete or not carried out). Performance on this indicator remains inadequate. However, a moderate improvement was observed in 2025: 53% of the facilities inspected are compliant in terms of completing all the verifications, compared with 43% in 2024. Conversely, 19% of the facilities inspected were not carrying out any verifications at all. The remaining 28% applied the verification programme only partially or did not comply with the scheduled intervals. The same goes for the verifications provided for under the Public Health Code by the Order of 24 October 2022 and the Order of 18 January 2023 approving ASN resolution 2022-DC-0747, for which the situation can be improved. These regulations are still poorly understood, which means that the inspectors also have an informative role. In 2025, 76% of the inspected sites have systems for recording and analysing adverse events and ESRs, compared with 72% in 2024. This is in line with the level of conformity observed in 2022 (76%) and curbs the drop observed since 2021. In 2025, ASNR registered 24 ESRs concerning research activities (see Graph 12), all rated level 0 on the INES scale. As in previous years, the majority of ESRs reported concerned the discovery of sources (66%). These chance discoveries of “forgotten” sources are often made during tidying-up operations. In the majority of cases these are remnants from past nuclear activities, sometimes out of regulatory control, sometimes having undergone formal cessation but with shortcomings or omissions regarding the scope of the verifications before stopping the activity. In some cases the cessation request is made after a change of personnel with a view to settling liabilities, but without full knowledge of the history of the activity in question. Lastly, the failure to take measures to effectively eliminate sources on cessation of the activity or irregular or incomplete source inventories are also contributing factors. The other one-off events concerned the loss of a radioactive source, the failure to monitor the dosimetry of a classified worker(7), the use of equipment emitting ionising radiation outside the conditions of use for which it was authorised, and the unauthorised discharge of liquid radioactive effluent into the environment, although this had no impact on public exposure, inappropriate disposal of radioactive waste and situations where there was a risk of contamination of workplaces or operators (dispersion of radioactive material during defrosting of a freezer containing marked samples, lack of knowledge of ventilation systems in waste bunkers, radioactive contamination of a dummy generator that should not have contained radioactivity). As far as occupational exposure is concerned, only one case of potential contamination of a person – by a very short-lived radionuclide (technetium-99m – 6 h) – was reported to ASNR in 2025. Lastly, ASNR continued its collaboration with the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) in 2025. The IGESR is the competent body for labour inspection in the public research sector. The agreement signed in 2014 was updated and signed in 2025. It provides for mutual exchanges of information intended to improve the efficiency and complementarity of the inspections. Annual meetings are also held between ASNR and IGESR. HIGHLIGHT No. 10 Synchrotrons Belonging to the same family of circular particle accelerators as the cyclotrons (see point 4.2), the synchrotron, which is much larger, can attain energy levels of several gigaelectronvolts by using successive accelerators. Owing to the low mass of the particles (generally electrons) the acceleration created by the curvature of their trajectory in a storage ring, produces an electromagnetic wave when the speeds achieved become relativistic: this is known as synchrotron radiation. This radiation is collected at various locations called beam lines and is used to conduct scientific experiments. HIGHLIGHT No. 11 Research activities The use of ionising radiation in research activities extends to various fields such as medical research, molecular biology, the agri-food industry, materials characterisation, etc. It primarily involves the use of unsealed sources (iodine-125, phosphorus-32, phosphorus-33, sulphur-35, tritium, carbon-14, etc.). Sealed sources (barium-133, nickel-63, caesium-137, cobalt-60, etc.) are also used in gas chromatographs or scintillation counters or, with high- level sources, in irradiators. X-ray generators rays are used for X-ray fluorescence or X-ray diffraction spectrum analyses. The use of scanners for small animals (cancer research) in research laboratories and faculties of medicine should also be noted. Particle accelerators are used in research into matter or for the manufacture of radionuclides. 254 ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025
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