LES ACTIVITÉS NUCLÉAIRES : RAYONNEMENTS IONISANTS ET RISQUES POUR LA SANTÉ ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT These inspections covered about a third of the suppliers with safetysignificant business, considering specific inspection criteria, more particularly linked to the suppliers’ responsibilities in the tracking and recovery of disused sealed radioactive sources from the users in order to dispose of them appropriately, taking into account the radiation risks they present for people and the environment. ASNR considers the radiation protection situation associated with the radionuclide supply activity to be satisfactory on the whole and stable compared to 2024. The large majority of licensees meet the main requirements and assume their responsibilities adequately (transfer of documents on delivery, setting up the source recovery streams, monitoring of distributed sources), which are properly implemented by the large majority of them, in the same proportions as those observed last year. More specifically, compliance with the obligation of unconditional recovery of distributed sealed radioactive sources that have expired (ten years counting from the date of the first registration figuring on the supply form) or have become disused, is stable with respect to 2024. However, shortcomings relating to the definition of the conditions for the return of radioactive sources and the submission of a recovery certificate in accordance with the requirements set out by the ASNR, which had already been identified in 2024, became more pronounced in 2025. In particular, the costs (or the conditions for updating them) associated with the return of radioactive sources are not systematically defined by suppliers at the time of delivery. The supplier’s verification of the administrative compliance of its customers prior to any delivery of ionising radiation sources or prior to any work on such sources, for example in the context of maintenance, is an obligation that was already the subject of particular attention in 2024. This remains a point requiring particular attention for the year 2026. Indeed, although customers’ administrative documents are generally requested by suppliers, they are not systematically checked in full. To the same extent as in 2024, a failure to verify the consistency between the type and activity of the sources ordered and the scope of the customer’s registration authorisation or notification certificate was observed in significant numbers of cases. Furthermore, although the inventory of distributed ionising radiation sources (sealed sources, unsealed sources and electrical equipment emitting ionising radiation) is correctly completed by all suppliers, improvements are expected regarding the identification and monitoring of sealed radioactive sources considered obsolete under French regulations. Of the 22 inspections mentioned above, around ten concerned suppliers of electrical equipment emitting ionising radiation. Adjustment and maintenance activities, including those carried out at customers’ premises, constitute nuclear activities that are predominantly subject to authorisation, since these operations often involve bypassing safety features, and therefore the use of equipment outside the normal operating conditions that ensure the radiation protection of operators. Among the suppliers inspected, it was found that for the majority of them, their equipment maintenance activities were not fully covered by their licence. In addition, the provision to customers of tools for bypassing equipment safety features, without prior verification that the customers were indeed authorised (and therefore able to do so safely) to use this equipment outside normal operating conditions, is also a frequently observed non-compliance. These points will continue to be the subject of particular vigilance during inspections in 2026, as they directly affect the safety of operators. There is a very slight decrease in the number of ESRs reported in 2025 compared with 2024, but for the third year running no significant event rated level 1 or higher on the INES scale was recorded. The ESRs reported for 2025 mainly concerned contamination on surfaces (parcels prior to dispatch, floors of waste storage areas), damage to sealed radioactive sources, the discovery of radioactive substances in unauthorised locations, or incorrect characterisation of sources (sources not complying with the documentation provided or the expected specifications). In contrast to 2024, no incidents involving abnormal exposure of workers were recorded among suppliers of non-cyclotron sources. None of the supplier ESRs reported in 2025 had significant consequences on the environment or the workers. 5 – Conclusion and outlook Implementation of the new regulatory framework applicable to nuclear activities In 2021, reinforcing of the graded approach to oversight, based on a classification of the different categories of nuclear activities involving sources of ionising radiation continued, with the entry into effect of resolutions relative to the registration system and the development of the associated on-line registration service allowing the application files to be submitted on line. ASN supplemented the information available on the on-line services portal in 2024 to better assist the users of this new system. In 2022, to finalise the overhaul of the Public Health Code systems as a whole, ASN began the process of revising the three existing resolutions concerning the content of applications to carry out nuclear activities subject to the licensing system; this update will include, if necessary, the part relating to the supply of devices emitting X-rays. This work was continued in 2025 by ASNR with the publication online of the new application form for authorisation to possess and use sealed radioactive sources and that relating to industrial radiography. In 2026, the work will focus on the possession and use of other sources of ionising radiation (in particular electrical equipment emitting ionising radiation and particle accelerators). In 2025, ASNR also began its regulatory oversight of the nuclear activities it carries out itself, whether by issuing the first notifications of the conditions for carrying out nuclear activities or by conducting its first internal inspections. ASNR is continuing, in collaboration with the DGT, its preliminary work on the updating of the regulatory framework concerning the technical design rules and the certification procedures for industrial radiography devices (Article R. 4312-1-3 of the Labour Code), ensuring that it ties in properly with the existing European framework. In 2025, ASNR also participated in the updating of the part of the Labour Code relative to the protection of workers against the risks arising from ionising radiation (Decree 2025-1347 of 26 December 2025). More specifically, as from 1 July 2027, the utilisation in work zones of industrial radiology devices whose manipulation presents a high risk of exposure to ionising radiation and which contain one or more high-activity sealed sources, will necessitate at least two CAMARIcertificated employees of the company possessing the device. In this context, the provisions of the current ASN resolution 2007-DC0074 of 29 November 2007 amended, (which establishes the list of devices or device categories whose operation requires the CAMARI certificate) and those of the Order of 21 December 2007 amended (which defines the conditions of CAMARI training and certification), will be updated by a new Order in 2027. This new Order, in whose drafting ASN then ASNR has been involved since 2024, will also set the conditions of utilisation of mobile industrial radiology devices in a cordoned-off work zone. ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025 259 01 05 02 06 03 04 09 10 07 11 13 08 12 A / Z
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