LES ACTIVITÉS NUCLÉAIRES : RAYONNEMENTS IONISANTS ET RISQUES POUR LA SANTÉ ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT ∙The loader is responsible for loading the package onto the vehicle and for stowing it in accordance with the consignor’s specific instructions and the rules of good professional practice. ∙The carrier and, more particularly, the driver, is responsible for carriage of the shipment to its destination. Their duties include checking the good condition of the vehicle, the presence of the on-board equipment (extinguishers, driver’s personal protection equipment, etc.), compliance with the dose rate limits around the vehicle and the display of the orange plates and placards. ∙The consignee is under the obligation not to postpone acceptance of the goods, without imperative reason and, after unloading, to verify that the requirements concerning them have been satisfied. It must more specifically perform dose rate measurements on the package after receipt in order to detect any problems that may have occurred during shipment. ∙The package owner must set up a maintenance system in conformity with that described in the safety case and the approval certificate in order to guarantee that the elements important for safety are maintained in good condition. All the transport players must set up a quality management system (previously called a “management system”), which consists of a range of provisions for guaranteeing compliance with the regulatory requirements and providing proof thereof. This for example consists in performing double independent checks on the most important operations, in adopting a system of checklists to ensure that the operators forget nothing, in keeping a trace of all the operations and all the checks performed, etc. The quality management system is a key element in ensuring the reliability of transport operations. ASN Guide No. 44 informs professionals involved in radioactive substances transport operations of ASNR’s requirements regarding the contents of a quality management system. It highlights the graded approach, with the level of requirements for the management system being proportionate to the safety implications of the activity of these professionals and the size of the company concerned. The regulations also require that all operators involved in transport receive training appropriate to their functions and responsibilities. This training must in particular cover the steps to be taken in the event of an accident. Contractors which carry, load, unload or handle (after loading and before unloading) packages of radioactive substances on French soil shall declare these transport activities to the ASNR on-line services portal before carrying them out. This on-line service is also available in English. The transport of certain radioactive substances (notably fissile substances) must first be notified by the consignor to ASNR and to the Ministry of the Interior, seven days prior to departure. This notification stipulates the materials carried, the packagings used, the transport conditions and the details of the consignor, the carrier and the consignee. It is a means of ensuring that the public authorities have rapid access to useful information in the event of an accident. In 2025, 1,122 notifications were sent to ASNR. 2.5 Preparedness for management of emergencies The management of emergency situations is the final level of "Defence in Depth". In the event of an accident involving transport, it should be able to mitigate the consequences for persons and the environment. As a transport accident can happen anywhere in the country, it is probable that the emergency services arriving on the scene would have no specific training in radiological risks and that the population in the vicinity would be unaware of this particular risk. It is therefore particularly important that the national emergency response organisation be robust enough to take account of these points. In this respect, the regulations set obligations on the various stakeholders in the field of transport. All those involved must therefore immediately alert the emergency services in the event of an accident. This is more particularly true for the carrier, who would in principle be the first party to be informed. It must also transmit the alert to the consignor. Furthermore, the vehicle crew must have written instructions available in the cab, stipulating the first steps to be taken in the event of an accident (for example: trip the circuitbreaker, if the vehicle is so equipped, to prevent any outbreak of fire). Once the alert has been given, the parties involved must cooperate with the public authorities to assist with the response operations, including by providing all pertinent information in their possession. This in particular concerns the carrier and the consignor who have information about the package and its contents that is of great value for determining the appropriate measures to be taken. To meet these regulatory obligations, ASNR recommends that the parties involved implement emergency response plans allowing the organisation and tools to be defined in advance, enabling them to react efficiently in the event of an actual emergency. ASN Guide No. 17 details the essential topics to be developed in a management plan for incidents and accidents involving the transport of radioactive substances for civil use. The driver may be unable to give the alert, if injured or killed in the accident. In this case, detection of the radioactive nature of the consignment would rely on the emergency services. The trefoil signs on vehicles, which indicate the presence of radioactive substances, are used to signal the presence of dangerous goods: emergency services are then instructed to immediately evacuate an area around the vehicle, usually within a 100 metre radius, and to notify the prefecture of the radioactive nature of the load, which will then alert ASNR. Management of the accident is coordinated by the Prefect, who oversees the response operations. Until such time as the national experts are in a position to provide him or her with advice, the Prefect relies on the emergency plan adopted to deal with these situations. ASNR is able to offer the Prefect assistance by providing technical advice on the more specific measures to be taken. This advice is formulated by assessing the condition of the damaged package and anticipating how the situation may develop. Furthermore, the ASNR regional division dispatches a staff member to the Prefect to facilitate liaison with the national Emergency Centre (see chapter 4 on radiological and post-accident emergencies). At the same time, human and material resources would be sent to the scene of the accident as rapidly as possible (radioactivity measuring instruments, medical resources, package recovery resources, etc.). These resources would consist of fire service teams specialising in radioactive risk (the Mobile Radiological Intervention Units – CMIR), along with ASNR’s mobile units, or even those of nuclear installation licensees (such as the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission – CEA, or EDF), which could be requisitioned by the Prefect if necessary, even if the shipment in question does not concern these licensees. As with other types of emergency, communication is an important factor in the event of a transport accident so that the population can be informed of the situation and be given instructions on what to do. In order to prepare the public authorities for the eventuality of an accident involving a shipment of radioactive substances, exercises are held to test the entire response organisation that would be put ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025 269 01 05 02 06 03 07 04 09 10 11 13 08 12 A / Z
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