that previously in force and brings the administrative regime into line with that already in force for own-account transport companies. The new licensing requirement has been in force since 1 January 2026; ASNR issued the first licenses at the end of 2025 and will carry out the first inspections in 2026. TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES The Radioactive Substance Transport (RST) involves numerous players, the carriers of course, but also the consignors, the package designers and manufacturers, etc. The vast majority of shipments is linked to the needs of the non-nuclear industry, the medical sector or research. ASNR considers that in 2025, the safety of RST is on the whole satisfactory, as in previous years. Although a few transport operations – mainly by road – did suffer incidents, these must be put into perspective against the 770,000 transport operations carried out each year. The number of significant RST events on the public highway fell slightly compared with 2024, with a limited number of events rated level 1 on the INES scale. In 2025: ∙nearly one quarter of the significant events notified to ASNR concerned road transport of radiopharmaceutical products, even if this proportion has continued to fall in recent years; ∙an upturn was noted in the number of events related to the transport of natural uranium compounds destined to front-end nuclear “fuel cycle” facilities. ∙a sharp fall in the number of events concerning the transport of gamma ray projectors was observed. Overall, the events consisted mainly of: ∙material non-conformities affecting a package (notably damaged packaging) or its stowage on the conveyance, thereby weakening the strength of the package (whether or not an accident occurs). These cases do not concern transports of spent fuels or highly radioactive waste and primarily concern transports for small-scale nuclear activities; ∙exceeding of the limits set by the regulations, usually by a small amount, for the dose rates or contamination of a package; ∙errors or omissions in package labelling, mainly for transports concerning small-scale nuclear activities; ∙delivery errors concerning radiopharmaceutical products. As these products are often similar from one hospital unit to another, most of them could be used for patient treatment without any impact. The inspections carried out by ASNR also frequently identify such deviations. The consignors and carriers must therefore demonstrate greater rigorousness in day-to-day operations. With regard to transports for Basic Nuclear Installations (BNIs), ASNR finds that the licensees carry out numerous checks and are therefore better able to detect any deviations. The tightening of screws on packages transporting new fuel remains a point requiring particular vigilance. For BNIs performing research programmes, ASNR considers that the consignors must further improve how they demonstrate that the contents actually loaded into the packaging comply with the specifications of the package model approval certificates and the corresponding safety files, notably when this demonstration is carried out by a third-party company. With respect to transports concerning small-scale nuclear activities, the ASNR inspections confirm significant disparities from one carrier to another. The deviations most frequently identified concern the content and actual implementation of the worker radiation protection programme, the QMS, or actual compliance with the procedures put into place. The checks to be carried out prior to shipment of a package must therefore be improved. For example, the inspections concerning the transport of gamma ray projectors regularly reveal inappropriate stowage or tie-down, or an incomplete vehicle kit (fire extinguisher, accident warning devices, etc.). At a time when the uses of radionuclides in the medical sector are generating a high volume of transport traffic, progress is still needed regarding familiarity with the regulations applicable to these transport operations and the arrangements made by certain hospitals or nuclear medicine centres for the shipment and reception of packages. The quality management systems have not yet been formally set out and deployed, more specifically with regard to the responsibilities of each of the personnel involved. ASNR considers that the radiation protection of carriers of radiopharmaceutical products, who are significantly more exposed than the average worker, remains a point warranting particular attention. In addition to compliance with the requirements laid down by transport and radiation protection regulations, this also relates to the radiation protection culture of those involved in transport, which can vary greatly from company to company and from individual to individual. Where necessary, ASNR may adapt its enforcement measures: the directors of the firm Warning Euromatic, for example, were summoned because of a number of deviations, some of them particularly serious, in recent years. For transport operations involving packages that do not require ASNR approval, progress continues to be observed by comparison with previous years, along with better application of the recommendations given in ASN Guide No. 7 (Volume 3). The improvements still to be made generally concern the description of the authorised contents per type of packaging, the demonstration that there is no loss or dispersion of the radioactive content under normal transport conditions, and that it is impossible to exceed the applicable dose rate limits with the maximum authorised content. Finally, ASNR points out that RST may be a limiting factor for certain projects, concerning both BNIs and small-scale nuclear activities (for example, the transport of irradiated targets needed for the production of radionuclides for medical use, the transport of waste from decommissioning worksites, or effluents that have to be treated at a facility other than the one where they were produced). In terms of forward planning, ASNR therefore asks the licensees to exercise vigilance regarding packaging availability, if necessary, ensuring that they are available in sufficient numbers, as well as the existence of other package models which could replace those normally used in the event of any problem affecting them. 30 ABSTRACTS – ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025
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