Current status and update of radiation emergency preparedness for radiological/nuclear disasters : France
Résumé
France is a highly nuclearized country with 18 Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) and 56 reactors.
Nuclear safety and emergency preparedness are thus of mere importance. These topics cannot be
extensively covered and we have selected a few items illustrating recent developments: safety of NPP,
some new elements of policy for emergency and post-accidental management, recent developments in
tools and methods and preparation for CBRN events.
The emergency response is described in a public guide [1] describing the role of the different actors
and associated protection actions to be implemented in 8 typical situations. As a summary, the operator
is in charge of restoring the NPP, the Prefect (i.e. the local state representative) is in charge of
emergency response actions like evacuation. The Institute for Radiation protection and Nuclear Safety
(IRSN) contributes in establishing diagnostic and prognostic of the nuclear facility, release prediction,
provides the authorities with technical data, and deploys staff and resources on the field. The French
Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) provides the authorities with recommendations on the management of
the situation.