Assessment of risks for employees of France Telecom regarding overvoltage arresters containing radio-elements

As a great number of overvoltage arresters used by France Telecom to protect its telecommunication network against disturbing voltages (notably lightning) contain radio-elements, this report aims at assessing dose levels and associated risks for employees exposed to radioactive overvoltage arrester when setting them up, exploiting installations containing such arresters, or when removing them. After a presentation of these devices, a modelling of activities and geometries is proposed, as well as computation tools. Different scenarios and exposure situations are considered. As far as risks are concerned, after a recall on cancers and ionizing radiation, and on the exposure of France Telecom employees, the report comments the knowledge on radio-induced cancers; notably breast cancer, skin cancer, and mouth and pharynx cancers