Radiological report of the French environment from 2015 to 2017 - Mission report 2018

The National Network for the Measurement of Radioactivity in the Environment (RNM), whose objectives are set by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), centralizes and makes available to the public all the results of the radiological monitoring of the territories carried out by its members (state services, local authorities, non-governmental associations, public institutions and Nuclear Operators). Every three years, they entrust IRSN with the task of analyzing, interpreting and presenting the results of this monitoring to the public. The 2015-2017 assessment report extends and completes the one prepared previously for the 2011-2014 period. The assessment report highlights the high stability of radioactivity levels measured in the environment of nuclear facilities and sites, for which the releases have generally remained constant. However, there is a significant drop in environmental levels measured near the sites of Bruyeres-le-Chatel (Essonne), Marcoule (Drome) - whose tritium releases decreased by almost a factor of 10 between 2012 and 2016 - and the Laue-Langevin Institute in Grenoble - whose releases have been reduced by almost 40%). As in the previous assessment report, the IRSN carried out an evaluation of the radiological exposure of the populations by means of environmental measurements carried out for the RNM. Although IRSN was unable to conduct the exercise for all the sites (because the radioactivity levels around some of the sites were practically non-measurable), IRSN was able to establish, for example, that the doses to the populations in the environment close to the Nuclear Power Plants are of the order of 1 microsievert per year (μSv / year), i.e. one thousandth of the regulatory limit (1000 μSv / year). The one evaluated in the vicinity of the La Hague Nuclear Reprocessing Facility, is the highest recorded for this report, is 8 μSv / year. These assessments confirm the order of magnitude calculated by Operators through the modeling and monitoring of releases into the environment.