Radioprotection and training

In a country where 75% of its electric power production is nuclear-based and where the health industry is making more and more use of ionizing radiation, Radioprotection education in France is necessarily characterized by a wide diversity in the trainings delivered and a significant increase in the number of actors providing these training programs. From the isolated worker using an industrial gammagraphy device to the thousands of persons working in major nuclear installations, it is estimated that more than 100,000 workers are exposed to ionizing radiation. Due to the seriousness of the pathological consequences resulting from overexposure to ionizing radiation, the volume of population concerned ant the media impact generated by the problem, one of the basic requirements formulated at the very early stages of the legislation is the obligation of informing workers of the hazards of exposure and the preventive measures to be taken. Employers are legally required to inform their personnel of the risks taken when handling equipment generating ionizing radiation of when using radio-nuclides. This obligation translates concretely by the need for the employer to name a qualified Radioprotection Department. The Qualified Officer or the Radioprotection Department are responsible for, among other tasks, ensuring training of workers. Two training orientations can be distinguished, each having different goals: - the first consists in training a body of highly-skilled Radioprotection professionals or managers (Qualified Officers), - the second consists in training all workers having any contact with ionizing radiation; each person should be capable of ensuring his own Radioprotection regardless of the presence of Qualified Officers. (authors)