ASN criticises methodology at EdF monitoring labs
The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) has decided to refuse or suspend the accreditation of laboratories run by Electricité de France (EdF) for monitoring radioactivity in the environment around its plants. It says that the methodologies used by the labs do not conform to ASN requirements.
The French Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité De Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN) has decided to refuse or suspend the accreditation of laboratories run by Electricité de France (EdF) for monitoring radioactivity in the environment around its plants.
As of 1 January, the ASN has made it a requirement that laboratories measuring radioactivity in the environment must be subjected to a procedure of accreditation. It earlier set up an accreditation committee responsible for issuing an opinion on the technical quality of applications submitted by such laboratories.
The ASN said that applications submitted by EdF in the second half of 2008 for the accreditation of its in-house monitoring laboratories highlighted inconsistencies in the radiation measurement methodologies used.
On 16 December 2008, following an unfavourable decision by the accreditation committee, the ASN decided to refuse any more applications from EdF for accreditation of its monitoring laboratories and to suspend those applications already under consideration. As a result, the ASN said that EdF's laboratories are not approved for measurements of tritium and beta radioactivity in water and air.
The ASN has asked EdF to immediately develop a program to correct the situation and to have that program in operation by 1 February. Until then, EdF must outsource the monitoring of radiation around its nuclear sites to other laboratories that have been accredited. The ASN said that it will conduct site inspections to ensure that all corrective measures have been put in place.
The Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, IRSN) continues to monitor environmental radioactivity around French nuclear plant sites, the ASN said.
According to EdF, the laboratory on each of its sites carries out systematic measurements and sampling of air, water, fauna and flora within a 5 kilometre radius of the nuclear power plant. The results of these tests along with others, such as water temperature measurements, are published by the sites every month. A complete environmental report is published by the plants every year and submitted to the nuclear regulatory body, public authorities, members of the local information committees and other interested parties.
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