France's new safety authority begins work

Thursday, 11 January 2007 The Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité De Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN) has been remodelled as France's overall nuclear safety authority.

The ASN has authority over France's fleet of 58 power reactors and well as its 16 nuclear fuel cycle and 61 research facilities. It will also oversee two nuclear waste management sites and various activities that use ionizing radiation in medicine, industry and research. Together these activities comprise about 300,000 movements of radioactive material each year.

In addition, ASN takes a radiation protection role in situations where natural background radiation is elevated and has a primary responsibility to protect and inform the public.

ASN comprises the former General Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection (Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nucléaire et de la Radioprotection, DGSNR) under the authority of ministers for health, the environment and industry as well as other state departments. André-Claude Lacoste, formerly head of DGSNR has been appointed head of ASN.

ASN is advised by research carried out by the Institute ot Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, IRSN).

Further information

Autorité De Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN