The guidelines presented at the final meeting of the European Shamisen project underlines the importance of involving population in the management of an accident and taking into account the economic and social upheavals and the psychological effects, particularly in the context of an emergency evacuation.​​

Download the report Recommendations and procedures for preparedness and health surveillance of populations affected by a radiation accident​​ (PDF, 338 Ko)​

What to do or not to do in case of a nuclear accident? How to improve the health surveillance and living conditions of affected population? Because the decisions taken at the time of the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents sometimes "did more harm than good", the European Commission funded the Shamisen project, a research program that brought together 19 European and Japanese organizations including IRSN, as well as American, Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian experts. ​

Resarchers agreed to set 28 recommendations to improve the emergency and preparedness to a nuclear accident, the early and intermediate phase and the long-term recovery phase. General principles that can be applied to other types of accidents and disaster have also been identified.

The guidelines aim to extend the management of the nuclear accident beyond the protection of population from exposure to ionizing radiation alone. Measures such as the emergency evacuation have important psychosocial that must be taken into account.

To summarize, the recommendations focus on three main objectives (see infographics above to involve affected populations in the decision making process alongside experts and authorities:

• Take in​to account the well-being of the affected populations;
• Foster participation of affected population and other stakeholders such as medical staff;
• Respect the autonomy and dignity of the affected populations.

All major aspects on nuclear accident management are concerned: evacuation of populations, measurement and dose assessment, health surveillance, epidemiological studies and communication.

For example, local facilitators should make the link between the experts and the affected populations to allow everyone to make a choice based on reliable, timely and up-to-date information. Population should also be encouraged to participate freely in epidemiological studies in order to improve their relevance, efficiency and acceptability. However, it is important to ensure that these studies are informative and sustainable over time the findings are communicated in a clear understandable language to all concerned.

Some of the recommendations of the S​​​hamisen project have already been implemented in France and are included in the French National Plan for Response to a Major Nuclear or Radiological Accident published in February 2014.​

In order to harmonize the radiation monitoring for workers exposed to occupational radiation across its European Union member states, the European Commission awarded a 3-year contract to a consortium led by IRSN. This contract finished in December 2015 with the set up of the data exchange platform named ESOREX.

In accordance with radiation protection principles commonly adopted in the nrauclear industry, the occupational dose uptake by the workers exposed to ionizing radiation must be kept “as low as reasonably achievable”. To that end, each country of the Union performs a continuous dosimetry monitoring and incorporates the data into dedicated national databases.

Transposing the 2013 Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive into each member state’s national legislation requires a review of each regulatory system. In this context, the European Commission awarded a 3-year contract to a consortium led by IRSN for the European Study on Occupational Radiation Exposure (ESOREX), a project to harmonize radiation monitoring for workers exposed to occupational radiation and to share best practices in this area.

The three main objectives of the ESOREX project are:

• to facilitate exchange of information and experience feedback among experts in occupational radiation exposure,
• to help implement the requirements for occupational radiation protection under the 2013 Directive,
• to promote the harmonization of data and information reporting formats within Europe and beyond, with international bodies such as UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation).

Led by IRSN, the project team set up a data exchange platform supported by a database for the assessment of occupational radiation exposure, into which each participating member state could enter its national dosimetry monitoring data. The challenge ahead is to make the ESOREX platform self-sustainable by the end of 2016, by attracting as many member states as possible.

To this end, the ESOREX team consulted with Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities (HERCA) in order to create a network of authorities to lead the platform and promote harmonized dosimetry monitoring standards.

New research results of the epidemiological study INWORKS published today reinforce the evidence of the existence of a relationship between risk of death from cancers other than leukemia and exposure to ionizing radiation. These results complete the first results of INWORKS published in June 2015 regarding leukemia risk.

INWORKS is an epidemiological study of mortality among workers in the nuclear industry coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC www.iarc.fr) and involving IRSN, NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health www.cdc.gov/niosh) for the United States, the PHE-CRCE (Public Health England's Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england) for the United Kingdom, the University of North Carolina (UNC www.unc.edu) and the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL www.creal.cat).

The study combines cohorts of French, American and British workers in the nuclear industry (fuel preparation, research, power generation, reprocessing of spent fuel) and monitored for external radiation exposure by wearing individual dosimeters. The population studied in INWORKS includes more than 300,000 workers, male and female employees from the mid-1940s. The French cohort of more than 59,000 individuals included in INWORKS brings together workers of AREVA NC, the CEA and EDF.

INWORKS aims to verify the validity of the assumptions underlying the current system of radiation protection of workers which is based on an extrapolation of knowledge of radiation-induced risks derived from the epidemiological monitoring of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is the largest epidemiological study ever conducted to quantify the health risks potentially associated with chronic exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation.

In June 2015, the first results of INWORKS reinforced the evidence of the existence of a relationship between leukemia risk and exposure to ionizing radiation (cf. our news report of 23 June 2015).

New research results published today on the website of the British Medical Journal concern the risk of death from cancers other than leukemia.

Download IRSN information note of 21 October 2015: Publication of new results of the epidemiological study INWORKS on the risk of cancer among nuclear industry workers chronically exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation

Download IRSN information note of 23 June 2015: Publication of the first results of the epidemiological study INWORKS on the risk of leukemia and lymphoma in the nuclear industry workers chronically exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation

INWORKS is an epidemiological study of mortality among workers in the nuclear industry coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC www.iarc.fr).

The study involves IRSN, NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health www.cdc.gov/niosh) for the United States, PHE-CRCE (Public Health England's Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england) for the United Kingdom, University of North Carolina (UNC www.unc.edu/) and the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL www.creal.cat.

The study combines cohorts of French, American and British workers in the nuclear industry (fuel preparation, research, power generation, reprocessing of spent fuel) and monitored for external radiation exposure by wearing individual dosimeters. The population studied in INWORKS includes more than 300,000 workers, male and female employees from the mid-1940s. The French cohort of more than 59,000 individuals included in INWORKS brings together workers of AREVA NC, the CEA and EDF.

INWORKS aims to verify the validity of the assumptions underlying the current system of radiation protection of workers which is based on an extrapolation of knowledge of radiation-induced risks derived from the epidemiological monitoring of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This is the largest epidemiological study ever conducted to quantify the health risks potentially associated with chronic exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation.

The first results of INWORKS reinforce the evidence of the existence of a relationship between leukemia risk and exposure to ionizing radiation. In particular, they show that this relationship is observed for chronic exposure to low doses of radiation, as are occupational exposures, thus reinforcing one of the foundations of the current system of radiological protection.

Download the information note of 23 June 2015: Publication of the first results of the epidemiological study INWORKS on the risk of leukemia and lymphoma in the nuclear industry workers chronically exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation

The recommended radon risk prevention approach is simple and focuses on buildings as places of exposure.

ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) issues a new and innovative publication on radon risk management prepared by a working group coordinated by IRSN experts.

The new text, which replaces a document dating from 1993, incorporates developments in scientific knowledge and experience acquired by various countries and organizations in managing radon exposure.

The recommended radon risk prevention approach is simple and focuses on buildings as places of exposure, regardless of their purpose or of the characteristics of their occupants. This avoids having to distinguish between smokers and non-smokers or to propose specific criteria for children for the purpose of risk management.

Yet it is integrated, and ambitious in its goals, aiming to reduce individual and collective exposure levels to below the reference level of 10 mSv/year, or a maximum of 300 Bq/m-3 in indoor radon concentration (above which it is not appropriate to go or stay).

Recommendation suggests applying the optimization principle as part of an action plan based on exposure prevention in the case of new buildings, and on exposure mitigation in the case of existing buildings, while involving stakeholders in the process. Such an action plan would typically be set up by competent national authorities, taking into account the specificities of the country’s situation with respect to radon exposure risks.

More information: Recommendation on radon risk management issued by ICRP

Held simultaneously with the 58th Annual Session of the IAEA General Conference in September 2014, in Vienna (Austria), an international seminar entitled “Medical Management of Radiation Accidents: French and South American Experience and Cooperation” has been jointly organized by France, Brazil, Chile and the IAEA.

IRSN and the French Armed Forces Health Service (SSA) have worked in cooperation with the IAEA for around ten years on the subject of treatment for victims of radiological accidents, notably under the umbrella of the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency. 

The IAEA presented the actions taken to strengthen cooperation in this field between France and South American countries. 

The French experts focused on the need to develop capabilities for the medical management of radiation accidents in the world’s major regions, to draw lessons from recent experience in this field, and to implement diplomatic and financial measures to facilitate patient transfers between countries. 

They also pointed to the need to raise government awareness on the importance of requesting IAEA assistance as quickly as possible, since a key factor in the successful treatment of victims is the rapidity with which they receive treatment. 

Concrete examples of international cooperation were presented, including the successful treatment of Peruvian patients in Chile in 2013 and in Brazil this year, with support from French experts from IRSN and the SSA. The potential for expanding the partnership between France and South America was also discussed.

Euratom Directive 2013/59 of December 5, 2013 on basic safety standards (BSS) for protection against ionizing radiation must be transposed into the national law of each EU member state within the next four years. Based on its experience in implementing the regulations, IRSN is contributing its expertise to help the French public authorities for the transposition process.

Transposing the Euratom directive into national law involves considerable work to update the law in many different areas. In particular, the requirements related to natural sources of ionizing radiation must be tightened, a national action plan to protect against radon must be established, and measures applicable to accident and post-accident situations must be stepped up.

It also involves applying the new equivalent dose limit to the lens of the eyes, adapting the status of qualified experts and ensuring the protection of subcontract workers. The focus in the medical field is on the role of experts in medical physics and on inspecting equipment to protect patients.

These are all areas where IRSN can draw on its experience to assist French public authorities in transposing the directive into French law in the most efficient manner, avoiding an unnecessary burden on operators.

More information: Read the text of the Euratom Directive 2013/59 of 5 December 2013 on standards of basic safety

On 5 December 2013, the european research platforms MELODI, European Radioecology Alliance (ALLIANCE), NERIS and EURADOS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to confirm their joint commitment towards the consolidation and implementation of a strategic vision of radiation protection research in Europe. This ceremony took place at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, in presence of Bruno Schmitz, Head of Unit K4 “Fission” at the Directorate General for Research and Innovation.

Over the last few years, the idea has slowly grown of forming networks and stable associations between European research partners, to promote joint research needs, establish strategic priorities, and develop cooperation in the implementation of research, in particular through a better integration of national R&D programmes within such a holistic European approach.

The aim is to resolve major scientific questions which condition the further enhancement of radiation protection practice in Europe and beyond, such as for example better understanding individual radio-sensitivity, or the nature of dose/effects relationships for low dose exposures, which requires the enhancement of radiobiology and radio-toxicology knowledge in particular. This knowledge then needs to be transferred and developed into doctrines and operational tools to manage issues such as those related to the presence of radioactive contaminants in the environment, or to the management of radiological emergencies and the remediation of the contaminated sites.

For this reason, MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS and EURADOS were established, each grouping specific research areas:

• MELODI focuses on low dose ionising radiation research,
• ALLIANCE groups research initiatives on radioecology,
• NERIS is about emergency preparedness and response as well as governance of post-accidental situations,
• EURADOS specialises in dosimetry.

The intention to establish a joint research agenda was then taken to the next level, not in the least by initiatives from the European Commission, but also by leading European research institutes, resulting in the signature of this MoU.

The cooperation between MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS and EURADOS was initiated under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) and more in particular in the form of a project called “OPERRA” (Open Project for the European Radiation Research Area). OPERRA aims at establishing the necessary structures for managing long-term European research programmes in radiation protection.

The signatory organisations decided to establish a Joint Radiation Protection Research Roadmap Committee, with the aim to coordinate as necessary their respective strategic research agendas and priority roadmaps. Further joint working groups will be set up in areas of common concern, for the benefit of European radiation protection research. MELODI will be responsible for the administration of the coordination.

The Memorandum of Understanding is open to adhesion for other European organisations with interests in radiation protection research.

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More information:

MELODI website

European Radioecology Alliance website

NERIS website

EURADOS website