INES Scale: French Application to Radioactive Material Transport

Abstract

After gaining control of radioactive material transport in June 1997, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) decided to apply the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES scale) to transport events. The Directorate General for Nuclear Safety and Radioprotection (DGSNR) requests that radioactive material package consignors declare any event occurring during transport, and has introduced the use of the INES scale adapted to classify transport events in order to inform the public and to have feedback. The INES scale is applicable to events arising in nuclear installations associated with the civil nuclear industry andevents occurring during the transport of radioactive materials to and from them. The INES scale consists of seven levels. It is based on the successive application of threetypes of criterion (off-site impact, on-site impact and degradation of defence in depth) and uses the maximum level to determine the rating of an accident. As the transport in questiontakes place on public thoroughfares, only the off-site impact criteria and degradation ofdefence in-depth criteria apply. This paper deals with DGSNR's feedback during the past 7 years concerning the French application of the INES scale. Significant events that occurred during transport are presented. The French experience was used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to develop a draft guide in 2002 and the IAEA asked countries to use a new draft for a trial period in July 2004.