Measurement of radon in the home
The ASN is taking part in building a new information system designed to collate data on the main pollutants in the home (SISE-Habitat project coordinated by the Directorate General for Health). This project should centralise the radon measurement results for premises open to the public and the information system should come on stream in around 2007.
In order to gain a clearer understanding of the radon doses to which the population as a whole is exposed, a study into the feasibility of incorporating radon measurement into the residential health file required in the event of sale or rental of a property, to ensure fuller information of the purchaser or future tenant, is provided for in the national health and environment plan - PNSE). This study, coordinated by the ASN and the IRSN, should be starting in 2006.

External exposure due to cosmic radiation

Cosmic radiation is of two types, an ionic component and a neutronic component. At sea level, the ionic component is estimated at 32 nSv per hour and the neutronic component at 3.6 nSv per hour.

If we assume the average time spent inside the home (which itself attenuates the ionic component of the cosmic radiation), the individual effective dose in a locality at sea level in France is 267 µSv per year, whereas it could exceed 1100 µSv per year in a mountain locality such as Cervières at 2836 m altitude. The average annual effective dose per individual in France is 331 µSv per year.
  3.2 Doses received by workers
3.2.1 Exposure of nuclear workers

The system of monitoring of external exposure of persons working in facilities where ionising radiation is used has been in place for a number of decades. It is based on the mandatory wearing of personal dosimeters by workers likely to be exposed and is used to check compliance with the regulatory limits applicable to workers. The data recorded give the cumulative exposure dose over a given period (monthly or quarterly).They are fed into the SISERI information system managed by the IRSN and are published annually. The SISERI system will also eventually allow collection of data supplied by "operational dosimetry", in other words, real-time measurement of external exposure doses and the dosimetric results of any internal contamination.

2004 statistics

Results of dosimetric monitoring of worker external exposure in 2004 (source: IRSN)
Total population monitored: 255,321 workers
Monitored population with a recorded dose below the detection threshold: 227,942, or about 89%
Monitored population with a recorded dose of between the detection threshold and 1 mSv: 15,545, or about 6.1%
Monitored population with a recorded dose of between 1 mSv and 20 mSv: 11,783, or about 4.6%
Monitored population which exceeded the annual dose of 20 mSv: 64 including 13 above 50 mSv
Collective dose (sum of individual doses): 63.7 Man.Sv
Annual average individual dose in the population which recorded a non-nil dose: 2.3 mSv