Under decree 2002-255 of 22 February 2002, which created the Directorate General for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (DGSNR), the Directorate is in particular responsible for:
- organising a permanent radiation protection watch, in particular through radiological monitoring of the environment nationwide;
- supervising gaseous and liquid effluent discharges and waste from basic nuclear installations.

Nuclear safety, radiation protection and environmental concerns all share the same goal of protecting workers, patients, the public and the environment against the risks linked to nuclear activities and to ionising radiation.

The changes to the regulations introduced by the above-mentioned decree of 22 February 2002, confirms the wider view of nuclear safety. The ASN therefore tackles the issues of nuclear safety, radiation protection and the environment from a general standpoint, using an integrated approach and the same tools - particularly inspections - and the same demands of stringency, competence, transparency and independence.

With regard to the environment, the ASN's actions are primarily focused on 3 areas:
- monitoring radioactivity in the environment with a view to informing the population of the health impact of nuclear activities in France;
- minimising the dispersal into the environment of radioactivity and toxic substances from the nuclear industry. This involves strict control of effluent discharges and waste management. The ASN is responsible for supervision of discharges of radioactive and chemical, liquid and gaseous effluents from basic nuclear installations (BNIs);
– the prevention and limitation of detrimental effects and hazards resulting from the operation of basic nuclear installations (BNIs), and of inconvenience to the neighbourhood or for public health, safety and hygiene, agriculture, nature and environment protection purposes, or for conservation of sites and monuments.

Generally speaking, ASN policy regarding environmental protection tends towards that applied to conventional industrial activities. Thus numerous rules concerning discharges or control of their impacts are comparable to those used in industry. As an illustration, concerning the prevention of risks linked to the spread of legionella, the revised ministerial order of 31 December 1999 refers to the provisions applicable to installations classified on environmental protection grounds.

In line with this policy, the ASN has for several years been developing inspections focused on effluent and waste management and on the implementation of environmental protection measures. In 2005, it also harmonised significant event declaration criteria.

Article R. 1333-11 of the Public Health Code provides for the creation of a national network of environmental radioactivity measurements, in order to help estimate the doses to which the population is exposed as a result of nuclear activities as a whole.

This network is being deployed for two main reasons:
– to implement a quality policy in the measurement of radioactivity, by setting up a system of approvals;
– to develop transparency in information concerning the health impact of nuclear activities in France.

Revision of this article of the Public Health Code has been initiated, in particular to improve its legibility.

This article of the Public Health Code is modified by the order of 27 June 2005 which organises a national network for environmental radioactivity measurements and sets the procedures for laboratory approval. This text abrogates the previous requirements and its preparation entailed wide-ranging discussions with the players in the national network.

These new regulatory provisions led in particular to a separation between the laboratory approval process and the process for transmission of the environmental radioactivity measurements to the national network, as well as the introduction of interim measures giving the laboratories a certain time to bring their practices into conformity with the requirements of standard NF EN ISO/CEI 17025.