ASN Report 2017

213 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 08  - Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection BOURGOGNE-FRANCHE-COMTÉ This led more specifically to inspections conducted in May 2015, February 2016 and October 2017. In the course of these inspections, ASN observed strong resolve on the part of general management and the departments concerned to meet the regulatory requirements. The inspection of the radiotherapy department in October 2017 showed that the required improvements in documentation, in the organisation to ensure treatment quality and safety and in the organisation of the medical physics unit, had been achieved. ASN therefore decided in November 2017 to lift the tightened monitoring of the CHRUB and will now be particularly attentive to the completion of the improvement measures that are still in progress. Fluoroscopy-guided interventional practices The opening of the private Dijon-Bourgogne Hospital in Valmy during the summer of 2017 resulted in the grouping of interventional practices previously carried out in the Chenôve and Fontaine-les-Dijon Clinics. At the early stages of this project, ASN verified that the radiation protection requirements were effectively taken into account, particularly regarding compliance with the design standards applicable to the premises. ASN focused particular attention in 2017 on centres that use image intensifiers in the operating theatre, carrying out 6 inspections in this area, 4 of them in private clinics and 2 in public hospitals. Two of the inspected centres were found to be below standard. With regard to patient radiation protection, all the inspected centres have initiated a process to optimise doses delivered to patients, using the skills of medical physicists, often external to the centre. The dosimetric data are thus collected to establish internal reference levels for the procedures involving the highest doses. The obligation to control the quality of the images delivered by the devices is well respected on the whole. There is nevertheless still a need for more widespread training of physicians in patient radiation protection, in the use of imaging devices and the recording of information on the radiation doses delivered to patients in the procedure reports. With regard to occupational radiation protection, it is often necessary to update the workstation/environment analysis to take into account developments in the activities. The premises zoning signs often indicate a permanent risk when in fact it is intermittent. The use of personal protective equipment is increasing, but must continue in this direction, as must the wearing of dosimeters, compliance with the frequency of occupational radiation protection training and coordination of radiation protection measures with outside workers. Two significant radiation protection events concerning workers were notified in 2017. ASN considers that progress must be made in the notification of events in the area of interventional practices. Nuclear medicine In 2017, the majority of the nuclear medicine departments in the region asked ASN for authorisation to introduce changes in their way of functioning. The requests concerned the replacement of old equipment by higher-performance equipment, as well as the moving of nuclear medicine activities to the new Nord Franche-Comté Hospital, which opened in Trevenans in January 2017. In 2017, ASN carried out six inspections in nuclear medicine departments. Two inspections also concerned the opening of new departments. They showed that patient and personnel radiation protection is satisfactory, but further progress is still required. With regard to the radiation protection of health professionals, radiation protection must be better coordinated in the structures that use private practitioners. As for patient radiation protection, the involvement of a medical physicist must become standard practice to achieve a high level of optimisation of delivered doses. Work must moreover be undertaken in the next few years to take fully into account the regulatory requirements applicable to the fitting out of nuclear medicine premises. Half of the significant events relating to patient radiation protection notified to ASN in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in 2017 concern nuclear medicine procedures. The most frequent causes are errors in examination preparation or performance, leading to patients being injected with an inappropriate radiopharmaceutical preparation. 1.2 Radiation protection in the industrial and research sectors Industrial radiography ASN carried out 7 inspections in industrial radiography in 2017, of which 4 were on worksites using radioactive sources or X-ray generators. These inspections revealed overall compliance with radiation protection requirements, and more specifically compliance with the principle of exposure optimisation through the use of collimators. The main areas for improvement are the justification of the safety perimeters and their correct application on the ground, the completion of job studies and the drawing up of guidance documents for incident situation management. In addition, efforts are to be made to bring all the fixed radiology facilities into compliance with the applicable standards. The jamming of a radioactive source outside a gamma ray projector was notified as a significant event in 2017. This event took place in a protected enclosure and had no consequences for the personnel. Generally speaking, one or two events of this type occur per year in France. Universities and laboratories or research centres In 2017, ASN carried out three inspections in university laboratories that use unsealed sources. These inspections revealed satisfactory compliance with radiation protection requirements and rigorous management of radioactive sources and waste. This being said, dosimetric monitoring that is appropriate for the manipulated radionuclides (tritium and carbon-14) must be implemented.