LESSONS FROM TRANSPORT EVENTS INVOLVING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS OCCURRED IN FRANCE BETWEEN 1999 AND 2009

This paper presents a synthesis of the transport events involving radioactive materials occurred in France from 1999 to 2009, which have been notified to the competent authority. For each of them, about 70 parameters have been collected from the analysis of the notifications and reports of the events (type of event, type of package, level on the International Nuclear Event Scale…). The annual evolution of the number of transport events according to their nature and their seriousness is presented as well as the summary of incidents with radiological implication. Two significant events are described more in detail: - the one that involved in 2001 overexposure of the Paris-CDG airport handling personnel, - the event, occurred in 2007, that involved a type B package in a fire. The results from the analysis of these events have been used by the French Nuclear safety authority (ASN) and the French Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), to propose measures aiming at reducing the risks related to these transports. Indeed, areas of improvement have been identified relating to package designs and transport operations, as well as regulatory modifications and priority topics have been retained for inspections led by ASN. In many events, human error has been cited as contributing factor. “Human error” mechanisms are part of the ordinary spectrum of human behaviour. Such mechanisms are usually assessed by methods with fault tree analysis. It is important to think about what can be stated in the regulation to limit the associated risk.