Human exposure
Monitoring human exposure to ionizing radiation is part of IRSN's activity. For this purpose, it develops computer tools and analyzes data on workers, paients and the population at large.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2015:
- 2015 report on exposure of the French population to ionizing radiation.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2015 - Chapter Activities / Radiation protection.
Radiation protection in the workplace
For workers exposed to radiation on the job, IRSN conducts research and proposes tools designed to improve knowledge of occupational exposure to ionizing radiation for better control of this risk.
The Institute is responsible for the SISERI information system for occupational dosimetry registration, who was developed at the request of the Ministry of Labour in order to centralise, verify and preserve all dosimetric data relating to each worker exposed to ionising radiation in France. The dosimetric data collected in the SISERI system constitute a national register of exposure of individual workers. This system is intended for operational users such as occupational doctors and experts in radiation protection.
French leader in the field of passive dosimetry, IRSN is providing for more than 40 years the dosimetric monitoring in areas as diverse as the nuclear industry and non-nuclear, medical, research laboratories and teaching national defense, aeronautics and aerospace. And with its mobile whole-body counting laboratory, IRSN can organize on-site measurements on workers handling radionuclides that have a half-life too short for normal analyses.
Given the growing demand for personnel to assist radiation protection officers in the medical field, IRSN has developed consultancy services to study workplaces. This service is based on the know-how developed by the Institute over the years and is consistent with its mission to promote a nuclear culture based on radiation protection in the healthcare sector. Workplace studies define radiological zones and classify personnel functions to determine which types of operational and passive dosimeters are the most appropriate for monitoring each staff member.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2015:
- Opinion on radiation protection for personnel working at nuclear power plants
- Transposition of the new european directive on basic radiation protection standards
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2015 - Chapter Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2014:
- Organization of the first ESOREX project workshop for the study of occupational radiation exposure
- Evolution of the SISERI information system
- Sievert PN: new dose monitoring application for flight crews.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2014 - Chapter Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2013:
- Reglementation: New dose limit for the lens of the eye
- Epidemiology: New results provided by the combined cohort of nuclear workers
- Metrology: New spectrometer for neutron metrology.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2013 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2012:
- Launch of the ELDO project to study the risk of radiation-induced cataracts
among interventional cardiologists, within the framework of the European network of excellence on low-doses research (DoReMi) - Research on uranium intake through the skin.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2012 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2011:
- Assessment of radiation dose received during the accidental contamination by tritium in the St-Maur-des-Fossés site
- Improving quantification of chronic low-dose exposure
- Results of the epidemiological study O'CLOC about cataract risk among interventional cardiologists
- Radiation protection of medical staff: Participation in the European project ORAMED
- Organization of an international neutron metrology intercomparison.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2011 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation Protection.
Effects of chronic exposure
Topics IRSN worked on in 2015:
- Ecological consequences of the Fukushima accident: research into dose-effect relationships based on bird observations
- Final meeting of the European Strategy for Allied Radioecology (STAR) project
- Guideline values related to exposure of human fauna and flora to uranium present in French freshwaters
- First results of the Intrenational Nuclear Workers Study (INWORKS)
- Tritium effects: resultas and report on the collaboration with CNL
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2015 - Chapter Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2014:
- Chronic exposure to uranium and nephrotoxicity
- Relations between exposure to ionizing radiation during CT scans and the onset of tumors in children.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2014 - Chapter Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2013:
- Metabolomics: A valid approach for improved characterization of internal contamination
- Study of uranium transfer mechanisms to the brain via the olfactory route
- Effect of chronic exposure to Cesium-137 on the progression of a cardiovascular pathology.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2013 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2012:
- Childhood leukemia and proximity to nuclear facilities
- Internal dosimetry for "small animals"
- Launch of a joint research program
- Partnership with AECL on research program on the effects of low-dose tritium exposure.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2012 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2011:
- Contribution to the French Birth Cohort Study (ELFE)
- Organization of a consensus conference on the non-cancerous effects of ionizing radiation, within the framework of the European network of excellence on low-doses research (DoReMi)
- MELODI platform: Adoption of the strategic research agenda on low doses
- ENVIRHOM program: study of metabolomic fingerprint of cesium-137 contamination
- Experimental study of the chemical toxicity of uranium.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2011 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation Protection.
Protection in healthcare
IRSN works to optimize patient exposure. The Institute is responsible for the establihment and the periodic updating of the national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) established by the French Code of Public Health for optimizing the doses delivered for commonly performed diagnostic procedure (radiology, CT scanning, and nuclear medicine).
IRSN also carries out experimental research aimed at improving knowledge of the mechanisms behind side effects of treatments using ionizing radiation, in order to identify and propose new treatments aimed at preventing or curing these complications.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2015:
- Report on research guidelines in the medical field
- Report on the European project Bioquart (2012-2015)
- Clinical studies of complications in brain radiation therapy: EPIBRAINRAD
- Collaboration with NIH in cell therapy
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2015 - Chapter Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2014:
- New avenues of research into cell therapy and radiation-induced visceral pain
- Improving knowledge of doses in stereotactic radiation therapy
- Radiodiagnosis: 2 new reports on medical exposure in France
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2014 - Chapter Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2013:
- New results in the ROSIRIS research program
- New results in cell therapy research
- Patient dosimetry: Optimizing the planning of nuclear medicine therapy
- Patient dosimetry: Improvement in cardiac dosimetry for radiation therapy.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2013 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2012:
- ROSIRIS research program: TGIF1, a new contributor to radiotherapy complications
- Dosimetry of small size photon fields
- Protontherapy and secondary neutrons
- Investigation following two accidents in interventional cardiology
- Cell therapy of radiation-induced lesions on a peruvian worker.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2012 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation protection.
Topics IRSN worked on in 2011:
- Investigation following the overexposure of a patient during radiotherapy at Angers University Hospital
- Initial results of the ROSIRIS research program on the side effects of radiotherapy
- Pursuit of research on radiological burns and treatment by cellular therapy
- Collaboration with the World Health Organization: participation in the WHO/REMPAN network conference and in the international WHO BioDoseNet project.
For more information about these topics, consult
IRSN's Activity Report 2011 - Chapter 03: Activities / Radiation Protection.
