On Thursday, 3rd September 2020, the Director General of IRSN held an exchange with the President of the Federal Office of Radiological Protection (BfS), Inge Paulini, on current issues in radiation protection.

Since the publication of the IRSN information report of June 30, 2020, measurements available abroad have made it possible to model the transport of air masses in Western Europe and to determine a plausible geographic area of the release origin which is located on a territory covering part of the Baltic countries and Western Russia.

Measurements in France from the IRSN’s OPERA monitoring network do not reveal the presence of radionuclides linked to this release.

​​​​Jean-Christophe Niel, Director General of IRSN: “The transition and succession will be well assured with this team, which guarantees continuity and the highest level of excellence. I would like to warmly thank Thierry Charles for the expertise he has shared over the years and I salute his entire career and his unfailing commitment to IRSN and nuclear safety.”

The safety and radiation protection authorities of the Scandinavian countries have reported an increase in atmospheric radioactivity detected by their monitoring stations during June.

To date, available measurements from the IRSN’s OPERA monitoring network show no abnormal increase in the level of atmospheric radioactivity in France.

​Since the publication of our information report of April 24, 2020, it seems that the fire outbreaks are now extinct. The new information report published today by IRSN contains the latest information available and updates the modeling of the trajectories of air masses contaminated by fires.

​The new information note published today by IRSN updates our previous situation points. It also gives the results of the first measurements carried out in France concerning air masses from the fire area. These measurements show very tiny levels of radioactivity, consistent with its modeling results.

The fires in Ukraine, which had been announced extinguished on April 15, 2020, were reactivated under the effect of strong winds which stirred up the embers of previous fires.

On April 17, 2020, IRSN produced a new information report explaining the evolution of the fires compared to the situation presented on April 15, 2020, and specifying some elements relating to the nuclear installations located on the site of the Chernobyl NPP.

​IRSN publishes an assessment of the possible radiological impacts of the fires in Ukraine in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl power plant.

​​Our report "International panorama of research on alternatives to geological disposal of high-level waste and long-lived intermediate-level waste" is now available in English !

​Our report "International panorama of research on alternatives to geological disposal of high-level waste and long-lived intermediate-level waste" is now available in English !