Radioprotection certification: an essential step for the health and safety of nuclear consultants

Radioprotection, a process integrated into Altea Energy’s health and safety policy

Since obtaining its ISO 45001 certification (Occupational Health & Safety) in 2020, Altea Energy has continuously undertaken improvement actions to strengthen its health and safety policy and prevent risks incurred by consultants deployed on its clients’ sites.

The management system related to radioprotection in nuclear environments is at the heart of this approach.

“We have been committed for several years to implementing an organization enabling the continuous improvement of our processes. We take very seriously the health and safety of the consultants we mobilize daily on our clients’ sites. This radioprotection certification, necessary in a nuclear environment, is a guarantee of reassurance for all to demonstrate our commitment to keeping the exposure to ionizing radiation of our consultants as low as reasonably possible.”, Armand Pasteur, co-founder and president of Altea Energy.

A dedicated management system to continuously monitor the level of exposure of consultants to ionizing radiation

To evaluate and monitor the daily dose of sievert (Sv) to which each consultant is exposed and to ensure that it remains well below the constraints set by the company and the French labor Code, Altea Energy provides consultants working on nuclear sites with individual dosimeters and now integrates dedicated management tools to manage this activity.

“In parallel with the dosimeters provided to the consultants, we have created a protocol in the national SISERI database (information system for monitoring exposure to ionizing radiation) making it possible to centralize and keep all the results of the individual dosimetric monitoring of each consultant exposed to ionizing radiation.”, explains Guillaume Escoubas, Nuclear Account Manager of Altea Energy.

In compliance with the GDPR, this sensitive data is only accessible to the consultant, the occupational medicine, and the radioprotection advisor (CRP) of Altea Energy who monitors the monthly doses and ensures that the limits set are not exceeded.

“We have also integrated Pandore, a management platform dedicated to radioprotection, offered by our partner Ingéris Consulting. This tool allows us to individually monitor each consultant on a nuclear site in order to comply with the requirements of the standard and regulations in force: personnel files, risk analysis and prevention plan, assignments on site, edition of authorizations on sites, monitoring of individual doses, monitoring of mandatory medical visits, monitoring of training, project lessons learnt, etc. This formalism is a guarantee of seriousness and quality both for our consultants and for our clients and demonstrates the commitment of our team to prioritizing health and safety at work, whatever the sector concerned.”, adds Adjira Sayad, Radioprotection Manager of Altea Energy.

The Qualianor radioprotection compliance audit

The entire Altea Energy management system was assessed between July and September 2023 by an independent auditor, mandated by the radioprotection certification body Qualianor.

“After the implementation of our document management system, an internal audit and a management review were carried out. We then contacted the certification body Qualianor which carried out an initial audit to analyze the documentary system. This first preparatory step was completed by an physical audit at our headquarters in Saint-Cloud. The audit concluded favorably with no non-compliance, and Qualianor validated our radioprotection certification. The entire team is happy to obtain this certification, which allows us to take a new step in supporting our clients’ nuclear projects in compliance with the standards and laws in force, to effectively protect the deployed consultants.”, underlines Adjira Sayad, Radioprotection Manager of Altea Energy.

Altea Energy’s 5 commitments in terms of radioprotection

As part of the services exposing consultants to ionizing radiation on nuclear sites, Altea Energy undertakes to:

1. Comply with regulatory requirements relating to the protection of consultants against ionizing radiation,
2. Carry out annual audits of its radioprotection management system and integrate radioprotection management into its continuous improvement process,
3. Make every effort to keep the exposure to ionizing radiation of its consultants as low as reasonably possible,
4. Do not authorize the intervention of consultants in abnormal work situations,
5. Establish and maintain appropriate tools adapted to the nature and extent of the radiological risks linked to its activities and communicate to consultants working under ionizing radiation the radioprotection policy and the resulting management system.

“With this new certification, Altea Energy confirms its ambition to support nuclear players to jointly take on a major challenge to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 and diversify the energy mix.”, concludes Armand Pasteur, co-founder and president of Altea Energy.