The French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (IRSN) ("Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute") is a public official establishment with an industrial and commercial aspect (EPIC) created by the AFSSE Act (Agence française de sécurité sanitaire environnementale - French Agency of Sanitary Environmental Security) and by the February 22, 2002 decreed n°2002-254. The IRSN is placed under the conjoint authority of the Defence minister

Minister of Defence (France)

The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....

, the Environmental minister

Minister of the Environment (France)

The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing is an agency of the government of France, centred around a cabinet member who is often referred to as the "Minister of Ecology". This position is occupied by Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet...

, the Industry minister

Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (France)

The Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment , or Minister of Finance for short, is one of the most prominent positions in the cabinet of France after the Prime Minister....

 and the Health

Minister of Health (France)

Minister of Health and Solidarity is currently a cabinet position in the Government of France. The health portfolio oversees the healthcare public services and the health insurance part of the French Social Security...

 and Research minister

Minister of National Education (France)

The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...

.

The IRSN gathers more than 1 500 experts and researchers from the Institut de protection et de sûreté nucléaire (IPSN - Protection and Nuclear Safety Institute) and the Office de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants (OPRI - Ionizing radiations protection office). These scientists are thus competents on nuclear

Nuclear engineering

Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of the breakdown as well as the fusion of atomic nuclei and/or the application of other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics...

 safety, radioactive protection and control of nuclear and sensitive materials.

The IRSN realize investigations, expertises and studies on the fields of nuclear safety, protection against ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation is radiation composed of particles that individually have sufficient energy to remove an electron from an atom or molecule. This ionization produces free radicals, which are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons...

, protection and control of nuclear material, and protection against voluntary ill-advised acts.

See also

• Chernobyl disaster
  Chernobyl disaster
  The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
  
  (the IRSN published studies about Chernobyl's consequences in France and Europe)