[From knowledge about risk to the regulation of exposures to ionizing radiation]

Implementation of radiological protection principles has been introduced in French law in several ordinances during the last thirty years. They take in consideration: protection of the workers, including dose limitation, radiological quality control, individual dosimetry practices and features of medical survey; protection of the members of the public, including dose limitation, authorized levels of radioactive effluents from nuclear plants and reference levels for radioactive sources in the environment. Patients exposure is considered through several administrative recommendations taken from European Directive 84/466 from EURATOM. Future generations are not considered explicitely, up to now. Following a reappraisal of risk assessment by different scientific bodies new recommendations and new operational concepts have been provided by International Commission of Radiological Protection. They were directly transposed in European Directives. Implementation of European Directives 96/29 and 97/43 in national law will modify greatly the general architecture of French nuclear legislation which has been built up layer after layer without taking its roots in the bases of administrative, penal and civil laws.