“Although 2023 was not run of the mill, mainly marked by the proposed merger of IRSN and ASN, and by an increase in staff turnover, the results remain positive. Firstly, in the area of using and sharing knowledge, digital learning has expanded and the School of Management was launched in September. We have also initiated a partnership with the University of Nuclear Professions for 2024. The communities of practice have continued to develop and are truly successful! Next, we built and published our responsible digital roadmap for the next 5 years. And a number of flagship projects of our digital transformation have been completed: data conservation, redesign of the SISERI application, new website, etc. Furthermore, the HR department has been reorganized around three major issues: employment and attractiveness, with the professionalization of the recruitment process in a tight labor market; GPEC (with the implementation of a new job reference framework); and QLWC (with the renegotiation of the teleworking agreement and the implementation of the initiative to prevent psychosocial risks). As for CSR, it represents one of the major subject areas in the transformation of the public institution, thus of IRSN, where it is present at all levels. Lastly, IRSN Lab provided support for and accelerated many projects this year: it is definitively anchored in the Institute’s culture.”
Michel Enault
Transformation Director
Launched on March 16, 2023, this new content-enriched version offers a more modern design, more intuitive navigation and responsive compatibility for optimal viewing on computers, tablets and smartphones. The homepage highlights, in texts and videos, recent content and the Institute’s “Major Issues”. Themed sections provide access by theme (environment, health, safety, etc.) to the extensive available content. A new section, dedicated to research, allows users to find out about the Institute’s laboratories, projects and facilities. The site maintains its knowledge base, rich in educational content, infographics, podcasts and videos to foster public understanding.
The English version en.irsn.fr was subsequently published.
The mission of IRSN’s magazine, Repères, is to provide professionals and the general public with keys to understanding nuclear safety and security, radiation protection, with an educational approach to risk prevention. The magazine deciphers the news related to these issues and reports on the Institute’s actions in these areas.
As reading habits change, Repères became a 100% digital medium in November 2023, also developed in responsive design. While offering a new reading experience, the magazine’s spirit remains the same, focusing on an educational approach to the issues.
Read the magazine (in French only)Measuring radioactivity: a new series of educational videos
What is the difference between Gray, Sievert and Becquerel? How does IRSN measure radioactivity in the environment and in humans? Every day, the public asks IRSN questions about the measurement of radioactivity. To answer them, as part of its mission to inform, the Institute has published nine educational videos with researchers and experts talking about their scientific and technical fields.
See the videos (in French only)One of the Institute’s missions is to inform and raise awareness in the general public to issues related to nuclear and radiological risks. Focus on the main actions carried out in 2023.
In October 6 – 16, the Institute mobilized again for the Science Festival. Experts from the IRSN Radiation Protection Study and Appraisal Department took part in the L’Esprit Sorcier’s program, “Science en direct”, on the theme of diagnostic examinations involving radioactivity. In addition, the Institute opened its Le Vésinet (Yvelines) site again this year. About 700 people came to meet IRSN experts and find out about their activities. IRSN took part in numerous events throughout the country: “Dans les bras du Rhône” festival, with a visit to the Arles radiological environmental monitoring station; Science in the classes, workshops in the Science Villages in Nantes (Loire Atlantique), Cherbourg (Manche) and Manosque (Hautes-Alpes).
New this year: on the 60th anniversary of the Cherbourg Radioecology Laboratory, IRSN welcomed the public on June 24 for a discovery day in the center of the city.
IRSN took part for the first time in Dialogs between researchers and high school students to interest them in building knowledge (DECLICS). Seven IRSN scientists met with high school students from Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine) on December 14 in a speed meeting.
In 2023, IRSN continued its partnership with magazine Pour la science and launched a new one with the “Science en questions” program on the L’Esprit Sorcier TV channel. Explanations.
Since 2020, IRSN has collaborated with the general magazine Pour la science, which has a print run of 55,000 in order to reach another type of readership and broaden the Institute’s target audience. Four topics were covered in 2023: “How to reduce the risk of marine submersion of nuclear power plants”, “Understanding and preventing a reactor core meltdown”, “Better estimating exposure to radiation for flight personnel” and “Reducing the risk of a hydrogen explosion during a nuclear accident”. Each time, these three-page articles highlighted the Institute’s research work. This positive partnership will continue in 2024.
And for the first time, IRSN was a partner of the “Science en questions” program broadcast at 7 pm on Wednesdays on the L’Esprit Sorcier TV channel. This family channel was officially launched in December 2022. The Institute thus participated in the first three broadcasts of about 50 minutes, with two of its experts in each of them: “Nuclear, how to avoid disaster?”, “We bathe in radioactivity” and “The effects of radiotherapy”. Also available on YouTube, these shows have between 2,800 and 5,600 views.
For its 40th anniversary, OPECST organized several events in the National Assembly and Senate to illustrate the link between science and politics. On July 7 – 13, 2023, an exhibition brought together, alongside IRSN, a dozen scientific bodies. This event was an opportunity for the Institute to (re-)present the diversity of its activities, in an educational, interactive way, to parliamentarians and citizens, who could exchange ideas with the thirty employees present on the stand.
In April 2023, following a joint project by the Communication and Transformation departments and employees, IRSN unveiled its employer brand.
With more than 50 professions and nearly 1,800 employees, IRSN has many skills. In a fast- growing nuclear sector, linked to the government’s stimulus plan, the labor market is nevertheless especially tight and competitive. The needs are many: in 2023, the Institute planned 170 recruitments. Against this backdrop, where commitment and a sense of purpose are essential for attracting and retaining employees, promoting its professions among the younger generation and providing extensive training have become priorities.
To meet the challenges of recruiting, attracting and retaining talent, IRSN launched its employer brand in April 2023. Two communication campaigns have been conducted. The first was based on the definition of the five pillars: the Institute’s mission, pride in feeling useful, reciprocity, social responsibility and ambition to shine. The second resulted in video portraits of employees talking about their career and professional experience in IRSN. For full visibility, these communication campaigns were relayed on social networks.
To give its employer brand more visibility, IRSN participated in the “Gueules de l’emploi” digital exhibition in November 2023. By associating an object, symbolizing a profession, with each person photographed by artist Christophe Duron, the Institute showed the usefulness of its professions. Its goals are to showcase its human wealth, make its professions known and highlight women and men from all backgrounds, proud of their Institute.
In 2023, a partnership agreement was drawn up between the University of the Nuclear Professions (UMN) and IRSN. In March, the Institute also participated in the all-new National Nuclear Professions Week, co-organized by the UMN and the Job Center. At UMN’s request, IRSN also spoke in engineering schools to raise students’ awareness of safety and radiation protection. Its job opportunities will soon be posted on the UMN[2] portal and thus gain visibility.
The digital transformation program (DTP) brings together flagship projects of the Institute’s digital transformation, in the framework of a sustainable budgetary path and governance at the highest level.
Of the 29 projects in the 2022 DTP, eight were completed in 2023, including the redesign of two major tools of the Institute’s official missions (SISERI and ICEBERG), finalization of the integrated HR management platform, as well as three core projects for data governance and deployment of the Data strategy.
The roadmap for using the Institute’s scientific and technical data at the service of its missions continued in 2023: the Institute’s open data policy was defined, and the data governance committee is now operational. Change support has been implemented in particular by setting up a network of local contacts for managing research data, coordinating the DATAVAL community and organizing a data week, October 9 – 17.
In terms of training, a new School of Management was launched in 2023, with several learning paths added to the internal university’s offering.
New training modules on the Institute’s operation have therefore been created (CSR, quality, expenditure chain, etc.). In addition,
e-learning training courses have been developed (70 available) and are a great success with employees. This year, a review was also started on the fifteen communities of practice that have been formed since 2021 to improve their performance. Lastly, to make access to knowledge even easier, IRSN has redesigned the user interface of its ASK search engine, which provides access to over 700,000 documents. Optimized thanks to user feedback, ASK’s new version was released in early December.
Advances in Datascience
The ability to deploy and master the use of Datascience at the Institute is an issue for the efficiency and confidence in the performance of its missions. Actions carried out in 2023 included providing a “low code/no code” Datascience platform and support for its use to test its contribution to business projects, implementing a Datascience training offer adapted to IRSN’s problems, and setting up a network of Datascience contacts.
Published in March 2023, this charter aims to better anchor ethics and professional conduct in the Institute’s professions, including in crisis or emergency situations.
Developed with the members of the Ethics and Professional Conduct Commission, it covers the various contemporary ethical dimensions[4], as well as the ethical challenges faced by IRSN in the context of its missions: scientific rigor, independence, integrity, impartiality and conflict of interest. In 2024, a guide to best practice will be developed from the principles set out in this charter.
[4] Social, environmental, research, biomedical, animal experimentation, economic ethics.
“In 2020, IRSN formalized its CSR policy in a roadmap up to 2023. The results for the last three years show that the ecological transition issues have been disseminated and incorporated at both the functional and operational level. This is shown by the dynamic driven by the CSR community of practices and the increase in units committed to low-carbon approaches. Above all, this transformation is integrated into the IRSN governance with an active contribution from employees, and it is one of the keys to its dynamism!”
Awareness-raising campaigns, minimized amount of equipment, socially responsible reuse of laptops with the adapted company Ecodair, circular economy, best practices, rationalization of data storage spaces, merging applications, etc.: IRSN’s Responsible Digital Roadmap addressing the challenges of the digital strategy and CSR was published at the beginning of 2023. A few months later, on June 19, at the TopTech awards ceremony[5] IRSN, through the digital department, won the DSI Green Infra Trophy, thus confirming its exemplary commitment to responsible digital.
[5] Organized in Paris by the magazine L’Informaticien, the TopTech awards recognize the best IT projects of the year (performance, innovation, environmental and social impacts).
Working together
In 2023, the deployment of IRSN’s CSR policy was notably implemented through actions aimed at energy efficiency, sustainable mobility and responsible digital. In order to promote widespread employee awareness of CSR issues, actions were organized in several formats: call for ideas on energy efficiency, CSR e-learning, manager training, challenges, serious game and Climate Fresk. This issue of employee engagement was also reflected in the Institute’s new incentive agreement providing for 20% of the workforce to participate in these actions, which was reached in 2023. Lastly, during the European Sustainable Development Week, from September 18 to October 8, employees were able to discuss the actions carried out at the sites with regard to soft mobility, digital sobriety, biodiversity or reducing the environmental impact.
Funded by the France Relance program, construction of the future office building in Cadarache made good progress in 2023.
This modern bioclimatic building, certified High Environmental Quality (HEQ), embodies IRSN’s strong environmental commitment, with half the impact and very low greenhouse gas emissions. It will bring together over 200 employees from 14 different entities in 5,400 m2. Before their move in December 2024, the staff were involved throughout the project in preparing their future installation.
