Elements of nuclear safety

The impact of these developments on organizations is in part related to the more widespread use of nuclear energy. The prime responsibility of nuclear operators for the safety of their plants is now clearly acknowledged by the International Convention on Nuclear Safety, as is the necessity for each country concerned to constitute a competent safety authority, independent of organisms promoting nuclear energy. It was only in 1973 that such a nuclear safety authority (SCSIN) was set up in France, as a department of the ministry of industry. Twenty years later, it became the DSIN (nuclear installation safety directorate), responsible to the ministers for industry and for the environment respectively. For several years now, the running of this department has been supervised by the Parliamentary Office for Assessment of Scientific and Technological Options and the implementation of nuclear safety statutory provisions is currently being considered.

Technical repercussions have also been extensive, since ideas have considerably progressed in France since the initial adoption of the American PWR design, accompanied by its already voluminous package of regulatory or pararegulatory texts. The EDF and Framatome engineers, together with those of the safety authority and its technical support structure, the IPSN, had first to become thoroughly acquainted with the basic reactor type before gradually moving on to a more practical approach, involving the control of accidents considered as beyond design basis events in American practice and even those culminating in core meltdown. Deep thinking along these lines even led to certain previously adopted but inadequately validated criteria being called into question, such as the use of fuels with high burnup fractions.

Throughout his career at the IPSN, Jacques Libmann has personally followed all the varied details of this progression, as now witnessed by his book. Many of you will remember him from their training courses, both in France and abroad, when he succeeded in convincing his listeners of the soundness of the basic safety principles which have gradually been defined. The publication of this book will doubtless widen his audience even further and will be beneficiai to ali those seeking either an introduction to nuclear safety or further insight into specifie aspects of the subject.

The time history approach has the advantage of showing how real improvements are achieved, sometimes after false starts, by pragmatic research where accepted ideas may have to be called into question. Current developments are aimed beyond national contexts at European, or even worldwide harmonization of safety practices, together with significant improvements on the safety level present!y attained. This is notably the goal of the future PWR developed by the French and German utilities and plant builders (EPR project).