Les cahiers Histoire de l'ASN #01 - Nuclear accidents and developments in nuclear safety and radiation protection

In our opinion, three key ideas must be considered at this stage.

First, in a society that aspires to be risk-free, one must remember that there is no such thing as zero risk and the nuclear sector is no exception to this universal rule. As André-Claude Lacoste, ASN Chairman from 2006 to 2012 pointed out, “nobody can guarantee that there will never be a serious accident in France. It is therefore necessary to do two things: try to reduce the probability of this happening, and mitigate the consequences if it does. That, in a nutshell, is the philosophy underpinning nuclear safety”.

Next, with regard to past accidents, one must go beyond their uniqueness to investigate the root causes and draw the lessons that will enable potential accidents to be foreseen and allow optimal management of the accident and the post-accident phase. Many developments in the organisation or the doctrine of nuclear safety and radiation protection stem from the analysis of past experience. We have decided to describe this work through five milestone events, each of which led to major advances in nuclear safety and radiation protection.

Lastly, one of the consequences of major accidents is effectively the emergence of international awareness of nuclear-related risks. The message stating that nuclear safety is a common asset and must not form the subject of competition or geostrategic manipulations remains, in view of recent events, more relevant than ever.