Les cahiers de l'ASN #01 - Nuclear power plants: going beyond 40 years

REINFORCED REQUIREMENTS FOLLOWING THE FUKUSHIMA ACCIDENT The fourth periodic safety reviews will also be an opportunity to complete the incorporation of the changes requested by ASN in the wake of the Fukushima accident. The lessons learned from the Fukushima accident in March 2011 led to numerous safety improvements across the French nuclear facilities. ASN asked the nuclear facility licensees to carry out a series of stress tests *. On the basis of the conclusions of these assessments and stress tests* carried out Europe-wide and on the basis of the opinion of the advisory committees, ASN asked EDF more particularly to deploy : • a hardened safety core of provisions and a local emergency centre to prevent an accident or mitigate its development in the event of an external hazard; • a nuclear rapid intervention force . For example, the work to be done by EDF will take account of the lessons learned from events which have affected reactors in France or abroad: fire, intense cold and heatwaves, river flooding, earthquakes, etc. It will also take account of risks linked to changes in the natural environment of the NPPs. The aim is to be able to deal with situations going well beyond those normally encountered. When they were built, the service life considered for the design of some equipment in the reactors was 40 years. This is why the periodic safety review of the reactors beyond 40 years is more detailed than that which took place after 30 years of operation, because it also incorporates management of the ageing of equipment and materials. Moreover, in the same way as any periodic safety review, this review comprises other aspects more particularly related to radiation protection*, protection of the environment and the management of emergency situations. * See glossary p.24 4th periodic safety review of the French 900 MWe nuclear power reactors • 5