RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SAFETY AUTHORITY AND THE NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANT OPERATORS

The French experience has led the safety authority to pay particular attention to the competence of a nuclear operator and to the exercise of his responsibility. In this context, safety does not seem to be improved by the imposition of too many regulations and control activities. On the contrary, an excessive regulatory framework may blunt the operator's awareness of his responsibility. It is the duty of the safety authority to fix the safety objectives. It is the operator's duty to establish the practical conditions for attaining these objectives and to justify these conditions to the safety authority. It is also his duty to implement them correctly. The authority must then verify the quality of this implementation by random inspection methods. Each of the two partners, each conforming to his role and the exercise of his particular responsibilities, must remain vigilant. These different actions necessitate a permanent technical dialogue which is not in contradiction with the exercise of strict regulatory control.