THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS OF DOEL: OUR APPROACH TO SAFETY CULTURE

摘要

The four nuclear power plants on the Doel site represent half the installed nuclear power in Belgium. The first two units were started up in the mid-1970s, the two others in 1982 and 1985. The overall statistics give an average availability factor of 81.6%. The Doel nuclear power plants are part of a changing environment, which makes increasingly differing demands on operations. A constant factor, surviving all new waves and directions, is the safety of operations. Although there have been some shifts in approach, safety of operations has always been our first point of attention. The impetus given by 'Safety Culture' (IAEA Safety Series No. 75-INSAG-4) was very welcome. The paper discusses some recent achievements. Changes in culture or adjustments to culture proceed very slowly: the need to explain the notion 'safety culture' was the first obstacle. After some exploration in the international nuclear world, it seemed that others, too, were wrestling with the same problem. The introduction to the notion of safety culture (1) had to address everybody in the organization, (2) had to be understandable and recognizable by everyone, (3) had to be clear in meaning and as regards details. The first section of the paper describes how we introduced the notion of safety culture on our site and how we are trying to keep the message vivid. In the following sections, some examples are given of interventions in our organization to improve safety culture. The paper discusses the management of modifications, the independent Safety Review Committee (KOT), the collecting and processing of information concerning minor and major incidents on the site, some of the annual objectives, which aim at a higher availability of safety equipment, and the policy to submit ourselves to external inspection and auditing. With these examples we hope to demonstrate that Doel nuclear power plant is involved in a continuing and unflagging process of improvement and that safety of operations, being our core business, requires continuous, permanent and positive attention.