REGULATORY CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND FRANCE ON THE SAFETY OF NUCLEAR PLANTS

摘要

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and the Direction de la suretd des installations nucleaires, the United Kingdom and French nuclear regulation authorities, have a long and fruitful history of bilateral exchanges on technical matters relating to the safety of nuclear installations and on methodological matters relating to the framework and methods of regulation. These exchanges, under the auspices of a formal 'Information Exchange Arrangement' between the two organizations, have been varied and diverse; and this reflects the nature of their activities. Since 1992 a joint steering group has co-ordinated discussions and workshops considering various aspects of the safety of future reactor designs. These include: advanced protection systems, severe accidents, radiation protection, external hazards, PSA and steam generator tube rupture. Additionally, in an average of 12 exchanges per year, more aspects of regulation have been covered. The benefits to both organizations are significant; expanding the knowledge and experience base of the technical staff is clearly a key aspect of a regulator's activities. But there are other spin-offs; the end-point of all our exchanges is the opportunity to compare and contrast our activities. By examining the many similarities we obtain a sort of peer review of our ways of working which reinforces confidence (including in the minds of the public) in our roles as regulators. By examining the occasional differences we are able to focus, critically, on why we do what we do, in an informed and knowledgeable arena. Our joint activity will continue into the future; we will continue to build on the mutual respect and co-operation that has developed between us. The joint steering group, originally set up to co-ordinate work on future reactors, is to expand its remit to include all our exchanges. We are also currently arranging an exchange of inspectors. Both organizations have always played active and constructive roles in international matters and our bilateral exchanges complement these roles.