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Power plant safety and human safety

Power plant safety
Nuclear power plant safety is an international priority. In France, specific bodies have been established for nuclear risk evaluation. Until 2006, the safety of civil nuclear installations was under state control, but the “TSN law” on nuclear transparency and safety (N° 2006-686, 13 June 2006) advocated the creation of an independent inspection agency, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN). One of its branches, the Pressurized Water Reactor Safety Evaluation Department (SEREP) is in charge of all technical procedures aimed at ensuring the safe operation of the country’s 58 PWRs. These were commissioned between 1977 and 1999 at 19 sites, several of which are located in seismic zones.
Safety also has budgetary considerations, and must remain within reasonable limits. It is true that the Fukushima disaster would have been avoided had the seawall been higher, but no one had expected a 15-meter tidal wave.
The safety of a nuclear site is not merely a question of technical reliability — it also depends on the skills and training of its personnel. Many power plants outlive the professional careers of the people who work there, which raises the problem of transmitting the site’s history. In addition, the extreme specialization of job functions and the outsourcing of certain everyday operations are not conducive to the coordinated management of all safety parameters.

Human safety
In the case of an accident at a nuclear site, the plant’s employees are the most vulnerable to radiation exposure. For example, the men who cleared pieces of fuel off the roof at Chernobyl were exposed to maximum doses. Next in the line of exposure are the people who live near the plant, within a radius defined by the authorities (10 kilometers in France). They are made aware of emergency procedures and are given a free number to call for information, as well as iodine tablets to take in the hours following an accident. The situation for the rest of the population depends on the specific conditions of the accident. Escaped radioactive fallout can form a cloud that drifts to the other side of the planet, or it can be precipitated by rainfall in the immediate vicinity of the plant.

In France, the ASN is active in developing crisis management plans and verifying the emergency alert systems. The ASN also oversees the transport of radioactive material (spent fuel and nuclear wastes) from power plants to reprocessing and storage sites. Transport safety focuses primarily on the package, which designates the packaging and its radioactive content. Such packages must comply with strict safety standards defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and enforced in France by the ASN. The packaging itself is subject to a series of regulatory tests, including case-study accidents, prior to certification. These transport packages are designed to protect people (i.e. transport personnel and the public) and the environment, both under normal conditions and if an accident occurs.