1. Maintenance items

1.1 A few vocabulary details

The object to be serviced is a "unit". This word refers to a quasi-autonomous electricity production facility. A nuclear unit comprises :

• a nuclear part, called the "reactor" or "boiler", whose main function is to supply steam;

• a conventional (or non-nuclear or conventional) part that generates electricity with a turbine and alternator.

France's nuclear fleet comprises 58 units at 19 sites (figure 1 ). At each site, the nuclear part is of the PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) type. 34 units deliver 900 MWe, 20 deliver 1,300 MWe and 4 deliver...