1. In-service inspection needs and requirements

France's nuclear power plants (900 MWe, 1,300 MWe and 1,450 MWe reactors) are complex, and their design lifetime assumes that, with operating times of around 8,000 hours per year for forty years, no serious malfunctions can occur during this period. As a result, it would be unacceptable for a plant presenting potential hazards, in terms of risk of release or earthquake resistance for example, not to be subject to periodic verification to ensure that no unanticipated damage has occurred to alter its initial characteristics. The occurrence of a serious accident in France would have incalculable health, media and political consequences, out of all proportion to the investments required to guarantee the highest...