5. Use of operating experience

After some forty years of operating pressurized water reactors in France (in addition to the Chooz A reactor), the use of operating experience remains an essential means of improving the safety of both existing and future reactors.

While the desirability of avoiding the recurrence of known incidents, and the interest of detecting and examining in particular incidents that are precursors of more serious accidents that could lead either to the loss of production facilities, or to significant consequences for workers, members of the public or the environment, or both, have of course long been recognized, at least conceptually, in the industrial world, or both, have of course long been recognized, at least conceptually, in the industrial world. For the nuclear industry, it was the core meltdown accident in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island power plant in March 1979 that...