Maintenance items
Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants. General Provisions and Organisation

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 1,450 MWe. Units of the same power rating are designed and built to roughly...