TABLE OF CONTENTS A safety review is undertaken by the design, construction and operation organizations, and the control bodies. As all the regulatory documents repeat e.g. AR17 and as also explained by those who have for a long time been involved in this activity (Bourgeois et al., 1996), it is essential that this control function is independent, competent and credible.
I will use some experience accumulated over several decades of involvement in safety reviews to add here some further additional and more detailed considerations on the subject with some examples.
In the early days of nuclear energy, in particular in a country without previous experience, for example in military applications, it was very difficult for a safety reviewer to obtain data and information on which a review could be based. The available criteria were scarce, the data on already built plants were in some case difficult to obtain and the research was at an initial stage.
Today, data and information are much more abundant. These include:
The international criteria and guides (e.g. IAEA) which offer useful indications, even if necessarily of general nature (see Chapter 18).
Compilations of national regulations, such as the technical positions, the Regulatory Guides and the Standard Review Plan used in the USA are easily available (see Appendix 14).
The proceedings of debates within international and community organizations, such as the IAEA, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (Committee for the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI), Committee for Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA),...
