Chooz, France, 5 June 2015

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of nuclear safety experts today completed an assessment of how the operator of the Chooz Nuclear Power Plant in France has followed up on safety recommendations made during a 2013 review.

The Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) found that some of the issues noted in the earlier review, which focused on aspects essential to the safe operation of the plant, had been fully addressed. Although noting satisfactory progress on the other issues, the team recommended further action on them.

Follow-up missions are standard components of the OSART programme and are typically conducted within two years of the initial mission.

The 2013 review identified good practices and made proposals for improvements in areas relevant to the operational safety of the plant.

The follow-up review team found that the plant had completed work to address several improvement proposals made in 2013:
•Controls to prevent external objects from inadvertently enter systems and equipment have been improved;
•The plant has introduced measures to secure all equipment and material to minimize risks related to internal and external hazards;
•Contamination control practices within the radiation-controlled area have been strengthened.

The team encouraged the plant to continue work on other issues identified in 2013, including:
•Temporary modifications to operational systems should be processed in a more unified manner;
•On-the-job training material should be further improved;
•Chemistry control measures should be further enhanced.

OSART missions aim to improve operational safety by objectively assessing safety performance using the IAEA's Safety Standards and proposing recommendations for improvement where appropriate. The follow-up review team comprised IAEA staff and experts from the Czech Republic, Hungary and India.

The team has provided a draft of its report to Chooz plant management. The plant management and the French Safety Authority will have an opportunity to make factual comments on the draft, which will be reviewed by the IAEA. The final report will be submitted to the French government within three months.