Foreword

The nuclear industry relies on the principle of the operator’s prime responsibility for nuclear safety and radiation protection. The EDF Group’s nuclear safety policy has justifiably made this an overriding priority.

Written specifically for the Chairman of EDF, this report gives my assessment of nuclear safety and radiation protection within the EDF Group for the year 2023.

In keeping with the spirit of continuous improvement and transparency expressed in my letter of appointment, this report focuses on weak signals and precursor events that could negatively affect nuclear safety, and thus should solicit reflection. It does make a number of recommendations, which concern not only the Group, but also its subsidiaries and contract partners. These recommendations are validated and followed up by the Council for Nuclear Safety (CSN).

The Group’s financial position, the reform of the European electricity market, and pressure on the availability of the French fleet in dealing with an intense industrial programme, including managing the stress corrosion issue and ten-yearly outages, has once again placed the group under tension. Although we can only be pleased with the industry’s new-found grace in the eyes of the public and a brighter future ahead both for France and the UK, we must, as a whole, be aware that this calls for even more rigour and exemplary performance.

Design, equipment and procedures are all decisive factors, but above all, it is only the organisation and, even more so, its performance as a collective that will truly determine high levels of nuclear safety and electricity generation. The reorganisation of the Group must guarantee this principle by managing nuclear safety at the design stage to ensure reliable operation rather than restricting it.

This report is a result of a collective team effort by Bertrand de L’Épinois, Jean-Baptiste Dutto, Paul Wolfenden and Bertrand Vauchy. In line with my belief that we form a single group, Framatome is no longer covered in a specific chapter and my overall programme of site inspections and technical discussions encompass Framatome with its Inspector General.

The quality and relevance of the subjects covered in this report would not have been achieved without the invaluable discussions held with all the staff we met in France and the UK. Our meetings with representatives from trade unions, local information commissions, industry partners, medical bodies, and independent nuclear safety organisations also proved extremely fruitful.

As a homage to Jean Bergougnoux, François Roussely and Marcel Boiteux who all left us this year, we respectfully dedicate this report to mark their invaluable contribution to the Group. Marcel Boiteux, during his time in office, gave the Group its prestige and international repute, thanks to his choice of PWR technology for the French nuclear fleet to secure energy independence for France, and proved to be a visionary in his alliance of competitiveness and sobriety: “more and more uses for electricity, with less and less electricity consumed by each appliance”.

This document is available to the public in both French and English on the following sites: www.igsnr.com and www.edf.fr.