France. Annex II [The European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR)]

The EPR, jointly developed by the French and German industries, is an evolutionary development of PWRs currently operating in Germany and France, where the initial construction was planned, hence on a European basis. A basis for the design was provided by the definition of fundamental safety requirements for future PWRs by the French 'Groupe Permanent Réacteur' and the German Commission for Reactor Safety: the Technical Guidelines adopted during the plenary meetings held on October 19th and 26th 2000. In addition to the Technical Guidelines, the EPR development considered international standards, such as IAEA Safety Standards Series No. NS-R-1 (eventually superseded by SSR-2/1 (Rev. 1). The French regulatory practice regarding the design of new NPPs is now detailed in the 2017 Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) guide n° 22], accounting for SSR-2/1 (Rev. 1). The following description is mainly based on the Flamanville Unit 3 (FA3 EPR), a relevant practical illustration of the recent French practice, considering as far as possible SSR-2/1 (Rev. 1) and the ASN guide n° 22, both issued in parallel to the FA3 EPR design development.