The inspection departments of EDF nuclear power plants

In the context of the pressure risks' warning, the Nuclear Operations Division's Direction of EDF confirmed its wishes to settle some User Inspectorates on all its nuclear sites and to drive them to be recognized by the French Administration (application of the December 13, 1999, taken in application of the European directive: 97/23/EC). Actually, this was a real opportunity for each CNPE managers to ensure their responsibility about the pressure risks' warning. Because of a permanent relation with its equipments, the User Inspectorate is a major vector to improve as well the people, the goods and the environmental security. The User Inspectorate provides a great strictness on the looking at the pressure equipments and allows integrating more and more the operational services on the care of the Pressure Equipments. The modalities of the in-service follow-up, described in the inspection plans, are defined by potential or effective degradation modes linked to each equipments and integer local, national and international available experience returns. Today, only the Pressure Equipments in the frame of the decree of 2000, the 15 March, may be inspected through these plans. (author)