Licensing and design in a changing environment: a European view

During the last few years considerable changes have occurred in energy awareness and the effect of nuclear power. Since the introduction of the pressurised water reactor into Europe, there has been extensive escalation of regulatory requirements particularly in the USA. In the current environment this has inevitably affected the US licensing process, the design of the product, and the construction schedules and costs. Europe has to some extent been affected by the US licensing activity related to PWRs, and nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) vendors have been faced with a requirement for PWR models which meet criteria other than those of the US. There is currently an awareness of a need for an approach to safety on a much wider international basis to ensure consistency and to assure a common solution to problems. The licensing and design information in this document relates principally to the PWR, an outline of which is therefore given along with a brief description of some of the major primary components. (author)