Activities of the French safety authorities related to international co-operation on nuclear power plant operating safety

The French safety authorities are keen to develop a number of international co-operation initiatives which can be split into four main groups: (1) exchanges of operating experience which provide the safety authorities of each country with 'operating feedback' on as large a number of facilities as possible; (2) exchanges of regulatory texts from different authorities, either through bilateral arrangements which seem particularly appropriate for collecting reference texts and comparing regulatory positions, or within the framework of international organizations which, at the multilateral level, perform a useful function in preparing such reference texts; (3) special exchanges for power plants sites close to frontiers which provide the authorities of the neighbouring country with a flow of basic information on the plant's safety characteristics, events affecting plant safety and, more generally, any event which might give rise to concern or debate among the local population; and (4) activities relating to the exports of the French nuclear industry, since the French safety authorities consider it their responsibility to provide the authorities of client countries with full information on regulatory texts and to examine, if requested, any form of support that could be given to the client countries. (author)