Report on flooding of Le Blayais power plant on 27 December 1999

A flooding occurred at ''Le Blayais'' Nuclear Power Plant on the 27th of December 1999, revealing a potential mode by which the safety of all the units of a single plant could be jeopardized. This flooding has led Electricite de France to define a study programme whose goal is both to draw the lessons of this event and to improve the safety of the French Nuclear Power Plants regarding the flooding risks. Firstly, the sequence of events and the management of the situation during the flooding will be presented. Then, the Electricite de France study programme and the actions undertaken in order to ensure the protection of the plants, especially those already implemented on ''Le Blayais'' site, will be detailed. (orig.)