Lessons learned from external hazards

This paper presents a study performed by the European Clearinghouse of the Joint Research Centre on Operational Experience for nuclear power plants in cooperation with IRSN and GRS covering events reported by nuclear power plants in relation to external hazards. It summarizes the review of 235 event reports from 3 different databases. The events were grouped in 9 categories according to the nature of the external hazard involved, and the specific lessons learned and recommendations that can be derived from each of these categories are presented. Additional 'cross-cutting' recommendations covering several or all the external hazards considered are also discussed. These recommendations can be useful in preventing this type of events from happening again or in limiting their consequences. The study was launched in 2010 and therefore it does not cover the Fukushima event. This paper presents the main findings and recommendations raised by this study. (orig.)