The European reliability data system. An organized information exchange on the operation of European nuclear reactors

The paper revises the aims and objectives of the European Reliability Data System (ERDS), a centralized system collecting and organizing, at European level, information related to the operation of LWRs. The ERDS project was started in 1977 and after a preliminary feasibility study that ended in 1979 is now proceeding towards the final design and implementation stages. ERDS exploits information collected in national data systems and information deriving from single reactor sources. The paper describes first the development of the four data banks constituting the system: Component Event Data Bank, CEDB; Abnormal Occurrences Reporting System, AORS; Operating Unit Status Report, OUSR; and Generic Reliability Parameter Data Bank, GRPDB. Several typical aspects concerning the project are then outlined from the need of homogeneization of data and therefore the need for setting up reference classifications, to the problem of data transcoding and input into the system. Furthermore, the need is stressed of involving much more deeply nuclear power plant operators into the process of data acquisition by providing them with a useful feedback from the data analysis. (author)