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GLOSSARIES
1. Technical glossary
> Nozzle
Metal component located at the top (top nozzle) or bottom (bottom nozzle) of a fuel
assembly. The top nozzle is used for handling of the assembly.
> Nuclear engineering
Any activity relating to the design, construction or optimization of nuclear facilities.
> Nuclear fuel
Material designated by the French Defense Code as requiringmeasures to physically
protect them against theft or diversion.
> Nuclear island
A system encompassing the nuclear steam supply system and the fuel-related
facilities, as well as the equipment required for the system’s operation and safety.
A “conventional island” consists of the alternating current turbogenerator coupled
to the nuclear island, and the equipment required for its operation.
> Nuclear materials safeguards
Safeguards are of two kinds:
p
any measure taken by an operator to secure the materials they hold, including
monitoring and accounting, containment, surveillance, physical protection of
materials and facilities, and protection during transportation;
p
inspections performed by the State (in France, the Senior Official for Defense
and Security) or international agencies such as the IAEA and Euratom to verify
the effectiveness and reliability of these measures.
In both cases, the purpose of safeguards is to prevent any loss or theft of material,
particularly with malicious intent.
> Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Counterpart of ASN in the United States.
Field of jurisdiction: nuclear safety and radiation protection.
> Nuclear safety
Encompasses all of the technical provisions and organizational measures pertinent
to the design, construction, operation, shut-down and dismantling of regulated
nuclear facilities (INB), and to the transportation of radioactive materials, and is
designed to prevent accidents and limit their consequences.
> Nuclear security
According to the French Nuclear Safety and Transparency Law of June 13, 2006
(“TSN Law”), nuclear safety includes nuclear safety, radiation protection, prevention
and control of acts of malevolence, and emergency preparedness in the event of an
accident. In another sense that is closer to the IAEA’s definition, it is the prevention
of, detection of and response to the theft, sabotage, unauthorized access and illegal
moving of nuclear materials, or any other malicious act concerning nuclear materials,
any other radioactive substances, or the facilities containing them.
> Nuclear steam supply system (NSSS)
A steam production system in which the heat is supplied by a nuclear reactor.
In a pressurized water reactor (PWR), the system consists of heavy components
(steam generator, pressurizer and reactor vessel), mobile components (reactor
coolant pump sets and control rod drivemechanisms), and the piping that connects
them. All of these interconnected components circulate hot water and keep it in a
liquid state inside the reactor’s primary cooling system. The heat is produced by
the fission of atomic nuclei contained in the fuel that is placed in the reactor core,
inside the reactor vessel.
> OHSAS 18001 standard
Occupational health and safety management system specification designed to
prevent risk in the workplace. The objective is to provide interested companies with
a tool for assessing and certifying their occupational health and safety management
systems which is compatible with international management system standards
such as ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for the environment and ILO-OSH 2001
for occupational safety and health.
> ONR (Office for Nuclear Regulation)
Counterpart of the Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (French nuclear safety authority,
ASN) in the United Kingdom.
Field of jurisdiction: nuclear safety and radiation protection.
> Ore
Rock, mineral or combination of minerals containing one or more useful chemical
elements at sufficiently high grades and which can be extracted by an industrial
process.
> Periodic inspection
Combination of inspections performed periodically in a facility during a scheduled
outage.
> Plutonium
Chemical element with the atomic number 94 and conventional symbol Pu.
Plutonium has many isotopes, the most common of which go from 238 to 242.
Plutonium-239, a fissile isotope, is produced in nuclear reactors by neutron capture
on uranium-238.
> Pressurized nuclear equipment
Equipment that is specially designed for nuclear applications and whose failure
could give rise to radioactive releases.
Pressurized nuclear equipment is classified:
p
into three levels, from N1 to N3, in particular as a function of the magnitude of
radioactive releases that could result from their failure; and
p
into five categories, from 0 to IV, based on risk, and in particular risk related to
the temperature and pressure of the fluids they contain.
In France, the order of December 12, 2005, which came into effect on January 21,
2011, establishes the conditions for the marketing of all nuclear equipment and
devices.
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REFERENCE DOCUMENT