Lessons learnt from a crisis event: how to foster a sound safety culture

Recent events in the nuclear industry have blamed a declining safety culture both on the utility and regulatory side as the major responsible. Confidence in the nuclear industry can be dramatically affected by such events. In this context, the present paper analyses a recent crisis event that involved a research reactor. It shows the time history of the event and how its escalation brought to a temporary shut down of the reactor. In depth analysis of the event pointed out safety culture deficiencies within the organization. The paper presents and discusses the short term and long term approach that the organization adopted in order to address such deficiencies. The case represents an interesting example from which important lessons can be learnt. In particular, staff motivation in terms of involvement in improvement activities is considered central.JRC.F.4-Nuclear Reactor Integrity Assessment and Knowledge Managemen