How has privatisation and the opening of electricity markets affected the safety of the nuclear power plants?
A3. Short Answer: Privatisation has had a major impact on the electric power industry, and as such, the nuclear power industry in many countries. But the impact has been mainly on commercialisation and tariffs. The impact on plant safety has been minor, since no significant changes in regulatory requirements have occurred due to privatisation, and whoever owns and operates a nuclear power plant still has the ultimate responsibility for its safety. Read more… Explanation: The main impact of privatisation has been in the commercialization of the produced electric power. Of course, in a privatised environment operational costs are an important factor and efforts to cut costs become an ever important priority. However, a “safe plant is also a reliable plant”. This can be demonstrated by the examination of the list of “plant performance indicators” which are, in large part, common to the list of “safety indicators”. The examination of both performance indicators and safety indicators in mos
