In major nuclear programs, whether for EPR2 or the Grand Carénage, quality is not just determined within the operator's walls. It depends on a supply chain that manufactures components subject to some of the strictest safety requirements in the industry. The prime contractor must oversee this chain and qualify the equipment, without the ability to offload this responsibility. However, the skills required to maintain this oversight have become increasingly scarce.
A responsibility the nuclear operator cannot delegate
The French framework is clear: the nuclear operator retains responsibility for overseeing activities important for protection, even when they are carried out by contractors. They may seek assistance, provided they maintain control and the expertise to make judgments. Oversight cannot be fully outsourced, and that is precisely where the difficulty lies: effective oversight requires internal teams capable of performing it.
EIP and AIP: what oversight entails
Two concepts structure this subject. Elements Important for Protection (EIP) are the structures, equipment, and systems that perform a safety function. Activities Important for Protection (AIP) are the operations related to them, from manufacturing to inspection. Oversight focuses on these activities, both at the operator's site and at their suppliers'.
Defined requirements: the starting point for all qualification
Every element important for protection carries defined requirements: the thickness of a pipe, the closing time of a valve, the flow rate of a pump. All oversight and qualification efforts aim for a single goal: to demonstrate that these requirements are effectively met.
Overseeing manufacturing: from vendor qualification to on-site inspection
Oversight is a continuum that begins long before delivery. It consists of qualifying the supplier, defining hold points, monitoring manufacturing, and performing final production inspections.
Manufacturing requirements: welding, heat treatment, non-destructive testing
The RCC-M code, published by AFCEN, sets the manufacturing rules for nuclear mechanical equipment: welding, heat treatments, and non-destructive testing. Oversight means verifying that these rules are applied during manufacturing, rather than just reading a certificate once the part is finished. This nuance is the difference between a defect caught early and one discovered on-site.
Manufacturing traceability: a requirement for the entire service life
A nuclear component must remain traceable throughout the entire service life of the facility, which can exceed sixty years. Manufacturing traceability is a safety requirement in its own right, binding the operator long after commissioning. It is built during the manufacturing process, at the very moment oversight is exercised.
Qualifying nuclear equipment: demonstrating fitness for safety functions
Qualifying equipment means demonstrating that it will perform its safety function under the intended conditions, including accident scenarios. For the prime contractor, this involves compiling, verifying, and maintaining a definitive qualification file.
Design or process changes: when is requalification necessary?
Qualification is never a one-time achievement. A design modification, a change in process, material, or supplier can call it into question and necessitate requalification. Configuration management is therefore inseparable from qualification: knowing precisely what has changed and what the implications of that change are.
The Flamanville lesson on supplier quality
Flamanville illustrates what happens when supplier oversight and qualification are not fully maintained. This case deserves to be examined without prejudice, as its causes are primarily collective.
Welds and vessel anomalies: two defects detected late
Non-compliant steam pipe welds and subsequently out-of-specification vessel steel were identified late, necessitating lengthy justification programs and rework. In both cases, the discrepancy originated during manufacturing at supplier facilities and was not caught at the right time.
The root cause: a loss of industry expertise
The Court of Audit highlighted a loss of technical expertise and quality culture following a gap of approximately fifteen years without any new reactor construction in France. The cause is therefore structural, linked to the history of the industry rather than the teams themselves. This finding led EDF to strengthen its internal project management for new nuclear builds and to revise its manufacturing oversight strategy.
The industry's response: Plan Excell, ISO 19443, and standardization
The industry has not remained idle. Following Flamanville, EDF and GIFEN (the French Nuclear Energy Industry Association) launched Plan Excell to rebuild quality across the nuclear supply chain, focusing on governance, standardization, supplier relations, manufacturing, and skills. While these initiatives are useful, they shift part of the management burden onto the prime contractor, who must know how to leverage them effectively.
Standardization and reducing supplier catalogs
One key lever has been to significantly reduce component catalogs: the number of valve references, for example, dropped from over thirteen thousand to 571 by the end of 2022, according to the French Nuclear Energy Society. Fewer references mean simpler qualification and oversight, as well as a more transparent supply chain.
ISO 19443: a common foundation for the supply chain
The ISO 19443 standard extends quality management to suppliers in the nuclear industry, covering safety classification, a graded approach, safety culture, and traceability. GIFEN encourages its adoption. It provides a common language for the entire chain, without, however, exempting the prime contractor from exercising its own oversight.
Nuclear oversight: the skills bottleneck
Everything converges on a single point. Oversight that cannot be delegated requires rare profiles in engineering, project control, and compliance, capable of maintaining quality and manufacturing surveillance. And these profiles are in short supply at the very moment demand is exploding. You can find more information in this article: Securing rare profiles for a major offshore wind project.
Unprecedented long-term pressure on skills
The series effect of the EPR2 reactors and the ongoing Grand Carénage program create a need for skills spanning decades, with no recent equivalent. France Travail estimates that approximately 100,000 positions will need to be filled in the nuclear sector by 2035. The pressure will therefore not be temporary.
Referencing and qualification: the long-term nature of nuclear power
The nuclear market is highly codified: supplier referencing is a lengthy process, and frameworks are often negotiated before the project's actual needs are known. This gap between the framework and operational reality complicates oversight at the moment it matters most, and touches on the broader issue of managing boundaries between contracts. You can find more information in this article: Managing interfaces in offshore wind: mastering work packages before they become disputes.
Monitoring suppliers and qualifying equipment relies, above all, on expertise that the client must retain in-house.
Renergy strengthens the execution control of major projects through two complementary levers: the deployment of experts in engineering, HSE, and compliance and the training of internal teams.
If these topics align with your needs, you can book an appointment with a Renergy consultant to discuss them. The conversation is confidential and aims to identify the right approach for your program.
To learn more, discover the four engineering phase decisions that save the construction of a major energy project.
