New builds and national culture

IAEA Workshop on Global Safety Culture —

National Factors Relevant to Safety Culture

Vienna 8-11 2014

Pia Oedewald

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

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New builds – the double challenge

A. The new build projects can be extremely complex in terms of

companies and nationalities involved

B. The culture of the “nuclear community” is generally speaking

technology focused, it tends to underestimate the potential

impacts of social and psychological phenomena

A + B = poor preparation for national

culture differences and delayed

identification of misinterpretations and

other problems

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Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant project in a nutshell (1)

2009: Original schedule for fuel loading

2014:

At the present time testing and installations are on-going. Automation system has some unsolved issues

No clear schedule for finalizing the remaining work exists. At least 7 years delay. Arbitration in progress.

Photo: TVO

December 2003: Turn-key contract signed between TVO and Consortium Framatome NP (current name Areva NP) - Siemens

February 2005: Government granted the construction permit, the construction started soon after

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Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant project in a nutshell (2)

Some figures from 2013:

around 2000 subcontractor companies from almost 20 countries involved

long supply chains, eg. 4-tier contracts

17 500 individuals have participated to the induction training to work at the construction site

some 20 different languages spoken on site…

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Some examples – stereotypes with a hint of truth

Finns are literal/stubborn with their requirements – trying to negotiate a

new solution may be waste of time

Giving up from a clear requirement could be interpreted as cutting corners or

prioritizing other goals over safety

Finns don’t talk too much – silence in meetings does not mean that there

is no complaints, it is not an approval to proceed

E.g. regulators do not approve/reject anything in meetings although they

encourage to organise face to face meetings to discuss issues

Power distance in Finish organizations is low. It is Ok for a young engineer

to disagree with a senior professor or a manager – don’t be insulted

Typically for a Finn it is quite easy to report safety concerns. Thus we don’t

remember that in some cultures reporting errors of one’s manager or

colleague might be problematic

We appreciate professionalism and autonomy of workers – we are “poor

leaders”

In some cultures workers may expect more clear orders and guidance from

supervisor, whereas Finns can feel annoyed by strict control

Thank You!