New safety role at Vattenfall

A top-level role for a nuclear safetyexpert has been created at Vattenfall, following the two chiefrecommendations of a report on the shortcomings in safety work andsafety culture which were exposed after the events at Forsmark last year.The chief nuclear officer would be the most senior controller ofnuclear safety issues of the Vattenfall group, which operates nuclearplants in Sweden and Germany, but would not take actual operatingresponsibility. The executive would report directly to VattenfallPresident and CEO, Lars Josefsson, who said, "I am not satisfied withVattenfall meeting international standards; we shall take the lead injointly setting them." The company said it would also 'participare moreactively in international nuclear organisations to ensure that thecollective global experience is being utilized for the group securitywork'. The new chief nuclear officer would also report to a new GroupNuclear Security Council, chaired by Josefsson.