The concept of safety culture emerged following the analysis of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Since then, various frameworks have been developed to define an ideal safety culture, outlining key attributes—such as organizational values and norms—across different levels and domains. These conceptual models serve as the foundation for assessment and evaluation standards, which are applied, for instance, in peer reviews and safety incident analyses. Additionally, they inform the planning and implementation of cultural change initiatives within nuclear power plants (NPPs) to enhance cultural maturity and prevent the recurrence of safety-related events.
This presentation critically examines the empirical and theoretical foundations of planned safety culture changes in NPPs. Despite the recognized importance of safety culture, research on its structured and intentional development within the nuclear industry remains limited. The presentation analyzes various cultural change initiatives in NPPs using evidence-based change models, with a particular focus on changes driven by incident and deviation analyses, peer-review processes, and self-assessment programs. These initiatives are evaluated based on their underlying safety culture models, applied change strategies, and intended outcomes, with the aim of identifying key facilitating and inhibiting factors. Based on these findings, the presentation provides recommendations for more effectively leveraging the safety culture concept to enhance the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants in the future.