Organisational factors and nuclear safety - Issues to address in research and development

The influence of organisational factors on nuclear safety has been identified in several studies. In spite of their importance no integrated approach to address them seems to have emerged. The paper starts with issues identified in the LearnSafe project to discuss how they have been addressed in research and development within Finland and Sweden and discussed their importance in a larger frame. This discussion is used to suggest a research agenda for what could be called a midfield approach, where utility and regulatory needs could be combined. The paper serves at an introduction to the discussion part of the special session on Organisational learning and learning organisations - the LearnSafe project three years after.