AbstractThe Safety and Environmental Assessment of Fusion Power (SEAFP) is being undertaken for the Commission of the European Union (EU) in the framework of their fusion programme. It was initiated in response to a recommendation of the European Fusion Programme Evaluation Board, which, under the chairmanship of U. Colombo, prepared in July 1990 the report “Evaluation of the Community Fusion Programme 1984–1990”. This recommendation emphasized the importance of safety research within the EU fusion programme and requested a more significant role for European industry in this area.On the basis of the tokamak concept, models of fusion reactors/power plants are being developed. This is done to the extent deemed necessary for credibility and for safety analyses, which must be robust in the sense that they do not overly depend on design details. One reactor model puts emphasis on low-activation materials, on the avoidance of hazardous chemical reactions and on the achievement of a reasonable overall plant efficiency. Another model emphasizes nearer term technologies and materials.To provide the substance for the outline design and for the related analyses, 11 model (M) tasks and 13 analysis (A) tasks have been defined. They have been allocated to the SEAFP participants: NET Team, UKAEA, a grouping of European industry (EFA-TGE), other European fusion laboratories, JRC Ispra, and the Canadian fusion programme. The M tasks cover the specification of plasma parameters, plasma operation, safety approach, technical concepts and materials; outline design of the reactor components and systems; maintenance design and procedures; and the layout of the overall plant. The A tasks range from the identification of the relevant accidents via the related safety analyses, calculation of inventories, estimates of normal operation effluents, radioactivity confinement analysis, dose estimates and assessment of radioactive waste to proliferation issues, materials resources and fusion-specific non-nuclear hazards.After an overview of the study concept and its implementation as a coherent European undertaking, the paper proceeds to safety concept, outline design (including parameters and materials) and overall plant layout. In accordance with the SEAFP schedule, the report on the safety assessment is limited to accident identification and to an outline of the analyses in progress.