Nuclear safety
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1st layer of defense is the inert, ceramic quality of the uranium oxide itself.
2nd layer is the air tight zirconium alloy of the fuel rod.
3rd layer is the reactor pressure vessel made of steel more than a dozen centimeters thick.
4th layer is the pressure resistant, air tight containment building.
5th layer is the reactor building or in newer powerplants a second outer containment building.
Nuclear safety covers the actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit their consequences. This covers nuclear power plants as well as all other nuclear facilities, the transportation of nuclear materials, the use and storage of nuclear materials for medical, power, industry, and military uses. In addition, there are safety issues involved in products created with radioactive materials. Some of the products are legacy ones (such as watch faces), others, like smoke detectors, are still being produced.
Nuclear weapon safety, as well as the safety of military research involving nuclear materials, is generally handled by separate agencies than civilian safety, for various reasons, including secrecy.
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[edit] Agencies
Many nations utilizing nuclear power have special institutions overseeing and regulating nuclear safety.
Internationally the International Atomic Energy Agency "works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology."
Civilian nuclear safety in the U.S. is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The safety of nuclear plants and materials controlled by the U.S. government for research, weapons production, and those powering naval vessels, is not governed by the NRC.[1][2]
In the UK nuclear safety is regulated by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) and the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR).
[edit] Key concepts
- Safety culture
- Redundancy
- Common mode failure
- Passive nuclear safety
- Active safety
- Defence in depth
- Containment building
- Ionising radiation protection
- Nuclear criticality safety
- Reactor Protective System (RPS)
- Conflict of interest
[edit] Concerns
- Criticality accidents
- Loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA)
- Nuclear fuel response to reactor accidents
- Nuclear meltdown
- Uncontrolled power excursion
- Radioactive contamination
- Radioactive waste
[edit] Risk assessment
- International Nuclear Events Scale
- Probabilistic risk assessment
- Severe Accident Risks: An Assessment for Five U.S. Nuclear Power Plants NUREG-1150 1991
- Calculation of Reactor Accident Consequences CRAC-II 1982
- Rasmussen Report: Reactor Safety Study WASH-1400 1975
- The Brookhaven Report: Theoretical Possibilities and Consequences of Major Accidents in Large Nuclear Power Plants WASH-740 1957
The AP1000 has a maximum core damage frequency of 5.09 x 10-7 per plant per year. The European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) has a maximum core damage frequency of 4 x 10-7 per plant per year. [3] General Electric has recalculated maximum core damage frequencies per year per plant for its nuclear power plant designs: [4]
[edit] Enforcement organisations
- International Atomic Energy Agency
- International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group
- United States Atomic Energy Commission
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S.A)
- Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
- Autorité de sûreté nucléaire, the French nuclear safety authority
- Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
- Federal Atomic Energy Agency in Russia
- Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland
- Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (UK)
- Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (UK)
[edit] Lists of nuclear accidents
- List of civilian nuclear accidents
- List of civilian radiation accidents
- List of military nuclear accidents
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ About NRC, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Retrieved 2007-6-1
- ^ Our Governing Legislation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Retrieved 2007-6-1
- ^ [1]
- ^ Next-generation nuclear energy: The ESBWR
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