Re-Evaluating the Current Safety Goals
The Safety Goals adopted by the US NRC consist of two qualitative safety goals (QSGs) backed up by two quantitative health objectives (QHOs). The QHOs establish risk limits for severe accidents in terms of their radiological consequences, in particular, the average individual health risks of early fatality and latent cancers from radiation exposure of members of the public living in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant. This paper is devoted to a re-examination of the coverage of the current safety goals in evaluating the actual risk posed by nuclear power plant operation. Experience of recent Level 3 PRAs suggests that given a high likelihood of evacuation of the close-in population before any release occurs, the current QHOs are satisfied by large margins. However, the experience of an actual severe accident at Fukushima showed that actual human health effects from released radiation were not the dominant consequences; there were no early fatalities and no measurable increases expected in cancer rates above the baseline rates in the Japanese population. Hence, regardless of accident probability, Fukushima-type accidents would satisfy the NRC’s health-related safety goals. However, there were very significant societal costs, in that large numbers of people were relocated for long periods. We argue that, in addition to the risks addressed in current safety goals, societal risk should also be evaluated. The paper discusses specific possibilities for a goal and an associated quantitative objective.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1564266
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-18-52120-Rev000
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2019), Charleston, SC, 04/28/2019 - 05/03/2019
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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