Perspectives on the economic risks of LWR accidents

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5035588

Ritchie, L T; Burke, R P

Models which can be used for the analysis of the economic risks from events which may occur during LWR operation have been developed. The models include capabilities to estimate both onsite and offsite costs of LWR events ranging from routine plant forced outages to severe core-melt accidents resulting in large releases of radioactive material to the environment. The economic consequence models have been applied in studies of the economic risks from the operation of US LWR plants. The results of the analyses provide some important perspectives regarding the economic risks of LWR accidents. The analyses indicate that economic risks, in contrast to public health risks, are dominated by the onsite costs of relatively high-frequency forced outage events. Even for severe (e.g., core-melt) accidents, expected offsite costs are less than expected onsite costs for a typical US plant.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5035588
• Report Number(s): SAND-86-2235C; CONF-8609183-1; ON: TI87000458
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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