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Some implications of the Three Mile Island accident for LMFBR safety and licensing: the design basis issue

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5337242

The 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island-Unit 2 (TMI-2) nuclear generating plant prompted numerous studies identifying relevant safety issues and recommending both short term and long term fixes to improve the general safety of the light water reactor (LWR). One of the major safety issues which has evolved from the Action Plan of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Task Force investigations concerns the use of the design basis accident (DBA) in the licensing process. The DBA is an artificial boundary separating those credible accidents which are considered in the licensing process from those incredible ones which are not. While these recommendations focus on current light water reactors, they will also affect design and operation of the liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR). This Note assesses the impact of the TMI-2 accident on the LMFBR.

Research Organization:
RAND Corp., Santa Monica, CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AS03-78ET37300
OSTI ID:
5337242
Report Number(s):
RAND/N-1559-DOE; ON: DE82009276
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English