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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Vital areas at nuclear power plants

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5798007

Vital area analysis of nuclear power plants has been performed for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the Los Alamos National Laboratory from the late 1970's through the present. The Los Alamos Vital Area Study uses a fault-tree modeling technique to identify vital areas and equipment at nuclear power plants to determine their vulnerability. This technique has been applied to all operating plants and approximately one-half of those under construction in the US. All saboteur-induced loss-of-coolant accidents and transients and the systems needed to mitigate them are considered. As a result of this effort, security programs at nuclear power plants now include vulnerability studies that identify targets in a systematic manner, and thus unnecessary protection has been minimized. 1 ref., 8 figs., 1 tab.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
5798007
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-85-558; CONF-850723-1; ON: DE85007665
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English