Integrating individual plant evaluations in the overall management of safety
The requirements in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Generic Letter on individual plant evaluation (IPE) are conceptually quite simple, i.e., identify any plant-specific vulnerabilities to severe accidents.... This effort combined with action on any findings requiring change will bring full closure to the Severe Accident Policy Statement. The exact work scope to perform the required examination is complex and not fully understood at the time of this writing. The perspective of Northeast utilities (NU) is that this effort is a prudent undertaking to verify that no high-risk accident sequences exist (i.e., outliners) and to provide a basis in part, for accident management activities. Changes will only be required where regulations are not met, or they are cost-effective. The Generic Letter does not impose significant new work on NU since we had already committed to similar analysis as part of our overall living probability risk assessment (PRA) program. The initial challenge in responding to the IPE Letter is one of revising schedules, understanding any technical subtleties in requirements, and assuring that the IPE effort is effectively integrated in NU's overall management of nuclear safety. Individual plant evaluation offers an opportunity for NRC and licensees to better utilize the two complementary approaches to assess whether safety objectives are satisfied, namely, deterministic and probabilistic.
- OSTI ID:
- 7070519
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-890604--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Vol. 59; ISSN TANSA; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
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220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
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