Deterministic and risk-informed approaches for safety analysis of advanced reactors: Part II, Risk-informed approaches

Abstract

Technical insights and findings from a critical review of deterministic approaches typically applied to ensure design safety of nuclear power plants were presented in the companion paper of Part I included in this issue. In this paper we discuss the risk-informed approaches that have been proposed to make a safety case for advanced reactors including Generation-IV reactors such as Modular High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (MHTGR), Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), or Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). Also considered herein are a risk-informed safety analysis approach suggested by Westinghouse as a means to improve the conventional accident analysis, together with the Technology Neutral Framework recently developed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a high-level regulatory infrastructure for safety evaluation of any type of reactor design. The insights from a comparative review of various deterministic and risk-informed approaches could be usefully used in developing a new licensing architecture for enhanced safety of evolutionary or advanced plants.