Key elements for proper development and implementation of severe accident management guidance/guidelines – SAMG

Abstract

Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMG) have been developed to support a nuclear power plant (NPP) in case of a severe accident, i.e. an (unlikely) accident where the core and/or the fuel in the Spent Fuel Pool (SFP) have been damaged and there is risk for radioactive releases. Various approaches exist, such as the SAMG developed by the PWR and BWR Owners Groups (PWROG, BWROG), by Electricité de France (EdF) for its fleet of plants, the Candu Owners Group (COG) and by several individual NPPs. Often, the developers of SAMG develop a generic type of SAMG, applicable for a certain type of NPP, and leave it to the individual plants to adapt these to their configuration and Emergency Response Organisation (ERO). That means, that quite some burden remains for the individual plants to finally implement the SAMG. This implementation includes not only technical items, such as defining proper strategies, but also many organisational issues, as handling a severe accident needs an effective ERO, in which the SAMG must be well embedded.Various plants have been reviewed, both the ways they have constructed their plant-specific SAMG, implemented them in their ERO and tested the performance in drills and exercises. Most recently, a review of SAMG at Swedish plants has been performed, after which it was decided to pull the various experiences together and summarize them in one compendium. Some of these also include aspects of the development of the generic SAMG.The result is a number of recommendations (∼30), both on the technical field as well as regarding the ERO. We could also define a number of good practices that deserve wider attention.A few words have been devoted to international support for a stricken plant (Epilogue).