Disruptive technologies for nuclear safety applications

The Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) is responsible for NEA programmes and activities that support maintaining and advancing the scientific and technical knowledge base of the ...

Nuclear safety can be understood as accident prevention in nuclear installations, via its systems and its human resources, and the mitigation of risks and consequences if an accident should occur.

Accident analysis and management focusses on understanding the causes and consequences of an accident at a nuclear facility, and on how to manage an accident through prevention and mitigation.

Nuclear facilities rely on a robust electrical system to power primary and back-up systems required to safely respond to a wide variety of challenging events.

Reactor components and structures degrade by exposure to heat, environmental conditions and radiation. It is vital to understand ageing processes to ensure that safety criteria continue to be met.

Demonstrating the safety of a nuclear facility requires that the consequences of all possible threats be considered, including external hazards such as severe weather, floods and earthquakes.

Risk assessments are used to determine the probability of harmful events at a nuclear plant. They are valuable for determining the relative benefit and better selection of safety enhancements.

The fuel for a nuclear reactor is both the source of the fission energy that is used to produce electricity and the source of radioactive material during an accident.

The facilities associated with nuclear fuel from mining to fabrication to post-irradiation management have some specific safety concerns that are different from those of nuclear reactors.