Nuclear reactor safety is primarily concerned with the prevention of radiation-related damage to the public from the operation of commercial nuclear reactors; safety limits are introduced to avoid fuel failures during normal operation, or to mitigate the consequences of reactor accidents in which substantial damage is done to the reactor core.
In this report, brief descriptions of 20 fuel-related safety criteria are presented along with both the rationale for having such criteria and possible new design and operational issues which could have an effect on them. No attempt was made to categorise the criteria according to event type or risk significance.
This report will be of particular interest to nuclear engineers working in the area of fuel safety and to all those interested in general aspects of nuclear safety.