Teachin g Notes
Operationa l Reacto r Safet y Course
Lecture : 1 3 – Integratio n o f Safet y Analysi s int o Operationa l Requirem e nts
Objective :
The objective of this lecture is to dem ons trate how nuclear plants are designed and m a naged by integrating the safety analysis , NRC requirem e nts and overall operations.
Ke y Point s t o Brin g Out:
Slid e num be r Point s
3 Review process for how a desi gn pro ceeds from i n ception to license approval.
4 Introduce specific parts of the code of federal regulations to students by suggestion that they go to the listed web sites to see what they actually say an d the requirem ents contained therein.
5-6 Review contents of Chapter 15 safety analysis and what is contained in the Safety Analysis Report. If you have a copy, show it to the stud ents.
6-7 Review types of design basis ac cidents and why they are im portant recall what design bas i s acciden t s are intended to do - cover all types of events that m i ght occur re gardless of likelihood to be sure that the plant can handl e them . It is hoped that these analyses and the resulting plant designs can cover events th at are not specifically analyzed.
8-9 Review NRC requirem e nts and how the analysis determ ines technical Specifications which ar e the lim its for operation. Also go over all the Appendices to 10CFR Part 50 which provides specific guidance on what is needed to dem o nstrate com p liance to regulations.
10 There are m any other require m e nts imposed on licenses - go over each to exp l ain what they are.
11 Clarif y the d i stin ction b e tween lic ens i ng basis (a collec tion of all NRC requirem e nts i m posed on the licensee) from the design basis which is la r g ely re lated to th e basic design of the plant.
12-15 This series of slides describes the NRC oversight process and how the regulations are enforced and reactors m onitored. Take the students to the NRC we bsite to show what inf o rm ation is availab l e to the public regard ing th e Reactor O v ersigh t Pro cess by checking the status of local reactors.
16 The purpose of this slid e is to m ake clear that b lin d com p liance to rules is not a good safety strategy but a balance of skills, rules and knowledge is im portant - refer to Three Mile Island as an example where sim p ly com p lying to rule s is n o t suf f i cient.
17-21 These slid es f o cus on how utilities m anage saf ety by keeping the plant with in a "safety en velope ". E m phasize critical safety functions and don' t forge t the goa l of electricity generation.
Operations are very tightly proced ure based with the control room the hub of all operations and cont rol through which all activities on the reactor p l ant are m anaged and co ntrolled. Review the role of the risk m o nitor ag ain as a refresher to m a intain a safety focus.
22-23 Review a ty pical p l ant o r ganizati on chart which describes how the plant organizes itself to assure com pliance and safe operations.
Stress the ro les of quality assura nce, operations and radiation protection . Review a typical non-outage day in term s of wha t they actually do.
24 The plant has num erous internal checks to m onitor how it is doing without NRC oversight. It is in th e best interest of the plant to avoid issu es. The item s listed a r e utility and indu stry program s aim e d at identifying problem s and correcting them before they becom e real problem s. Focus on the importance o f corrective action program s and various review board to be sure that internal blindness does not occur.
25 These key success factors were developed by engineers experienced in design and operations . They are ranked by priority
- note the top key to success is safety culture.
MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.edu
22.091 / 22.903 Nuclear Reactor Safety
Spring 200 8
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