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REACTOR SAFETY AND RISK ISSUES
Author(s) -
HARDING JIM
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7287.1990.tb00647.x
Subject(s) - commission , containment (computer programming) , probabilistic risk assessment , core (optical fiber) , probabilistic logic , event (particle physics) , actuarial science , business , risk analysis (engineering) , forensic engineering , engineering , computer science , finance , statistics , mathematics , telecommunications , physics , programming language , quantum mechanics
This paper surveys trends and conclusions in federally sponsored studies of nuclear reactor safety and their implications for nuclear regulation. The paper finds that recent studies do not rule out the possibility of light water reactor accidents equal to or even larger in size than the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The probability of such an event – involving both core melt and prompt containment failure – is quite small, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) estimated probability of core melt is significantly higher. The paper reviews the NRC's use of these findings through a probabilistic cost‐benefit framework, and it concludes that a greater and focused NRC commitment to risk reduction is justified.