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SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DESIGN AND OPERATION OF LIGHT WATER NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
Author(s) -
Lamarsh John R.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1981.tb18112.x
Subject(s) - nuclear power , nuclear power plant , nuclear engineering , cladding (metalworking) , population , nuclear fission , containment (computer programming) , water cooling , spent nuclear fuel , fission , environmental science , containment building , waste management , engineering , computer science , nuclear physics , chemistry , physics , mechanical engineering , environmental health , medicine , accident management , neutron , programming language
Summary U.S. nuclear power plants are designed with a sequence of barriers to prevent the escape of fission products. These include the fuel itself, its cladding, a closed cooling system, and a massive containment structure. In addition, nuclear plants are sited away from major population centers so that the affected population can be evacuated if the need arises. While it is highly unlikely, a release of fission products could occur if the core were to melt due to an unintentional lack of cooling. To avoid such occurrences, all nuclear plants are equipped with emergency core cooling systems. The fundamental soundness of this design philosophy has been demonstrated by the, to date, untarnished record of minimal population exposure from all nuclear power plant operations.