CONSIDERATION OF POSTACCIDENT CONSEQUENCES IN THE DETERMINATION OF SAFETY OBJECTIVES FOR FUTURE NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANTS IN FRANCE

The design of a new generation of nuclear power units, the constructio n of which could begin around the year 2000, is currently under invest igation in France. The various partners involved have agreed on the ne ed for a significant improvement in the safety of the units of this ne w generation compared with the units presently in operation or under c onstruction. Releases associated with possible severe accidents involv ing reactor core meltdown, which could lead to radiological consequenc es for the public and the environment, are, of course, a major concern . These consequences must be mitigated to be deemed acceptable, consid ering their probabilities. This article presents a study conducted by the Protection and Nuclear Safety Institute with the collaboration of the Nuclear Protection Evaluation Center to elaborate on this concept of acceptability in which the Soviet populations' reactions after the Chernobyl accidents were used as a reference. This approach allowed de finition of the order of magnitude to be sought for the ''maximum conc eivable release'' to serve as a reference for establishing safety obje ctives to be set for the design of future reactors.