ADOPTION OF NEW DESIGN-FEATURES FOR THE NEXT-GENERATION NUCLEAR-POWERREACTORS

This article provides a technical basis for establishing a balanced em phasis regarding plant safety, operability, constructibility, maintain ability, and economics in the selection of a new nuclear power plant. Energy Cost Differentials and living-probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) are suggested for selecting new reactor designs in this paper. The En ergy Cost Differentials represent the anticipated economic benefits ob tained from the analyses of living-PRA in the respective stages of des ign, construction, and operation on the basis of safety, reliability, operability, and availability characteristics of various new designs. Thus the buyer(s) can be assured that his investment in such a new pow er plant would be safe and profitable. The guideline for selection of a new reactor design is suggested in the following steps: 1. Set up de sign goals by the potential buyer(s). 2. Design strategies formulated by the vendor to meet the design goals. 3. Review the vendor's plant p erformance analyses. 4. Review the proposed control and protection sys tems, the operation Test Specifications, and the training procedures. 5. Review the designer's safety analysis to ensure the licensability o f the plant. 6. Record the evaluation results of above reviews in term s of the evaluated Energy Cost Differentials of each proposed plant fo r comparison and selection.