RISKS DUE TO BEYOND DESIGN BASE ACCIDENTS OF NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANTS IN EUROPE - THE METHODOLOGY OF RISKMAP

International treaties on liability in the case of nuclear accidents s et a limit on the repair payments to be made by the operators of nucle ar power plants to countries adversely affected by nuclear fall-out wh ich is independent of the actual risk incurred by the individual count ries. A map of the risk due to beyond design base accidents of nuclear power plants in Europe could give an indication which countries are l ikely to profit by joining the treaties and which are not. Such a risk map for effects based on the deposition of the long-lived radionuclide Cs-137 is being developed for commercial nuclear power plants in Euro pe. Dispersion and deposition calculations are based on meteorological data of 1 year. The modular design allows scenario calculations for d ifferent assumptions concerning source terms and frequencies of beyond design base accidents of individual power plants or plant types as we ll as a sensitivity analysis of the results. (C) 1998 Published by Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.