Article ID: 23-00375
The recent trend of nuclear reactor miniaturization may require reconsideration of the existing framework of safety. This study conceptually explores the safety goals for transportable microreactors (TMRs) by focusing on the differences between large light-water reactors (LLWRs), which contain large amounts of hazardous fission products and TMRs. For LLWRs, the safety goals and surrogate goals representing the integrity of the reactor have played a significant role in reducing the negative health effects of radiation exposure in cases of nuclear disasters. Practitioners, notably the operator, have typically been classified as the main users of these goals. However, the innovative feature of TMRs will lead to the reconsideration of the contents and users of safety goals. The size of the radiological consequences of TMR accidents may highlight the need to capture broader consequences other than direct health effects when formulating the top-level goals. Correspondingly, additional surrogates for representing the interplay between the reactor and surrounding areas may be required. Effectively meeting these new goals only by the efforts of licensees may be a challenge; this indicates a need for the local actors wherein the TMRs are deployed to become the extended users of safety goals. Conceptualizing such new framework of microreactor safety goals as “extended safety goals” as an extension of conventional safety goals for LLWRs, the author discusses their implications and challenges.
