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The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

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The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle .f'IAEN �NEA NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium,Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971) and New Zealand (29th May 1973). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) was established on lst February 1958 under the name of the OEEC European Nuclear Energy Agency. It received its present designation on 20th April 1972, when Japan became its first non-European full Member. NEA membership today consists of all European Member countries of OECD as well as Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the Agency. The primary objective of NEA is to promote co-operation among the governments of its participating countries in furthering the development of nuclear power as a safe, environmentally acceptable and economic energy source. This is achieved by: encouraging harmonization of national regulatory policies and practices, with particular reference to the safety of nuclear installations, protection of man against ionising radiation and preservation of the environment, radioactive waste management, and nuclear third party liability and insurance; assessing the contribution of nuclear power to the overall energy supply by keeping under review the technical and economic aspects of nuclear power growth and forecasting demand and supply for the different phases of the nuclear fuel cycle; developing exchanges of scientific and technical information particularly through participation in common services; setting up international research and development programmes and joint undertakings. In these and related tasks, NEA works in close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, with which it has conclude4 a Co-operation Agreement, as well as with other international organisations in the nuclear field. Publie en fran~ais sous le titre : LA SURETE DU CYCLE DU COMBUSTIBLE NUCLEAIRE ©OECD 1993 Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this publication should be made to: Head of Publications Service, OECD 2, rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16, France Foreword The present report has been prepared by the Working Group on the Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, which is one of the groups set up by the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). The purpose of the report is to present an up-to-date analysis of the safety aspects in nuclear fuel cycle facilities thus replacing the previous OECD report entitled "Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle", which was published in 1981. The Working Group commissioned a task force which was charged to prepare this document on the basis of the presently available experience in OECD Member countries. The task force members contributing to the report were: L.H. Baetsle (Belgium) (Chairman) W. Thomas (Germany) M. Kanamori (Japan) H. Auchere (France) Y. Naito (Japan) T. Viglasky (Canada) S. Matsuoka (Japan) J. Roberts (United States) L.G. Williams (United Kingdom) R.B. Chitwood (United States) M. Tew (United Kingdom) R. Berger (NEA Consultant) This report represents the views of the task force and does not necessarily reflect those of the OECD nor its Member countries. This document is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction and Executive Summary . 9 1.1 Introduction . 9 1.2 Executive summary . 10 2. The Nuclear Fuel Cycle . 15 2.1 Nuclear fuel cycle activities . 15 2.2 Status of the various fuel cycle segments . 18 2.2.1 Uranium mining and milling . 18 2.2.2 Uranium refining and conversion to uranium hexafluoride . 20 2.2.3 Uranium enrichment . 22 2.2.4 Fuel manufacture ........................................... 24 2.2.4.1 Uranium oxide fuel (enriched uranium) . 25 2.2.4.2 Mixed oxide fuel (MOX) . 26 2.2.4.3 Fast reactor fuel . 29 2.2.4.4 Metal fuel . 30 2.2.5 Spent fuel storage . 30 2.2.5.1 Pool storage ......................................... 31 2.2.5.2 Dry storage . 31 2.2.6 Spent fuel reprocessing . 32 2.2.6.1 Head end processes . 34 2.2.6.2 Solvent extraction . 36 2.2.6.3 Plutonium storage . 39 2.2.6.4 High level liquid waste (HLL W) concentration and storage . 39 2.2.7 Radioactive waste management . 40 2.2. 7 .1 Solidification of high level waste (HL W) . 41 2.2.7.2 HLLW as a resource ................................... 43 2.2.8 Transport of radioactive materials . 44 2.2.9 Decommissioning ........................................... 45 2.2.10 Present and proposed fuel cycle facilities . 45 3. Safety Principles . 51 3.1 Safety philosophy ................................................ 51 3.2 Regulatory framework . 51 3.2.1 Governmental responsibilities . 52 3.2.2 Responsibilities of regulatory bodies . 52 5 3.2.3 Regulations and guides . 53 3.2.4 Licensing . 53 3.2.5 Review and assessment . 54 3.2.6 Regulatory inspection and enforcement . 54 3.2.7 Quality assurance . 55 3.2.8 Emergency preparedness . 55 3.3 Radiological safety . 56 3.3.1 Radioactive contamination . 56 3.3.2 Radiation exposure . 57 3.3.3 Environmental impact and pathways .............................. 57 3.4 Abnormal occurrences . 57 3.4.1 Physicochemical mechanisms . 58 3.4.2 Criticality . 59 3.4.3 Mechanical failures . 59 3.4.4 Malfunction of instrumentation and control systems . 59 3.4.5 Operator error . 59 3.4.6 External events . 60 3.4.7 Loss of electrical power . 60 3.5 Safety assessment . 60 3.5.1 Identification of fault situations . 61 3.5.2 Fault tree analysis . 61 3.5.3 Assessment of consequences . 61 3.6 Event severity scales . 62 4. General Safety . 69 4.1 Internal safety issues . 69 4.1.1 Containment and ventilation . 69 4.1.1.1 Containments . 70 4 .1.1.2 Ventilation . 71 4.1.2 Criticality . 72 4 .1.2.1 General . 72 4.1.2.2 Factors affecting criticality . 72 4.1.2.3 Possible abnormalities . 73 4.1.2.4 Assessment philosophy . 74 4.1.2.5 Criticality accident . 74 4.1.3 Fire hazards - general . 74 4.2 External safety issues . 77 4.2.1 Seismic events . 77 4.2.2 External fires and explosions . 77 4.2.3 Aircraft crash hazard . 78 4.2.4.
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