Safety Requirements for New Nuclear Facilities

As a response to renewed interest in the development of nuclear energy capacity across the globe, vendors are designing new reactors to meet the growing demand for safer and more economical nuclear power generation. Several European countries that are preparing for or already committed to build new NPPs has developed or are developing national safety requirements for new nuclear power plant, mostly referenced on IAEA Safety Requirements. The national regulations cover new features such as improvement of the reliability of safety systems, incorporation of passive safety systems, increased use of computer systems, design enhancements to provide greater protection for external events, plant features/systems for mitigating severe accidents, etc. This article provides with picture on the safety requirements/criteria for new built defined in the IAEA standards, USNRC requirements and in the selected European countries: Finland, UK, France (either already specified in the national regulations or expected).(author).