Updated IAEA requirements for design of nuclear power plants - 15380

As a consequence of the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident, a review of the IAEA safety requirements was requested by Member states. Safety Standards are only effective if they are properly applied in practice. This paper gives a quick overview of the expectations in terms of safety with regard to the latest IAEA requirements for the design of nuclear power plants. Requirements addressing the plant protection against the effects of external hazards, including site specific natural hazards exceeding the design basis, effective independence of the specific safety features dedicated for the mitigation of a severe accident, prevention of significant fuel damage in the fuel pools, reliability of the AC and DC sources, reliability of the heat transfer chain to the ultimate heat sink, and needs for use of non-permanent equipment have been enhanced or clarified. Although newest requirements are intended to apply primarily to new power plants and might not be fully met at some existing plants designed and built to earlier IAEA Safety Standards, they should also be considered with a great attention by the owners, licensees and Operating organizations for further improvement of the existing plants, even if the way to be applied is a decision for individual States