ITER safety and licensing update

Highlights: ► The ITER preliminary safety report has been submitted to the French nuclear regulator. ► Safety analyses have shown how the key safety functions will be achieved. ► The design contains multiple provisions for the confinement of radioactive material. ► Analyses have addressed external hazards (e.g. earthquake) and loss of all power. - Abstract: Safety files were submitted by the ITER Organization to the French nuclear safety authorities in March 2010 as a part of the licensing process. These included the preliminary safety report (RPrS) which presents the extensive safety analyses performed for ITER. The report has been the subject of examination by the authorities and their advisors, and discussions with them have been held on many topics. In the light of this process, this paper discusses some of the topics that remain prominent in the safety analysis of ITER. In particular, the provision of the two safety functions, confinement of radioactive material and limitation of exposure to radiation, is explained and some of the potential challenges to them are identified. Amongst these are the risks of fire and explosion, and external events such as earthquake and loss of all electric power. Provisions in the ITER design, together with the characteristics of fusion, ensure that a very good safety performance will be achieved.