A Methodology to Revise the Need of Relocation and Evacuation Measures for Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) with Innovative Small and Medium Sized Reactors (SMRs). Annex I

Current regulations relevant for nuclear power plants (NPPs) and their siting require that adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of a radiological emergency. This requirement has been further interpreted in the USA as a requirement for emergency planning in an area with a 10 miles radius, i.e., extending far beyond the site boundary. This prescribed 10 miles radius is the same for all NPPs. Historically, it was selected very conservatively to envelop all nuclear power plant designs existing at the time. The rule was prepared, but it does not include provisions to account for the significant safety improvements in plant operation and design achieved since. The emergency planning requirement may pose a significant burden on plant owner (utility), both in the construction and in the operation phase. During construction, it may be needed to build otherwise unnecessary infrastructure (e.g., enhanced highways) to comply with the requirement. During operation, it is necessary to maintain an evacuation capability in a relatively wide area around the plant in which, for all practical purposes, any human development is frozen, this being a burden for small countries and/or areas with significant growth. Finally, the fact that the off-site zone around NPP is treated in a special way sends an incorrect message to public regarding the safety of NPPs and in the unlikely event of an accident it could even induce among residents of the affected areas the 'paralyzing fatalism' that is recognized to be the largest and longest-lasting public health problem created by the Chernobyl accident. The current advanced and safer reactor designs further reduce risk to public and should, therefore, offer a possibility to reduce or eliminate some of the emergency plan and evacuation requirements. This need was identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Project On Innovative Nuclear Reactor and Fuel Cycles (INPRO, User Requirement 'The innovative nuclear reactors and fuel cycle shall not need relocation or evacuation measures outside the plant site, apart from those generic emergency measures developed for any industrial facility'), as well as by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). It is deemed possible to reduce emergency-related site requirements for advanced plants, while at the same time providing a protection to the general public equal to, or better than that provided by the current generation of NPPs and current regulations. Achieving licensing with this new objective would offer significant societal and economic benefits to the general public and plant owners/operators, including: - increased public acceptance of nuclear power, since nuclear plants will be treated as any other power plant; - reduced need for infrastructure, thus reducing cost; - reduced operational costs; - enabling co-generation, including district heating and desalination, where the plant cannot be located remotely from the intended user; - reduced transmission costs; - enabling a wider choice of siting locations in countries with relatively high population density. In summary, achieving licensing with no need for emergency plan and evacuation measures will improve the viability of deploying new NPPs