Severe accidents and source term research in Finland

Severe accident and source term research in Finland has gradually increased in significance in the aftermath of the TMI-2 and the Chernobyl accidents. Since 1983 a special research project, the Severe Accident Assessment project is being carried out in the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). Typical annual research volume is 6...7 professional manyears. The project is funded by the Government, safety authority, VTT and power utilities. The objectives of the project are to acquire the understanding of the basic phenomena of severe accidents and establish tools for plant specific analysises and employ them for present and future nuclear plants in Finland. The project is divided into four different parts: 1) participation in international large scale experimental research projects and own experimental research, such as the Marviken and LACE projects and own small scale aerosol hygroscopicity tests. 2) Establishing tools for plant specific analysises, eg. through participation in the IDCOR program and through co-operation in code development and validation with various organizations, such as the EPRI and the KfK. 3) Plant specific analysises for present and future nuclear power plants in Finland by employing the severe accidents codes. 4) Follow-up and participation in other international research activities, such as the Nordic severe accident research program and the OECD/NEA working groups