Iodine chemistry in a reactor regulation

Radioactive iodine has always been an important consideration in the regulation of nuclear power reactors to assure the health and safety of the public. Regulators adopted conservatively bounding predictions of iodine behavior in the earliest days of the development of nuclear power because there was so little known about either accidents or the chemistry of iodine. Today there is a flood of new information and understanding of the chemistry of iodine under reactor accident conditions. This paper offers some thoughts on how the community of scientists engaged in the study of iodine chemistry can present the results of their work so that it is more immediately adopted by the regulator. It is suggested that the scientific community consider the concept of consensus standards so effectively used within the engineering community to define the status of the study of radioactive iodine chemistry for reactor safety. (author) 9 refs