Safety and reliability

The probability approach to safety, developed in the UKAEA, is today a necessary part of the safety assessment of large complex plants. Some of the work of the Safety and Reliability Directorate in this field, which is reviewed briefly, includes the development of quantitative criteria, for acceptable societal risk for accident analyses. The experience of the National Centre of Reliability has contributed to the methodology and data requirements of the event tree/fault tree approach to risk assessment. The effects of common mode failures and, of human error have been considered. Some topics of general interest in the safety field which illustrate the range of applicability of the work include the dispension of material into the atmosphere, resistance of buildings to missiles, structural reliability, and foundry accidents. (UK)