Light water reactor safety research trends at EPRI

An active multifaceted research and development (R and D) program in light water reactor (LWR) safety has been pursued for a number of years by the Nuclear Power Division at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The overall objectives have remained the same since the initiation of the program, namely, the quantification of the safety margins and the assurance of the reliability of the nuclear power plants. The trends of the LWR safety research at EPRI have evolved with the evolving safety concerns; certain research areas have received and are receiving increased attention. These are (1) fission product source term, (2) hydrogen combustion and control, (3) dynamic piping response, (4) soil-structure interaction, (5) pipe rupture (leak-before-break), (6) containment integrity and failure modes, (7) plant safety control (operator-aids), (8) secondary side (steam-generator) behavior, (9) pressurized thermal shock, (10) safety relief valve behavior, (11) common-cause failures, (12) human and plant reliability, (13) confidence in probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) results, (14) integrated safety analysis and, most recently, and (15) seismology and its effect on plant seismic design requirements. The EPRI-sponsored work in each of these areas are briefly described in the text