New Insights on Risk-Informed Performance-Based Approaches to Technology-Neutral Regulatory Framework for Generation IV Reactors

The current regulations for nuclear power plants focus on light water reactors (LWRs), and as such they may not be properly applied to non-LWR reactors such as Generation IV Reactors. For instance, there is no plant state comparable to core damage in pebble bed reactors [1]. As a result, the surrogate safety goal based on core-damage frequency (CDF), as being applied to LWRs in many countries directly or indirectly, needs to be somehow modified for such advanced plants. Therefore, there are considerable interests worldwide in developing new licensing structure for advanced nuclear power plants. In this paper, we briefly discuss the new licensing approaches developed by the NRC and suggested by PBMR, Pty. LTD focusing on the two topical areas mentioned above. Next, our insights are given with respect to these approaches along with our suggestions for future research.