Task Group on Safety Margin Applications and Assessment (SM2A)

Following on from the CSNI Action Plan in the Area of Safety Margins (SMAP), a task group has been set up carry out a pilot project using the methodology propsed in the final SMAP report published in 2007. In this pilot project, the SMAP methodology will be applied to the Zion nuclear power plant in consideration of the US NRC loss-of-coolant accident rulemaking change and a power uprate of 10%. This application will follow three steps:

• defining the base case (reactor conditions) to which the power uprate of 10% will be applied;
• establishing event trees and selecting the sequences for thermal-hydraulic calculations;
• performing thermal-hydraulic calculations with uncertainty analysis.

The final objective of this exercise is to check the applicability of the SMAP methodology and to calculate the change in frequency of exceedance of the safety limit(s) resulting from the change of the plant operating conditions.

Participants

Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United States. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is also participating in the pilot project.

Related links

Safety Margins Action Plan - Final Report
NEA/CSNI/R(2007)9

CSNI Action Plan in the Area of Safety Margins

Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) overview

SM2A working area (requires password)

E-mail contact: Abdallah Amri (abdallah.amri@oecd.org)
These pages were last updated on 1 July 2007.

Last updated: 17 October 2008