Preliminary study of probabilistic safety assessment level 1 for the IEA-R1 research reactor of the IPEN/CNEN

Abstract

Due to the fact that nuclear energy is today one of the most important supply source of "clean" energy, increases the possibility of investments in new nuclear power plants in Brazil. The National Commission of Nuclear Energy (CNEN), that is the Brazilian nuclear regulatory commission, imposes safety and licensing standards in order to ensure that the nuclear power plants operate in a safe way. For licensing a nuclear reactor one of the demands of CNEN is the simulation of some accidents and thermal-hydraulic transients considered as design base to verify the integrity of the plant when submitted to adverse conditions. The accidents that must be simulated are those that present large probability to occur or those that can cause more serious consequences. These accidents are previously identified through a Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). The objective of this paper is to present a preliminary study which information will be used in a future Probabilistic Safety Assessment Level 1 for the IEA-R1 Research Reactor of IPENICNEN-SP.