Safety aspects of nuclear plants coupled with seawater

2,17

MB

desalination units

88

stron

4688

ID

International Atomic Energy Agency

2001

rok

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION.1

1.1. Nuclear desalination and other heat utilization applications 1

1.2. Desalination processes1

1.3. Reactors for desalination applications2

1.4. Safety and licensing considerations2

2. SAFETY STANDARDS AND THEIR APPLICABILITY TO NUCLEAR DESALINATION AND

OTHER HEAT UTILIZATION APPLICATIONS .3

2.1. Existing IAEA safety standards .3

2.1.1. Safety Fundamentals 3

2.1.2. Safety Requirements 4

2.1.3. Safety Guides .5

2.2. Concerns arising from the use of existing IAEA safety standards5

2.3. Specific requirements applicable to nuclear desalination and other heat utilization applications .6

3. SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS SPECIFIC TO NUCLEAR DESALINATION (AND OTHER HEAT

UTILIZATION APPLICATIONS).6

3.1. Coupling.7

3.1.1. Thermal coupling to distillation systems (MED or MSF) .7

3.1.2. Thermal coupling to distillation systems from a heat-only reactor10

3.1.3. Electrical and thermal coupling to an RO preheat system .10

3.1.4. Electrical only coupling to a contiguous RO system .11

3.1.5. Coupling nuclear power plants to hybrid desalination systems .11

3.1.6. Carry-over of radioactive material into the product water .13

3.1.7. Sharing of resources.13

3.1.8. Brine discharge.13

3.2. Transients .13

3.2.1. Accident scenarios .13

3.2.2. Operational transients 14

3.3. Water quality and monitoring 15

3.4. Availability of product water .16

3.5. Siting and the proximity of population centres 16

3.6. Licensing 17

4. A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF COMPREHENSIVE

REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO A SPECIFIC NUCLEAR INSTALLATION.18

4.1. The hierarchical, or “top-down” approach.18

4.2. Guidelines for implementing a hierarchical, top-down approach to the systematic identification

of a comprehensive set of safety requirements 19

4.2.1. The hierarchical, top-down approach as an iterative process.19

4.2.2. Preliminary selection of technologies for the nuclear desalination installation .22

4.2.3. Review of the proposed design in relation to Safety Fundamentals for nuclear power plants22

4.2.4. Review of the proposed design in relation to Safety Requirements for nuclear power plants

.22

4.2.5. Project specific safety design and licensing basis requirements 23

4.2.6. Exercise of application of the top-down methodology for the preparation of the Safety

Requirements.23

5. CONCLUSIONS .24

REFERENCES .25

ANNEX 1: EXAMPLE OF THE APPLICATION OF THE GENERAL METHODOLOGY FOR THE

IDENTIFICATION OF COMPREHENSIVE REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE DESIGN OF

SPECIFIC NUCLEAR PLANTS27

ANNEX II: POSSIBLE PROCEDURE FOR THE DEFINITION OF TARGET WATER

RADIOACTIVITY CONTENT63

ANNEX III: PREVENTION OF THE RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION OF PRODUCT WATER.64

ANNEX IV: AN ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC EXPOSURES FROM NORMAL OPERATION OF THE

CANDESAL® NUCLEAR DESALINATION FACILITY.66

ANNEX V: SAFETY ASPECTS OF THE DESALINATION OF SEA WATER USING NUCLEAR

ENERGY69

CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW ..81