1.4. Requirements for the design of containment systems are established in Section 6 of Ref. [1]. The objective of this Safety Guide is to make recommen­dations on the implementation and fulfilment of these requirements. It is expected that this publication will be used primarily for land based, stationary nuclear power plants with water cooled reactors designed for electricity generation or for other heat generating applications (such as for district heating or desalination). It is recognized that for other reactor types, including future plant systems featuring innovative developments, some of the recommen­dations may not be appropriate or may need some judgement in their interpretation.

1.5. This publication is intended for use by organizations responsible for designing, manufacturing, constructing and operating nuclear power plants, as well as by regulatory bodies.

SCOPE

1.6. This Safety Guide is mainly based on the experience derived from the design and operation of existing reactors, and it applies to the most common types of containment. It also includes some general recommendations for features that would be used in new nuclear power plants for dealing with a severe accident.

1.7. This Safety Guide addresses the functional aspects of the major containment systems for the management of energy, radionuclides and combustible gases. Particular consideration is given to the definition of the design basis for the containment systems, in particular to those aspects affecting the structural design, such as load identification and load combination.

1.8. Recommendations are provided on the tests and inspections that are necessary to ensure that the functional requirements for the containment systems can be met throughout the operating lifetime of the nuclear power plant.

1.9. Design limits and acceptance criteria, together with the system parameters that should be used to verify them, are specific to the design and to the individual State, and are therefore outside the scope of this Safety Guide. However, general recommendations are provided.

STRUCTURE

1.10. Section 2 concerns the safety functions of containment systems and their main features. Section 3 deals with the general design basis for containment systems. Section 4 provides recommendations for the design of containment systems for conditions in operational states and design basis accidents. Section 5 covers tests and inspections, and provides recommendations for commis­sioning tests and for in-service tests and inspections. Section 6 provides recom­mendations and guidance on the consideration given in the design phase to severe accidents.