Power reactor safety has several objectives: protection of the plant against damage; protection of the public; and the presentation of evidence of safety. These objectives must be viewed against a background in which a new source of energy that is vitally needed to solve the world’s power problems was born during wartime. The political use to which nuclear power was put
has done a considerable amount of damage to its civilian use. Thus the final safety objective is a vital one.

In the long run, the presentation of safety is concerned with the education of society to nuclear power in general and fast reactors in particular, while in the short run it is concerned with the presentation of the safety analysis of a particular power plant.

The protection of the public is concerned with obtaining an assurance that there can be no plant or system disturbance which could ever result in the release of a significant quantity of fission products from the plant site. Such a subject also involves siting policies as part of the safety considerations.

However, the main objective is the design objective in which the plant (and of course the public) is protected against damage. The design objectives for any power plant will include safety, economical operation, reliability as well as flexibility, ease of operation, and compatibility with other power sources; but safety is a primary one,