3.2.1 AEC Criteria

In July 1967, the AEC published a set of 70 design criteria for use by nuclear power plant designers. The AEC had the following objectives in doing this: (a) the provision of a record of the criteria which had already been used by designers to that date; (b) the provision of a standard set of criteria so that all designers could follow the same rules. This would make licensing somewhat easier; and (c) the provision of a safety check list to ensure that all safety considerations would be covered before a license was issued.

The criteria were published as “General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plant Construction Permits” (8). These criteria were reduced to 58, rewritten and republished in February 1971 (9). They are split into six general categories.

Criteria

I. Overall plant requirements 1-6

II. Protection by multiple fission product barriers 10-19

III. Protection and reactivity control systems 20-29

IV. Fluid systems 30-46

V. Reactor containment 50-57

VI. Fuel and radioactivity control 60-64

The criteria certainly fulfilled the objectives above but they had certain disadvantages for fast reactor designers.

(a) The criteria were too vague, partly because of the state-of-the-art and partly because of a desire not to hamper the designer in his design choices.

(b) They apply to the nuclear reactor of the day: the light water reactor (LWR) system. They do not necessarily apply to fast systems, although many of the criteria are general enough to include all reactor systems.

(c) They were almost law and therefore difficult to change. Fast reactor designers have undoubtedly obtained relevant criteria of their own, but no AEC criteria specifically for fast reactors have yet been prepared. However the American Nuclear Society is moving to prepare such criteria through one of its standards subcommittees.