1.2 Fundamental safety philosophy

The highest priority is given by the CEGB to the maintenance of nuclear safety standards in order to ensure the radiological protection of both people and the environment and, in particular, to safeguard the public. From an early stage of the development of the first nuclear power programme, the CEGB adopted a policy for nuclear safety which embodied certain fundamental principles, the main features of which are:

• As a result of normal operation of a nuclear power station, no person shall receive doses of radiation in_exce$s of the appropriate limits.

• The exposure of individuals to radiation shall be kept as low as reasonably practicable.

• The collective dose equivalent to operators and the general public as a result of the operation of a nuclear installation shall be kept as low as reason­ably practicable.

• All reasonably practicable steps shall be taken to prevent accidents.

• AH reasonably practicable steps shall be taken to minimise the radiological consequences of any ac­cident.

From these fundamental principles the CEGB has developed a safety philosophy which is based on es­tablishing safety criteria at the beginning of a project against which the developing designs can be assessed. The criteria are comprehensive and cover the stand­ards of engineering to be adopted, the levels of re­dundancy and diversity in the protective system, the treatment of man-made and natural hazards and the means by which quality in design, manufacture, con­struction and operation is assured. The design safety criteria are described in detail later. The overall safety aim is to show that the risks to the station operators and to members of the general public are acceptably small.