Document: NUREG-1555
Document ID: 0f68d035-9de9-494c-9ac9-3eae91036a7c
Document Type: esrp
Title: SEVERE ACCIDENTS
Source: NUREG-1555
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1555/initial/
Revision Date: 2007-10
Chapter: 7
Section ID: 7.2
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Content:
environmental impacts that have been considered include potential radiation exposures to individuals and to the population as a whole, the risk of near- and long-term adverse health effects that such exposures could entail, and the potential economic and societal consequences of accidental contamination of the environment. These impacts could be severe, but the likelihood of their occurrence is judged to be small. This conclusion is based on (1) considerable experience gained with the operation of similar facilities without significant degradation of the environment, (2) to obtain a license, the applicant must comply with the applicable Commission regulations and requirements, and (3) a previously analyzed assessment of the risk of design- basis and severe accidents. The overall assessment of environmental risk of accidents, assuming protective action, shows that it is roughly comparable with the risk from normal operation, although accidents have a potential for early fatalities and economic costs that cannot arise from normal operations. The risks of an early fatality from potential accidents at the site are small in comparison with the risks of an early fatality from other human activities in a comparably sized population. October 1999 7.2-7 NUREG-1555 V. IMPLEMENTATION The method described herein will be used by the staff in evaluating conformance with the Commission’s regulations, except in those cases in which the applicant proposes an acceptable alternative for complying with specified portions of the regulations. VI. REFERENCES 10 CFR 50.34, “Contents of application; technical information.” 10 CFR 52.17, “Contents of application.” 10 CFR 52.79, “Contents of applications; technical information.” Chanin, D. I., J. L. Sprung, and L. T. Ritchie. 1990. MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System (MACCS). Volume 1: User’s Guide. NUREG/CR-4691 Volume 1. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).