Risk Characterization of Safety Research Areas for Integral Fast Reactor Program Planning

The areas of Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) safety research are characterized in terms of their importance to the risk of core disruption sequences for innovative designs. Such sequences constitute the primary risk to public health and safety. All core disruption sequences are divided into four fault categories: classic unprotected (unscrammed) events, loss of decay heat, local fault propagation, and failure of critical reactor structures. Event trees are used to describe these sequences, and the areas in the IFR safety and related base technology research programs are discussed with respect to their relevance in addressing the key issues in preventing or limiting core disruptive sequences. Thus, a measure of potential for risk reduction is obtained for guidance in establishing research priorities.