Nuclear Reactors
Sandia has been a leader in developing and applying the techniques of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) to the analysis of nuclear reactors. Our Nuclear Energy Technology Program provides technical information and effective approaches for making or supporting critical decisions about the safety and reliability of nuclear systems. We also participate in important national initiatives related to both nuclear energy regulation and new applications of nuclear technology. The program areas described below and our experimental facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, provide a full range of support for risk management of nuclear reactors, from basic research at our experimental facilities, through the development of state-of-the-art analytical tools, to the final probabilistic risk assessments.
Nuclear Reactor Safety
Our broad-based safety research for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has made us a leader in probabilistic risk assessment, containment structural integrity, severe accidents, seismic reliability, dynamic loading from missile impact on structures, equipment operability, fire protection, reactor safety phenomenological research, and safeguards and security.
Light Water Reactor Technology
Sandia works with DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy and the nuclear industry to develop and implement reactor safety features and aging-management techniques and concepts that offer significant improvements. Some of these projects are addressing issues such as extending the operating life of existing reactors by an additional 20 years, upgrading the instrumentation and control of existing reactors to increase reliability and to reduce maintenance costs, and demonstrating thermal annealing techniques to reduce reactor pressure vessel embrittlement.
International Nuclear Safety
Sandia works with a number of foreign countries through DOE- and NRC-sponsored international cooperative research projects and technology transfer and technical assistance projects. Areas of cooperation include code development and experimental work related to nuclear reactor safety and consequence assessments. Some of the foreign partners are Japan, France, Germany, Russia, and England.
DOE Nuclear Facility Safety
We support DOE in the development of systematic methods to improve the safety of their nuclear facilities. Application of conduct-of-operations concepts and risk-management techniques are examples of approaches to improve the safety of these facilities.
Risk Assessment
We develop methods and techniques to support risk-based regulations and decisions, to prioritize activities, and to improve the reliability and safety of complex systems (including software reliability).
Other pages in this brochure present information on two examples of Sandia's work on risk assessment for nuclear reactors:
For further information, contact:
Thomas E. Blejwas,Director
Sandia National Laboratories, MS-0736
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0736
Phone: (505) 844-0577
e-mail: teblejw@sandia.gov
Submitted October 1996
Layout design by Wanda Mar.