Re: PWR releases -Reply

[Charles Willis <CAW@nrc.gov>]

Jim, David, et al.

Jim Reese's comments are on target for today's nuclear power plants.  They really
do not apply to the reactors in question, viz. 10 MW PWRs of the 1960 era.

The safety analysis reports (SARs) for the reactors in question were quite unlike
today's SARs for power reactors.  I believe the safety analysis report for the
Radiation Effects Reactor (RER), for example, was about two inches thick and was
supported by a "Physics Report" of about equal volume.  We called these
documents "Hazard Summary Reports" in those days.  More dramatically, my 1962
report on the Thermal Test Reactor (10 kW thermal)  was less than 100 pages
long.   The regulatory world has changed in the last 35 years and, even today,
non-power reactors are not regulated in the same maner as are power reactors.

Another word of caution about the use of Safety Analysis Reports ( whether
Preliminary, Final, or Updated): the releases cited in these reports are
"postulated" for various purposes and are quite different from (generally much
larger than) actual releases.

Charlie Willis
caw@nrc.gov