Safety Design Criteria for Generation IV Sodium cooled Fast Reactor System - 2017 - Rev. 1

The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Policy Group proposed, at its meeting in October 2010, to develop “Safety Design Criteria (SDC)” for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs). The terms of reference for the establishment of a Task Force to draft these SDC was approved at a Policy Group meeting in May 2011. The first Task Force meeting was held in July 2011, followed by three Task Force meetings and one teleconference to develop/update/modify the SDC, where input, comments, and proposals from the Task Force and from other GIF entities were discussed. The result of these discussions is presented in this document.

The objective of the SDC is to present reference criteria for the safety design of structures, systems, and components of an SFR system with the aim of achieving the safety goals of a Generation IV reactor system. The reference criteria are systematically and comprehensively explained in the SDC. The contents of the SDC are grouped into the following four parts:

I. Chapter 1 Introduction, describes the background, objectives, and formulation principles, and Chapter 2 Safety Approach to the SFR as a Generation IV reactor system, contains GIF’s safety goals and basic safety approach, a fundamental orientation on safety, and the safety approach to a Generation IV SFR system.

II. In Chapters 3 to 6, eighty-three criteria for the overall safety design and specific structure, system, and component design are described in sequence. The structure of this part is the same as that of the IAEA SSR 2/1, where safety requirements for the current generation light water reactor power plants are listed. This style is used for the convenience of the users. The potential users of the SDC are not only GIF SFR concept developers, but also parties interested in the SFR technology in general, including international and national regulatory organisations. The differences between the IAEA SSR 2/1 requirements and the GIF SFR SDC criteria are highlighted in the text and are indicated on a separate page.

III. A Glossary, covering specific terminologies for the SFR system and for Generation IV reactor systems in general. A number of important terms, defined in e.g. the IAEA safety standards/glossary, are also incorporated for the convenience of the reader.

IV. An Appendix, which includes examples of key items of the SFR system configuration and technical background to understand better the SFR safety characteristics.

Improvements to reactor safety come from continuous efforts to update safety designs and are enhanced by recently obtained knowledge from operation/hazards experiences. Therefore, the current SDC will be continuously updated as necessary by, for example, attaching additional guidelines where more detailed explanations/criteria are needed.