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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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INL makes a case for eliminating ALARA and setting higher dose limits
A report just released by Idaho National Laboratory reviews decades of radiation protection standards and research on the health effects of low-dose radiation and recommends that the current U.S. annual occupational dose limit of 5,000 mrem be maintained without applying ALARA—the “as low as reasonably achievable” regulatory concept first introduced in 1971—below that threshold.
Noting that epidemiological studies “have consistently failed to demonstrate statistically significant health effects at doses below 10,000 mrem delivered at low dose rates,” the report also recommends “future consideration of increasing this limit to 10,000 mrem/year with appropriate cumulative-dose constraints.”
Xin-Guo Yu, Ki-Yong Choi, Chul-Hwa Song, Istvan Trosztel, Ivan Toth, Gyorgy Ezsol
Nuclear Technology | Volume 191 | Number 2 | August 2015 | Pages 136-150
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-55
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Pressure waves might be expected in a nuclear reactor system due to a sudden rupture of a pipe or to quick opening or closure of a system valve. Once generated, they can result in large mechanical loads on the reactor pressure vessel internal structures and pipelines, threatening their integrity. This kind of phenomenon is an important issue and a limiting accident case for nuclear power plant safety, which requires an extensive analysis to ensure plant safety. To study these phenomena, four pressure wave propagation (PWP) tests have been performed in the PMK-2 test facility in MTA-EK. In addition, the first one of the four tests has been used to assess the capability of the MARS-KS code in simulating PWP phenomena. Then, an input model representing the PMK-2 test facility was developed to simulate the tests. Herein, the MARS-KS code simulation results are compared with the test results for the first PWP test. The comparison shows that the MARS-KS code can simulate the PWP frequencies and pressure wave peaks well. After this qualified assessment, the MARS-KS code is then deployed to conduct a sensitivity analysis on the effect of the break size, break opening times, initial coolant conditions, and existence of the pressurizer on the PWP phenomena. The sensitivity analysis on the break opening times shows that the pressure wave amplitude is relevant to the break opening times and that the shorter the break opening time is, the faster the pressure depressurizes. The sensitivity analysis on the effect of the break sizes shows that the larger the break size is, the higher the pressure peak is. And, there is little effect of initial coolant pressure and temperatures and isolation of the pressurizer.
