Can nuclear reactors be made safer?
The safety standards and regulations established by the NRC are quite stringent, and all nuclear reactors must comply with them. The new reactors that are coming before the NRC have been designed with improved safety features. For example, new reactors require less human intervention during an accident, which will possibly reduce the amount of human error, though trained operators may still take appropriate action when necessary. The new reactors are designed to have passive emergency coolant systems relying on gravity, so pumps do not have to function following an accident to ensure that the reactor temperature does not rise above a level which could damage the fuel and release radioactive fission products. Large tanks of water are located above the level of the reactor, and the passive coolant system provides enough water to keep the reactor core cool until a stable, controlled safe state is established. Additionally, the new systems are heavily computerized, contain many redundancie
