Revitalizing Nuclear Safety Research (1986) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Principles of Nuclear Safety Research
Principles of Nuclear Safety Research
Pages 11-24
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 11... ...
. THREE CENTRAL QUESTIONS There are three major questions from which fundamental principles of nuclear safety research can be derived: • Who should fund nuclear safety research?
|
From page 12... ...
Indeed, the current state of the nuclear industry and the historical role of the federal government in nuclear R&D suggest that the nuclear industry might underinvest in R&D more than many other industries. In many respects nuclear power is at a standstill in the United States; there have been no nuclear plants ordered for almost a decade, and dozens previously on order have been canceled.
|
From page 13... ...
Finally, the federal government has a legacy of large investments in all facets of nuclear research and development, and this legacy has created a general expectation within the industry that the federal government should continue to bear a large measure of the responsibility for safety research. These facts, combined with the more general arguments cited above, imply that the nuclear industry may voluntarily fund less nuclear safety research than is in the public interest.
|
From page 14... ...
Yet basic research is an essential feature of a sound program of nuclear safety research. Implications for Decisiomnaking The application of these general principles has implications for decisionmaking in government and industry.
|
From page 15... ...
Of course, the agency would need to employ safeguards to protect its independence. Such safeguards might include insisting that agency personnel have access to facilities and to the raw data from such work; requiring that the results be peer reviewed; and retaining within the agency, through the use of consultants or staff of the national laboratories, the ability to interpret the data and evaluate claims made by industry.
|
From page 16... ...
. Since it is often difficult to determine whether industry or government is the proximate beneficiary for a piece of research, it will often be appropriate to adopt an intermediate approach, namely, "cooperative research." Cooperative research is research in which the NRC jointly funds and jointly sets the research agenda with either the utilities or the vendors or both.
|
From page 17... ...
In all these instances, industry should set the agenda for the research. Ordinarily, government funding of any research in this category should occur in the context of government-industry cooperative research programs, and the research agenda should be jointly set by government and industry.
|
From page 18... ...
In such cases, government should have the authority to set the research agenda, although this might be shared, either de facto or de jure, with industry and with the contract research community through appropriate advisory committees. Although research that is not aimed directly at improving regulatory decisions is not of immediate interest to the NRC, it will often have implications for reactor safety that regulators must care about.
|
From page 19... ...
These requirements are as follows: • To support basic or exploratory research • To ensure agency competence • To ensure an adequate national pool of trained scientists and engineers. Support for Basic Research All government agencies that conduct research should support some research that is exploratory or basic in nature.
|
From page 20... ...
WHO SHOULD CONDUCT NUCLEAR SAFETY RESEARCH When it comes to determining who should perform the research, there are several possibilities. Research might be conducted by the following: • the government (e.g., NRC, DOE's national laboratories, U.S.
|
From page 21... ...
6. National laboratories have unique experimental and computational resources as well as highly competent, experienced research teams of potential usefulness to a program of nuclear safety research.
|
From page 22... ...
Where the facilities that are required for nuclear safety research exist only in the national laboratories, arrangements should be made to enable and encourage industry researchers to utilize these facilities; or the national laboratories should themselves conduct the research and help industry gain access to the results. In either case, industry should help set the research agenda.
|
From page 23... ...
The laboratories provide ready access to experienced researchers from a wide variety of disciplines; they have instruments, equipment, and facilities that are sometimes not readily available elsewhere; their services can be obtained quickly through contracting procedures that are relatively easy for federal agencies to use; and they are accustomed to forming and maintaining interdisciplinary research teams. However, while the national laboratories have made identifiable contributions to nuclear safety research, and can continue to do so, they should be considered as only one among several alternative sources of quality research.
|
From page 24... ...
The DOE and the NRC should maintain their small business programs at the level necessary to exploit small business capabilities, whether or not the size of their research programs happens to be above the level at which a program of support for small business research and development is mandated by existing law. Attaining Balance in Allocating Research Dollars Determining who is best suited to perform a particular piece of research is one of the most challenging responsibilities facing directors of research.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.