ABSTRACT
A set of measures and actions to be taken during the evolution of a severe accident are called severe accident management (SAM), and its objectives are to establish the actions to be taken to prevent severe damage to the core, to terminate the progress of core damage once it has started, to achieve a stable and controlled state of the reactor core or core debris, to maintain the containment integrity, to minimize on-site and off-site releases, and to return the plant to a controlled safe state. SAM should cover all states of plant operation as well as selected external events, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, and extreme weather conditions that could damage a significant part of the plant. The current trend is to implement certain evolving safety criteria to existing reactors to the maximum extent possible as well as for the new designs. The new sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) power plant should be equipped with dedicated systems for SAM allowing to attain its safety objectives.
