Transition to a new size of the sanitary-protective zone of a nuclear power plant

In our country, in accordance with world-wide practice, nuclear power plant safety is ensured by the systematic implementation of the concept of deeply esheloned protection based on the use of a system of physical barriers, including a fuel matrix, fuel-element cladding, boundary of the reactor coolant loop, airtight sealing of the reactor system, and radiation protection. In the Soviet Union, in contrast to other countries, an additional barrier was introduced in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants-a sanitary-protective zone separating the atomic power plant from housing developments. The results achieved in nuclear power give every basis for concluding that it is in principle possible to reject the use of part of the environment for protecting the public from the radiation effects of a nuclear power plant operating under normal conditions, i.e., the size of the sanitary-protective zone of the territory of the industrial site of a nuclear power plant can be limited in accordance with the operative law and normative base. The results of calculations and validations are presented. __________ Translated from Atomnaya énergiya,Vol. 100, No. 6, pp. 458–465, June, 2006.