Determining the Appropriate Emergency Planning Zone for Small Modular Reactors

 

 

• Pittsburgh Technical established the technical basis for to determine the appropriate size of the emergency planning zone (EPZ) for small modular reactors.

• The EPZ is the distance around a nuclear power plant that has a predetermined emergency plan in place in response to the possibility of a nuclear accident at the plant.

• Current Large Light Water Reactors (LLWR) in operation have a 10-mile and 50-mile inhalation and ingestion  EPZ distances.

• Given the SMR has a lower risk profile than the LLWR plants, Pittsburgh Technical assisted in the determination of the appropriate EPZ distances for the SMR plants.

• This work supports the cost effectiveness of future SMR plants.