Risk Analysis and Evaluation of Nuclear Security Radiation Events in Spent Fuel Reprocessing Plants

Cuiyue Wei, Shoulong Xu (), Shuliang Zou, Fang Zhao (), Zhiwei Qin, Hanfeng Dong and Zhixiong Hou
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Cuiyue Wei: School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Shoulong Xu: School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Shuliang Zou: School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Fang Zhao: School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Zhiwei Qin: School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Hanfeng Dong: School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Zhixiong Hou: School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Spent fuel reprocessing is of great significance to the nuclear fuel cycle and the sustainable development of nuclear energy. At the same time, nuclear security radiation incidents in the spent fuel reprocessing plant are also related to national personal and property safety, which play a pivotal role. In this paper, the spent fuel reprocessing plant is divided into four plant areas: the main process area, the three-waste area, the auxiliary equipment area, and the pre-plant area, which are further subdivided into 12 evaluation units. The expert scoring method is used to score and evaluate the possibility of eight basic nuclear accident types in each area, namely radioactive dispersal device, computer nuclear security, destruction of nuclear facilities, transportation nuclear security, internal threat, potential threat, illegal transfer, and theft. According to the professional titles, length of service, education and other qualifications of experts, different weights are assigned to the experts. The scoring results are applied to the Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) of nuclear security events as the probability of basic events, so as to obtain the risk of each basic event. At the same time, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and probability–mathematical statistics method are used to evaluate each evaluation unit to determine the risk of each evaluation unit and the plant area. There results show that the main process area has the highest risk degree, while the pre-plant area has the lowest risk degree, and there is a 1.5-fold relationship. This research provides theoretical and technical support for the safety management and operation of spent fuel reprocessing plants. The analysis results of this paper can be used as a reference for the proportion of nuclear security protection improvements in each plant area, so as to achieve an efficient safety protection effect. The research method in this paper can be also applicable to other similar places by providing as input the corresponding probability of occurrence to obtain the index of its risk degree, so as to reasonably allocate funds and manpower and reduce risks.

Keywords: nuclear security; analysis of risk; FTA; fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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