WASH-740 was a report published by the
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President ...
(USAEC) in 1957. This report, called "Theoretical Possibilities and Consequences of Major Accidents in Large Nuclear Power Plants" (also known as "The Brookhaven Report"), estimated maximum possible damage from a
meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
with no
containment building
A containment building is a reinforced steel, concrete or lead structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radioactive steam or gas to a maximum pressure in the range of . The containment i ...
at a large
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
.
The conclusions of this study estimated the possible effects of a "maximum credible accident" for
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
s then envisioned as being 3400 deaths, 43,000 injuries and property damage of $7 billion ($57bn adjusted for inflation in 2012 since 1957). The estimate of probability was one in a hundred thousand to one in a billion per reactor-year. When WASH-740 was revised in 1964-65 to account for the larger reactors then being designed, the new figures indicated that there could be as many as 45,000 deaths, 100,000 injuries, and $17 billion in property damage ($125bn adjusted for inflation since 1964).
However, the assumptions underlying the results were unrealistic (including the worst meteorological conditions, no
containment building
A containment building is a reinforced steel, concrete or lead structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radioactive steam or gas to a maximum pressure in the range of . The containment i ...
, and that half the reactor core is released into the atmosphere as micrometre-sized pellets without any examination of how this might occur). These were due to conservatism (estimating the maximum possible damage) and the need to use
atomic bomb fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
data, which had been collected from tests (computers in 1955 being greatly insufficient to do the calculations).
As knowledge, models and computers improved the conclusions of this report were replaced by those of first
WASH-1400
WASH-1400, 'The Reactor Safety Study', was a report produced in 1975 for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by a committee of specialists under Professor Norman Rasmussen. It "generated a storm of criticism in the years following its release". In th ...
(1975, The Rasmussen Report), then
CRAC-II
CRAC-II is both a computer code (titled Calculation of Reactor Accident Consequences) and the 1982 report of the simulation results performed by Sandia National Laboratories for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The report is sometimes referred to ...
(1982), and most recently
NUREG-1150 NUREG-1150 "Severe Accident Risks: An Assessment for Five U.S. Nuclear Power Plants", published December 1990 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is a follow-up to the WASH-1400 and CRAC-II safety studies that employs the methodology of plan ...
(1991). Now all of these studies are considered obsolete (see the disclaimer to NUREG-1150), and are being replaced by the
State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses The State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) is a study of nuclear power, nuclear power plant nuclear safety, safety conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The purpose of the SOARCA is assessment of possible impact on populat ...
(SOARCA) study.
See also
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Nuclear safety in the U.S.
Nuclear safety in the United States is governed by federal regulations issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The NRC regulates all nuclear plants and materials in the United States except for nuclear plants and materials controlled by ...
*
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
*
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
*
Nuclear accidents in the United States
The United States Government Accountability Office reported more than 150 incidents from 2001 to 2006 of nuclear plants not performing within acceptable safety guidelines. According to a 2010 survey of energy accidents, there have been at least 5 ...
*
WASH-1400
WASH-1400, 'The Reactor Safety Study', was a report produced in 1975 for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by a committee of specialists under Professor Norman Rasmussen. It "generated a storm of criticism in the years following its release". In th ...
External links
Serious Accidents (in Nuclear Power Plants)History of WASH-740The 1957 WASH-740 report
Nuclear safety and security
United States Atomic Energy Commission
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