The objective of this publication is to provide a technical background to assist regulators, plant owners and designers in the definition of a consistent strategy in selected safety issues on site evaluation, design and operation in relation to extreme external events. The publication is also of assistance to the IAEA in the development of the Safety Standards Series, where many Safety Guides dealing with related topics are under periodic review. Emphasis is given to the generally accepted “risk based” context, where the probability of event occurrence is analysed together with the probability of an induced radiological consequence. The publication intends to solve the pending issues that prevent a full scope application of the approach in relation to the external events. The relevant differences among the practices in Member States are analysed through a questionnaire. Many proposals for a consensus on the main safety issues are developed and presented in detail.
