FINNUS: The Finnish Research Programme on Nuclear Power Plant Safety: Interim Report 1999 - August 2000

FINNUS (1999-2002) is the Finnish public research programme on nuclear power plant safety, launched and administrated by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (KTM). The programme concentrates on the themes of ageing, accidents and risks. The general objectives of the programme are to develop tools and practices for safety authorities and utilities, to provide a basis for safety-related decisions, to educate new nuclear energy experts and to promote technology and information transfer. The technical objectives of the programme are prepared in the guidance of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), but the views of the power companies are taken into consideration. Funding of the programme is mainly from public sources. The annual volume of the programme is about FIM 22 million ( 3.6 million) and 30 person years. The research is coordinated and mainly conducted by the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). The effects of ageing on nuclear power plants are studied intensively, in order to evaluate safe remaining lifetime of the components and efficiency of the corrective measures. The programme concentrates on studies in material sciences of metallic structures, structural integrity and in-service inspection and monitoring methods. The accident theme concerns operational aspects of nuclear power plant safety. The issues of nuclear fuel behaviour, reactor physics and dynamics modelling, thermal-hydraulics and severe accidents are addressed under the theme. In the risk field attention is paid on one hand on advanced risk analysis methods and their applicability, and on the other hand, on the evaluation of fire risks, safety critical applications of software based technology, as well as human and organisational performance. The report summarises goals and results of the programme during the period 1999 - August 2000.