A critical review and comparison of the nuclear power plant siting policies in the United Kingdom and the United States of America

Abstract

The methods adopted for evaluating the suitability of sites for the construction of nuclear power plants in the U.K. and the U.S.A. have been described in detail. An attempt has been made to derive common grounds by which the two siting policies may be compared to each other. With this aim in mind, the risks to the individual and to the total population around the site have been assessed assuming that the same accident criteria apply for the two different siting policies. The siting policies have also been contrasted with regard to their adequacy in safe guarding the public against accidental events. In the case of the U.K. policy a revised assessment has been carried out by the authors using more up to date data and refined calculations.