Regulatory view of containment integrity in the United Kingdom Original Research Article

This paper reviews the approach of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) to containment integrity in the UK. The NII is the part of the regulatory authority (the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)) that administers the UKʹs nuclear site licensing system. A major part of the licensing process lies in the assessment of licenseesʹ submissions for new and existing plant. The purpose of this paper is to review briefly our revised Safety Assessment Principles; describe our assessment and inspection activities on the primary containment building of the Sizewell B pressurized water reactor, which was progressing to full power operation in 1994; and to indicate our views on the possible directions for future research into containment design and performance.