Designs for new reactors should utilize a process that appropriately balances reactor safety with cost and performance. This process should be flexible enough to incorporate probabilistic information at the very beginning of the design life cycle and include a structured set of performance objectives that support effective decision-making. Qualitative and quantitative hazard and risk evaluation methods enable comparison of multiple requirements and options in order to evaluate their influence on operability and nuclear safety. The use of systems engineering processes and methods permits the consistent incorporation of risk and performance information through the entire design process, enabling achievable design options to be evaluated against requirements consistent with that design phase. The designer should establish RIPB tools and processes as early as practical in the design process. RIPB is a process in which risk insights; engineering analysis and judgment, including the principle of DID and the incorporation of safety margins; and performance history are used to (1) focus attention on the most important activities, (2) establish objective criteria for evaluating performance, (3) develop measurable or calculable parameters for monitoring system and licensee performance, (4) provide flexibility to determine how to meet the established performance criteria in a way that will encourage and reward improved outcomes, and (5) focus on the results as the primary basis for decision-making. Incorporation of RIPB principles, methods, and results into the design should also take into consideration the maturity of the design as it progresses through the phased design process in order to tailor the process to the needs of the designer. This presentation describes the recently published ANS Standard 30.3, Light-Water Reactor RIPB Design and the process employed by NuScale Power for design of the VOYGR-series of nuclear power plants.

Biography

Dr. Kent Welter is a Chief Engineer at NuScale Power. He has overall responsibility to provide cross-functional technology leadership and oversight for NuScale nuclear power plant testing and analysis activities. Dr. Welter has been with NuScale since 2008 and was a member of the original startup team. Before joining NuScale, he worked at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the Office of Research.

He has expertise in technology development, systems engineering, operations management, safety analysis, risk assessment, and testing.

Dr. Welter holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from Oregon State University with a research focus on advanced thermal-hydraulics of new reactors.

Dr. Welter currently chairs two American Nuclear Society (ANS) standards: ANS 30.3, Advanced Light Water Reactor Risk-Informed Performance-Based Design and ANS 30.2, Classification of Nuclear Power Plant Structures, Systems, and Components.

He has received numerous awards for his accomplishments in furthering the development of advanced reactor technologies and serves on the Board of Directors at Meltio, a rapidly growing 3D metal printer company.