The technical support provided by contractors under the framework agreement will be divided into 15 lots, each lot representing a single technical area. Bidders have been appointed to provide technical support for one, several or all of the technical areas which are described below:
The safety assessment of the new civil nuclear reactors to internal hazards such as fire, explosion, flood, dropped loads, missile, pressure part failure, and steam release etc. The assessment is to include hazard identification, the adequacy of techniques such as prevention and the protective barriers, segregation, separation, active protection and alarm systems in the unlikely event that such internal hazards should occur.
The safety assessment of civil engineering structures such as heavy reinforced concrete structures, prestressed concrete containment structures, steel structures, foundations, embankments, slopes, river and coastal defences. This will include review of the application of US and European standards and complex non-linear analysis of the response of structures against extreme internal and external hazards.
The safety assessment of the magnitude and frequency of external hazards and the response to and the protection of civil nuclear reactor sites and engineering structures, plant and equipment from these hazards. External hazards are those natural or man-made hazards to a site and facilities that originate externally to both the site and the process, i.e. the duty holder may have very little or no control over the initiating event. External hazards include earthquake, aircraft impact, extreme weather, electromagnetic interference (off-site cause) and flooding as a result of extreme weather/climate change. Terrorist or other malicious acts are assessed as external hazards.
The safety analysis of new civil nuclear reactors using probabilistic methods such as event trees, fault trees, Markov models etc. The two main elements of this work will be reviews of the Level 1 PSA (core damage frequency) and Level 2 PSA (accident release frequencies and magnitudes).
The safety analysis of new civil nuclear reactors on matters such as reactor core physics, thermal hydraulics, heat transfer and a wide range of other physical phenomena under, steady state, transient and fault conditions.
The safety assessment of systems important to safety proposed for new civil nuclear reactors such as reactor protection systems and engineered safety features systems. The assessment will include reviews of the hardware and software aspects of the systems proposed by the reactor vendors.
The safety assessment of new civil nuclear reactors essential electrical power supply systems under a wide range of transient and fault conditions including an assessment of the vendor's selection of protection devices.
The safety assessment of nuclear reactor fuel proposed for the new civil nuclear reactors. This work will need to review the whole lifecycle and performance under a wide range of reactor and storage conditions.
The safety assessment of the chemistry of new civil nuclear reactors including the effects of coolant chemistry on pressure boundary integrity, fuel and core component integrity, fuel storage in cooling ponds, radioactive waste (accumulation, treatment and storage), radiological doses to workers.
The safety assessment of the radiological protection arrangements for the new civil nuclear reactors. This work will also include a review of the Level 3 PSA (estimates public health and other societal risks such as the contamination of land or food).
The safety assessment of essential mechanical systems important to safety such as pumps, valves, lifting equipment including cranes, fuel handling systems, ventilation systems, pressure relief systems etc. The layout and routing of the mechanical and pressure boundary systems to ensure appropriate maintenance regimes and protection from degradation.
The safety assessment of nuclear safety related pressure vessels, piping, other components and their supports, including materials selection, design, fabrication, in-manufacture examination and testing, the analysis of structural integrity under normal load and faulted conditions (including fracture mechanics based analyses), lifetime ageing of materials assessment (including neutron irradiation embrittlement) and a review of through life maintenance, examination (including examination capability) and test procedures.
The safety assessment of the human factors aspects of the new civil nuclear reactors including key procedural safety processes as well as the more traditional control room assessments.
The safety assessment of the new civil nuclear reactor vendors' arrangements for safety management and quality assurance.
The safety assessment of the new civil nuclear reactor vendors' for the safe minimisation, handling and disposal of radioactive waste arising from all parts of the facility's lifecycle. A review of the safety of the vendors' proposals for decommissioning of the proposed facility is also required.
Designs for potential new nuclear power stations - MISC790