Nuclear Engineering and Facility Safety

In our work on nuclear engineering and facility safety, we have addressed the issues surrounding nuclear and conventional facilities, technologies and applications since 1980.

Work has concentrated especially on the safety questions associated with specific facilities and the management of radioactive and chemotoxic wastes. We also generate the science needed for the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear facilities, and for emergency planning.

We have built a wealth of methodological competence in deterministic and probabilistic safety analysis, event analysis, scenario development, environmental impact assessment (EIA) and process development and support, and in the development of standards, codes and regulations.
Further methodological expertise has been built in risk assessment and communication, in reconciling disparate stakeholder interests, and in shaping governance and participation processes.

Research priorities

• Radioactive waste management (transport, interim and final storage)
• Decommissioning and dismantling nuclear facilities
• Conventional waste management
• Emergency planning
• Nuclear facility safety
• Conventional high-risk facility safety
• Risk assessment and communication
• Accidents and reportable events
• Reviewing and refining safety specifications (especially for standards, codes and regulations)