The design and safety features of the IRIS reactor

Salient features of the International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) are presented here. IRIS, an integral, modular, medium size (335 MWe) PWR, has been under development since the turn of the century by an international consortium led by Westinghouse and including over 20 organizations from nine countries. Described here are the features of the integral design which includes steam generators, pumps and pressurizer inside the vessel, together with the core, control rods, and neutron reflector/shield. A brief summary is provided of the IRIS approach to extended maintenance over a 48-month schedule. The unique IRIS safety-by-design approach is discussed, which, by eliminating accidents, at the design stage, or decreasing their consequences/probabilities when outright elimination is not possible, provides a very powerful first level of defense in depth. The safety-by-design allows a significant reduction and simplification of the passive safety systems, which are presented here, together with an assessment of the IRIS response to transients and postulated accidents. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.