Generation III reactor

These include improved fuel technology, higher thermal efficiency, significantly enhanced safety systems (including passive nuclear safety), and standardized designs intended to reduce maintenance and capital costs.

[5] An independent analysis conducted by environmental scientist Barry Brook on the greater efficiency and therefore lower material needs of Gen III reactors, corroborates this finding.

Manufacturers began development of Gen III+ systems in the 1990s by building on the operating experience of the American, Japanese, and Western European light-water reactor.

[citation needed] A notable improvement of Gen III+ systems over second-generation designs is the incorporation in some designs of passive safety features that do not require active controls or operator intervention but instead rely on gravity or natural convection to mitigate the impact of abnormal events.

[citation needed] Generation III+ reactors incorporate extra safety features to avoid the kind of disaster suffered at Fukushima in 2011.

[12] In the United States, reactor designs are certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Lyman, John Ma (a senior structural engineer at the NRC), and Arnold Gundersen (an anti-nuclear consultant) are concerned about what they perceive as weaknesses in the steel containment vessel and the concrete shield building around the AP1000 in that its containment vessel does not have sufficient safety margins in the event of a direct airplane strike.

"[17]: 7 There have also been issues in fabricating the precision parts necessary to maintain safe operation of these reactors, with cost overruns, broken parts, and extremely fine steel tolerances causing issues with new reactors under construction in France at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant.