Nuclear Energy

Idaho National Laboratory is the Department of Energy's lead nuclear energy research and development facility. Building upon its legacy responsibilities, infrastructure and expertise, INL' s nuclear energy mission is to develop advanced nuclear technologies that provide clean, abundant, affordable and reliable energy to the United States and the world. We support our government's role in leading the revitalization of the nation's nuclear power industry and re-establishing U.S. world leadership in nuclear science and technology.

The INL has the history, infrastructure, expertise and commitment to fulfill our assigned role as the nation's center for nuclear energy research and development. We also have the expertise, infrastructure and strategic partnerships necessary to advance the state of the art in:

• Nuclear safety analysis;
• Irradiation services;
• Nuclear operations;
• Management of spent nuclear fuel; and 
• Biocorrosion of fuels.

Radiological Safety Analysis Computer (RSAC) Program Version 7.0

INL has released the Radiological Safety Analysis Computer (RSAC) Program Version 7.0 (RSAC-7), the newest version of the RSAC code. The new RSAC-7 combines a user friendly interface with a powerful analysis tool that was developed and enhanced at the request of both the DOE and international user groups, according to Dr. Brad Schrader, RSAC project manager.

RSAC calculates the dose consequences of a release of radionuclides to the atmosphere. A user can generate a fission product inventory from either reactor operating history or a nuclear criticality event. RSAC-7 includes the latest dose conversion factors and lung model from the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP). In addition, it includes the analysis tool for generation of 24-hour acute organ dose for design basis threat analysis of radiological sabotage events. An additional enhancement is a location-specific joint frequency meteorological analysis combined with a summary of 50% and 95% conditions, which allow for an easy check or analysis of the sensitivity of meteorological conditions on dose consequence.

RSAC-7 is fully verified and validated in accordance with Nuclear Quality Assurance-1 2000 for Quality Level 1 applications. It has been proposed for inclusion in the Safety Software Toolbox. RSAC is distributed by the Radiation Safety Information Computational Center (RSICC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  In an agreement with RSICC, RSAC 7 is also distributed internationally by the European Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and Japanese Research Organization for Information Science and Technology (RIST). 

For more information on RSAC training or software availability, contact Dr. Schrader at 6-0912.