Showing compliance with probabilistic safety criteria and objectives

Abstract Generally probabilistic safety objectives or criteria at the public health level are of a political nature and therefore often phrased in broad terms, and not always elaborated in a clear definition of terms, boundary conditions, etc. In order to show compliance with these kind of safety goals it is necessary that a probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) provides at least a clear overview of the adopted boundary conditions, assumptions being made, definition of terms, etc. This article gives some conclusions of the process of formulating these boundary conditions, especially those which are dealing with uncertainties and cut-off frequencies. Also some statements are made regarding the similarities and differences between nuclear and non-nuclear PSA applications.