Review of Filtered Containment Venting System (FCVS) Eleven Years After Fukushima Accident

Severe accidents in nuclear power plants can breach the integrity of containment due to pressure build up, resulting in the release of radioactive products. Special interest has been shown towards iodine out of 80 fission products due to its short half-life, i.e., 8.02 days, high activity, and possible health hazards, like irreversible accumulation in the thyroid gland and capability to trigger thyroid cancer locally. To mitigate such accidents, the filtered containment venting system (FCVS) has been proposed and has garnered attention post Fukushima. This review paper presents an introduction to severe accidents, post-accident release of iodine, safety measures taken, and lessons learned by different countries after accidents like Windscale pile, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, as well as the status of FCVSs in all countries possessing nuclear reactors up until now (11 years after Fukushima).