ATWS is one of the "worst case" accidents, consideration of which frequently motivates the NRC to take regulatory action. The accident could happen if the system that provides a highly reliable means of shutting down the reactor (scram system) fails to work during a reactor event (anticipated transient). The types of events considered are those used for designing the plant.
ANTICIPATED TRANSIENT WITHOUT SCRAM
Meaning of ANTICIPATED TRANSIENT WITHOUT SCRAM in English
NRC Nuclear Energy English Glossary. Английский глоссарий ядерной энергии NRC (Национальный научно исследовательский совет). 2012