This Safety Guide provides recommendations and guidance on design for the protection of nuclear power plants from the effects of external events (excluding earthquakes), i.e. events that originate either off the site or within the boundaries of the site but from sources that are not directly involved in the operational states of the nuclear power plant units. In addition, it provides recommendations on engineering related matters in order to comply with the safety objectives and requirements established in the IAEA Safety Requirements publication on Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design. It is also applicable to the design and safety assessment of items important to the safety of land based stationary nuclear power plants with water cooled reactors.