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The human factor in licensing and operating the next generation of nuclear plants
As human factors specialists working at the intersection of human performance and nuclear operations, we are witnessing one of the nuclear sector’s most significant transitions in decades. The emergence of small modular reactors, microreactors, and other advanced designs is reshaping the industry’s landscape. Digital instrumentation and controls, passive safety systems, and increased automation are creating opportunities for greater safety margins and more flexible operation. These same features also fundamentally redefine what it means to “operate” a nuclear plant. Interactions among human roles, automation, and passive systems shape how people maintain awareness, exercise judgment, and intervene when necessary. These developments affect both operational realities and the regulatory foundations on which nuclear safety is built.
K. Okayama, D. van Houtte, F. Sagot, M. Walsh
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 2 | August 2013 | Pages 151-155
ITER | Proceedings of the Twentieth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE-2012) (Part 1), Nashville, Tennessee, August 27-31, 2012 | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A18070
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The diagnostics are critical systems for the operation and research program of ITER, as they are used to protect the components, to control the plasma discharge, to understand the behaviour of the plasma and to measure its performance. Representing more than 50 subsystems, they add an extra level of complexity and technical challenge to the project. In order to ensure that the overall ITER machine will be able to reach its ambitious availability objective, a Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Inspectability (RAMI) approach has been defined and applied to the diagnostics as well as all the other ITER core systems.The purpose of this study is to estimate the inherent availability of the measurements groups used for machine protection and basic control in order to ensure that the ITER machine reaches its inherent availability objectives.
