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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.
Qian Zhang, Qiang Zhao, Won Sik Yang, Hongchun Wu
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 191 | Number 1 | July 2018 | Pages 46-65
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1429174
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In order to develop an efficient resonance self-shielding method that can model the complex resonance-interference effects in depleted fuel compositions, an improved Pseudo Resonant Isotope Model (PRIM) has been developed by incorporating a number density–perturbation technique in the resonance cross-section tables for pseudo isotopes. Numerical results for homogeneous mixtures, pin cells, and pressurized water reactor lattice problems show that the new model is able to produce accurate group cross sections for a wide range of depletion states of different types of fuels, comparable to those obtained from online ultra-fine-group slowing-down calculations. Computational cost analysis shows that the improved PRIM is a promising method applicable to the resonance self-shielding calculations for large-scale reactor core analysis with depletion.