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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.
Adam Davis, Donald J. Dudziak, Man-Sung Yim, David McNelis, H. Omar Wooten
Nuclear Technology | Volume 173 | Number 3 | March 2011 | Pages 270-288
Technical Paper | Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-110
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In radiation protection, photon buildup factors provide a convenient method for calculating dose and exposure response after various shielding configurations, as well as information about the behavior of radiation in these configurations. Though many situations call for multilayer shields, few databases and derived analytical formulas for photon buildup in multilayer shields exist. This research develops buildup factors and analytical fits to these data for slab-geometric, dual-layer shields composed of various materials. The photon buildup factors were calculated for monoenergetic photon sources incident on two-layer shields of various combinations of lead, polyethylene, aluminum, and stainless steel for thicknesses varying between 2 and 20 mean free paths using the Parallel Time Independent Sn (PARTISN) discrete ordinates code. The Gauss-Lobatto S100 quadrature was used with a 244-energy-group structure and coupled photon and electron cross sections. Data from PARTISN calculations were then benchmarked for representative cases using MCNP5, and fits to a new analytical formula were developed using Mathematica 6.0.