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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.
Ki Yong Choi, Hyun Sik Park, Seok Cho, Kyoung Ho Kang, Nam Hyun Choi, Won Pil Baek, Yeon Sik Kim
Nuclear Technology | Volume 175 | Number 3 | September 2011 | Pages 604-618
Technical Paper | NURETH-13 Special / Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A12509
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The direct vessel injection (DVI)-adopted power plant APR1400 considers a DVI line break among the analyzed small-break loss-of-coolant accidents in safety analysis. The first-ever integral effects test database for various DVI line break sizes from 5% to 100% was established with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute's Advanced Thermal-Hydraulic Test Loop for Accident Simulation (ATLAS) test facility. This database enhances our physical understanding of the major thermal-hydraulic behaviors of the APR1400 during DVI line break accidents, and it can also be used to examine the prediction capabilities and identify any deficiencies in the existing best-estimate safety analysis codes. Effects of the break size were experimentally investigated, and the best-estimated MARS code was assessed against the experimental database. On the whole, the prediction of the MARS code shows a good agreement with the measured data. However, the code predicted a higher core level than the data just before a loop seal clearing occurs, and it also produced a more rapid decrease in the downcomer water level than the data. These disagreements are the expected consequence of uncertainties in predicting countercurrent flow or condensation phenomena in a downcomer region. The present integral effects test data will be used to support the present conservative safety analysis methodology and to develop a new best-estimate safety analysis methodology on the DVI line break accidents of the APR1400.