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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.
L. Romero, L. Moreno, I. Neretnieks
Nuclear Technology | Volume 112 | Number 1 | October 1995 | Pages 99-107
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A15855
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The NUCTRAN model has been applied to the Swedish KBS-3 nuclear waste repository concept, where the migration of radionuclides is through various barriers and pathways. The escape of the nuclides from the canister occurs through a small hole. This hole controls the release of nuclides from the repository. NUCTRAN is a useful tool to calculate the nonstationary transport in a repository for high-level nuclear waste. The advantage of this model is the use of a coarse compartmentalization of the repository, which makes it flexible and easy to adapt to different geometries. The several radionuclide release calculations made with NUCTRAN have shown the capability of this to handle different situations rapidly and easily. The particularity of these calculations is the high accuracy obtained by using a coarse compartmentalization of the Swedish KBS-3 repository and the small requirements of computing time. At short times for short-lived nuclides, the calculated releases are exaggerated. The error can be considerably reduced by an additional subdivision of large compartments into a few compartments.