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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.
Jess Greenborg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 87 | Number 2 | October 1989 | Pages 457-460
Technical Paper | TMI-2: Health Physics and Environmental Release / Nuclfar Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A27737
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Reactor coolant circulation following the Three Mile Island Unit 2 core destruction distributed fuel within the reactor coolant system and into the connected auxiliary systems. The collection sites generally were the low points, the horizontal surfaces, and, to a lesser extent, the vertical surfaces. The affected auxiliary systems included the reactor coolant drain tank, the letdown system, the makeup and purification system, the liquid waste systems, and the reactor coolant pump seal return lines. Steam flow to the steam generators could only move small particles (<1 mm). Smoke formation during core degradation accounted for much of the film formation in the upper elevations of the coolant system. Restart of the reactor coolant pumps accounts for the larger particles found in the steam generators.