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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.
Liang Shi, J. Michael Doster, Charles W. Mayo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 129 | Number 3 | March 2000 | Pages 338-355
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3066
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An experimental research program into the loose part damage process identified important mechanisms that govern accumulated loose part damage to steam generator tube sheets. Relationships were developed to quantify damage due to single and multiple impacts, including such effects as tube end open diameter reduction and tube end contour deformation. These experimental investigations have led to the development of a computational model for estimating loose part impact damage on steam generator tube ends. Comparisons to experimental data show the loose part damage model to be a good approximation of actual loose part impact damage and provide a convenient and quantitative linkage between loose part impact properties and damage. Impact damage effects are local effects that depend only on the single impacts and impact overlaps in a small region of interest. The damage can be directly related to local impact density. Since in general the local impact density on a steam generator tube sheet is unknown, a model developed to simulate loose part impact distributions as a function of operating conditions is described.