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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.
Kenya Suyama, Hiroki Mochizuki, Takehide Kiyosumi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 138 | Number 2 | May 2002 | Pages 97-110
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3282
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The burnup code system Step-Wise Burnup Analysis Code System (SWAT) is revised for use in a burnup credit analysis. An important feature of the revised SWAT is that its functions are achieved by calling validated neutronics codes without any changes to the original codes. This feature is realized with a system function of the operating system, which allows the revised SWAT to be independent of the development status of each code.A package of the revised SWAT contains the latest libraries based on JENDL-3.2 and the second version of the JNDC FP library. These libraries allow us to analyze burnup problems, such as an analysis of postirradiation examination (PIE), using the latest evaluated data of not only cross sections but also fission yield and decay constants.Another function of the revised SWAT is a library generator for the ORIGEN2 code, which is one of the most reliable burnup codes. ORIGEN2 users can obtain almost the same results with the revised SWAT using the library prepared by this function.The validation of the revised SWAT is conducted by calculation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency burnup credit criticality safety benchmark Phase I-B and analyses of PIE data for spent fuel from Takahama Unit 3. The analysis of PIE data shows that the revised SWAT can predict the isotopic composition of main uranium and plutonium with a deviation of 5% from experimental results taken from UO2 fuels of 17 × 17 fuel assemblies. Many results of fission products including samarium are within a deviation of 10%. This means that the revised SWAT has high reliability to predict the isotopic composition for pressurized water reactor spent fuel.
