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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.
Daniel R. Tinkler, Thomas J. Downar
Nuclear Technology | Volume 142 | Number 3 | June 2003 | Pages 230-242
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-47
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A 200-MW(electric) simplified boiling water reactor (SBWR) was designed and analyzed under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Research Initiative program. The compact size of a 200-MW(electric) reactor makes it attractive for countries with a less well developed engineering infrastructure, as well as for developed countries seeking to tailor generation capacity more closely to the growth of their electricity demand. The 200-MW(electric) core design reported here is based on the 600-MW(electric) General Electric SBWR core, which was first analyzed in the work performed here in order to qualify the computer codes used in the analysis. Cross sections for the 8 × 8 fuel assembly design were generated with the HELIOS lattice physics code, and core simulation was performed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission codes RELAP5/PARCS. In order to predict the critical heat flux, the Hench-Gillis correlation was implemented in the RELAP5 code. An equilibrium cycle was designed for the 200-MW(electric) core, which provided a cycle length of more than 2 yr and satisfied the minimum critical power ratio throughout the core life.