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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.
Masatoshi Kureta, Hajime Akimoto
Nuclear Technology | Volume 143 | Number 1 | July 2003 | Pages 89-100
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT143-89
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Critical power experiments were carried out, and the critical power correlation for axially uniformly heated tight bundles has been derived based on the present experimental data and data sets measured by the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. The shape of the test section simulates the fuel assembly of the reduced-moderation water reactor (RMWR), which is a water-cooled breeder reactor with a core of the tight triangular fuel rod arrangement. The obtained correlation covers the following conditions: channel geometry (triangular arrangement bundle of 7 to 20 rods, 6.6 to 12.3 mm in rod diameter, 1.0- to 2.3-mm gap between rods, 1.37 to 1.8 m in heated length), mass velocity of 100 to 2500 kg/(m2s), inlet quality of -0.2 to 0, pressure of 2 to 8.5 MPa, and radial peaking factor of 0.98 to 1.5, which include uniform, center-peak, and liner transverse heat flux distribution data. An excellent agreement was obtained between the developed correlation and data (371 points) within an error of ±4.6%.