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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.
John Sorensen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 83 | Number 3 | December 1988 | Pages 383-395
Technical Paper | Fifth International Retran Meeting / Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT88-A34151
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The possibility of instabilities under certain conditions of operation has been a special concern for boiling water reactors (BWRs). A stability analysis is performed to demonstrate that the total system and its primary components are inherently stable over the allowable operating envelope. The current methodology used by BWR fuel vendors for core reactivity and channel hydrodynamic stability is based on frequency domain analysis. RETRAN is the Electric Power Research Institute time domain system transient analysis code that is widely used by domestic and foreign utilities. RETRAN allows the reactor system to be modeled in a highly accurate manner including all important phenomena (linear and nonlinear) associated with anticipated and unforeseen conditions of operation. RETRAN is demonstrated to be adequate for the analysis of total plant stability, core reactivity stability, and channel hydrodynamic stability. All key phenomena are adequately modeled by RETRAN and core reactivity analyses have been shown to agree well with measured plant data.