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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.
Kazunori Sasaki, Naotaka Terashita, Takamichi Ogino
Nuclear Technology | Volume 85 | Number 3 | June 1989 | Pages 259-273
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34248
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A pressurized water reactor plant analyzer code (NUPAC-1) has been developed to apply to an operator support system or an advanced training simulator. The simulation code must produce reasonably accurate results as well as run in a fast mode for realizing functions such as anomaly detection, estimation of unobservable plant internal states, and prediction of plant state trends. The NUPAC-1 code adopts fast computing methods, i.e., the table fitting method of the state variables, time-step control, and calculation control of heat transfer coefficients, in order to attain accuracy and fast-running capability. The NUPAC-1 results are compared with the RELAP5/MOD2 results to assess the accuracy for accident analyses such as loss of coolant, feedwater line break, and steam generator tube rupture. The fast computing methods had a negligibly small effect on accuracy and contributed to fast-running capability. The NUPAC-1 code can be applied to the operator support system and the advanced training simulator as a two-phase simulation code.