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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.
Fu-Long Chen, Shih-Hai Li
Nuclear Technology | Volume 90 | Number 2 | May 1990 | Pages 215-225
Technical Paper | Radioacitive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34416
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To analytically predict the transport of radionuclides in porous media, it is necessary to develop a complete mathematical model. This means that the mechanisms must be described and the governing equations derived, along with their general solutions for the transport processes. The four major mechanisms—ad-vection, dispersion, adsorption-desorption and ion exchange, and degradation—are physically described and mathematically modeled. Based on the classic principle of mass conservation in a control volume, the governing equation for the transport of radionuclides in porous media is derived, which may be called the advection-dispersion equation. Some general solutions of the governing equation are obtained by using constant dispersion coefficients. In addition, some ambiguities of the advective-dispersion equation are solved, and this equation is extended to fractured media.