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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 R. White, Thomas F. DeLorey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 95 | Number 2 | August 1991 | Pages 129-147
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34551
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A detailed sensitivity and uncertainty analysis is performed for several parameters of interest in the design of the high-conversion reactor (HCR) concept. The main goals of this work are to determine the response standard deviation due to basic nuclear data uncertainties and to incorporate integral experiment information from the PROTEUS facility to reduce the computed uncertainties, where possible. The results for reactivity and five important reaction rate ratios (at the 0% void state) that are part of the measurement program in the PROTEUS phase II experiments are highlighted. In addition, the void coefficient at both low void and high void is studied. The computed correlation coefficients between the PROTEUS and HCR models are uniformly high for all responses. This indicates that a reduction in uncertainty can be achieved within the measurement uncertainty and that the PROTEUS experiments were ideal for the physics characterization of HCR responses.