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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.
Robert C. Doerner, Theodore H. Bauer, James A. Morman, John W. Holland
Nuclear Technology | Volume 98 | Number 1 | April 1992 | Pages 124-136
Technical Paper | Fast Reactor Safety / Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34656
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Prototypic oxide fuel was subjected to simulated, fast reactor severe accident conditions in a series of in-pile tests in the Transient Reactor Test Facility reactor. Seven experiments were performed on fresh and previously irradiated oxide fuel pins under transient overpower and transient undercooled/overpower accident conditions. For each of the tests, fuel motions were observed by the hodoscope. Hodoscope data are correlated with coolant flow, pressure, and temperature data recorded by the loop instrumentation. Data were analyzed from the onset of initial failure to a final mass distribution at the end of the test. Results of these analyses are compared to pre- and posttest accident calculations and to posttest metallographic examinations and computed tomographic reconstructions from neutron radiographs.