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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.
Judith K. Hohorst, Chris M. Allison
Nuclear Technology | Volume 98 | Number 2 | May 1992 | Pages 149-159
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34670
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The SCDAP/RELAP5 severe accident analysis computer code, developed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, is used to analyze the fourth in a series of debris formation experiments. The debris formation-four (DF-4) experiment deals with heatup and meltdown of a boiling water reactor (BWR)-representative fuel and control blade assembly segment, performed in the Annular Core Research Reactor at Sandia National Laboratories. The DF-4 experiment provides data that are used to validate core damage progression and BWR-specific models to gain an understanding of the phenomena occurring in the bundle during a severe BWR accident and to identify additional modeling needed in severe accident codes. The SCDAP/RELAP5 model used for this analysis accurately predicts the key damage events, which include control blade melting, channel box relocation and runaway oxidation, the order and timing of these events, and the maximum bundle temperature. From these analytical calculations, an accident scenario and insights into phenomena occurring during a severe BWR accident are developed.