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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.
Gee Yong Park, Jinho Park, Poong Hyun Seong
Nuclear Technology | Volume 145 | Number 2 | February 2004 | Pages 177-188
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT04-A3468
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Information on the steam and feedwater flow rates in the secondary loop of nuclear power plants is valuable for thermal efficiency estimation and the related controllers in nuclear power plants. However, the high level of noise in measuring flow rates detracts from the usefulness of this information and forces the operator to exclude the values of the steam and feedwater flow rates when controlling the water level of a steam generator at low operating powers. In recent years, it has been proposed that the wavelet transform can reconstruct a signal that approximates very closely the original signal under a high level of noise. A possible way of differentiating the flow rate from noise is proposed by use of the wavelet noise-reduction or denoising technique and, as one of the potential applications for nuclear power plants, the wavelet transform is incorporated into the water-level controller of steam generators for successful control at low operating powers.