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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.
Yoshiyuki Inagaki, Kazuhiko Kunitomi, Yoshiaki Miyamoto, Ikuo Ioka, Kunihiko Suzuki
Nuclear Technology | Volume 99 | Number 1 | July 1992 | Pages 90-103
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34706
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The high-temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR) is a 30-MW(thermal) helium gas-cooled reactor being constructed by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Establishment. A thermal mixing study of the coolant in the core bottom structure (CBS) of the HTTR is conducted to clarify the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the coolant and estimate the influence of a hot streak on the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) and a pressurized water cooler (PWC) downstream from the core. An experiment is carried out using an in-core structure test section (a full-scale simulation model of the CBS) of the helium engineering demonstration loop (HENDEL), and a numerical analysis is made using a three-dimensional time-dependent flow and heat transfer code including a k-ε model of turbulence. It is confirmed that the coolant is mixed sufficiently in the CBS and the outlet gas duct of the HTTR, and the hot streak had little effect on the IHX and the PWC.
