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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.
Joseph M. Kelly, Charles W. Stewart, Judith M. Cuta
Nuclear Technology | Volume 100 | Number 2 | November 1992 | Pages 246-259
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34746
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The VIPRE-02 code is a thermal-hydraulic analysis code designed to model steady-state conditions and operational transients in light water reactor cores and vessels. It uses a two-fluid representation of two-phase flow that solves conservation equations for mass, momentum, and energy for each phase. The code uses a subchannel formulation of the conservation equations but also contains an optional three-dimensional (r-θ coordinates) representation of the lower plenum for vessel modeling. The six-equation formulation is solved implicitly, by a modified Gauss-Seidel iteration procedure, and has no time step size limitation for stability. Models for phase interaction based on flow regime mapping are provided that use empirical models and correlations for heat and mass transfer at the interface and vapor generation. In addition, the code contains as an option a dynamic flow regime model, which uses an interfacial area transport equation to determine the phase interaction terms.