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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.
B.D. Boyer, J. W. Hartzell,† S. Lider, G. E. Robinson, A. J. Baratta, A. J. Roscioli
Nuclear Technology | Volume 103 | Number 2 | August 1993 | Pages 206-219
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34844
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effects of condensation steam quenching in modeling two-phase flow phenomena during a nuclear reactor transient are studied. The RETRAN-02-MOD002 code, with three field equations and a nonequilibrium pressurizer model option, and the TRAC-BF1 code, with six field equations, predicted plant response to a boiling water reactor plant test of a main steam isolation valve closure without safety relief valve opening. The basic RETRAN-02-MOD002 field equations cannot model steam quenching by condensation. However, by activating the nonequilibrium modeling option of the basic RETRAN-02-MOD002 code and by inputting appropriate interfacial heat transfer coefficients, steam quenching by condensation was calculated. This approach gave results closer to those obtained with the test data. The two TRAC-BFI models used two different methods of tracking water level to approximate the condensation quenching effect. Because the void fraction changes too gradually, the calculation without the TRAC two-phase water level tracking option overquenched the pressure and filled the vessel with too much water. However, because the void fraction changes virtually instantaneously (as it does in the plant), the TRAC two-phase water level tracking option’s prediction of the quenching of the pressure was 50% closer to the data than was any RETRAN-02-MOD002 calculation, and it followed the water level almost as well as the RETRAN-02-MOD002 best-estimate case. Both codes overpredicted the pressure spike.