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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.
Yoshitomo Inaba, Tetsuo Nishihara, Yoshikazu Nitta
Nuclear Technology | Volume 146 | Number 1 | April 2004 | Pages 49-57
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT04-A3486
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
One of the most important safety design issues for a hydrogen production system coupling with a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is to ensure reactor safety against fire and explosion accidents because a large amount of combustible fluid is dealt with in the system. The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute has a demonstration test plan of a hydrogen production system by steam reforming of methane coupling with the high-temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR). In the plan, we developed the P2A code system to analyze event sequences and consequences in detail on the fire and explosion accidents assumed in the HTGR or HTTR hydrogen production system. This paper describes the three accident scenarios assumed in the system, the structure of P2A, the analysis procedure with P2A, and the results of the numerical analyses based on the accident scenarios. It is shown that P2A is a useful tool for the accident analysis in the system.