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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.
Yutaka Takeuchi, Yukio Takigawa, Hitoshi Uematsu, Shigeo Ebata, James C. Shaug, Bharat S. Shiralkar
Nuclear Technology | Volume 105 | Number 2 | February 1994 | Pages 162-183
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34920
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Space- and time-dependent phenomena, mostly related to neutron flux oscillations, have been observed in several boiling water reactor plants, A time-dependent three-dimensional transient analysis code is indispensable for simulating such phenomena. In a joint effort between the General Electric Company and the Toshiba Corporation, a three-dimensional neutron kinetics model has been implemented into the best-estimate thermal-hydraulics code, TRACG. A neutronics model implementation and the applicability of the modified TRACG code for analyzing space-dependent phenomena are discussed. To verify the code, startup tests with selected rod insertions, where control rods are locally inserted, are simulated. Both corewide, spatially in-phase neutron flux oscillations and regional, spatially out-of-phase oscillations are modeled. The results show that the modified TRACG code has sufficient capability to simulate space-dependent transients and is also a useful tool for investigating the fundamental mechanisms behind such transients.