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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.
Didier Haas, Alain Vandergheynst, Jean van Vliet, Robert Lorenzelli, Jean-Louis Nigon
Nuclear Technology | Volume 106 | Number 1 | April 1994 | Pages 60-82
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34950
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Plutonium recycling in light water reactors (LWRs) has progressively become a fact. Over 200 t of mixedoxide (MOX) fuel have been produced in the COGEMA and BELGONUCLÉAIRE plants in the last 7 yr. Fuel loaded in European reactors—mainly MIMAS fuel—is presenting satisfactory in-core behavior and performance. Fuel fabrication technology and operation experience of the BELGONUCLÉAIRE Po Dessel Plant (35 tonne HM/yr) are reviewed. Backfitting of the Complexe de Fabrication de Cadarache (CFCa) plant to MOX fabrication and recent fabrication progress are also addressed. The MELOX plant erected by COGEMA in Marcoule (South France) is a major commitment to provide the utilities with important additional plutonium recycling by the mid-1990s. This second generation plant has been designed to currently produce high plutoniumcontent MOX fuel and recycle degraded plutonium originating from high-burnup LWR UO2 fuels.
