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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.
Luis E. Herranz, Jesús Polo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 106 | Number 2 | May 1994 | Pages 168-176
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34973
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The significance of iodine for source term quantification has been studied by investigating its chemical behavior under the prototypical conditions of a hypothetical severe accident within the containment. As a result, some computer codes were developed and their validation is currently under way. The loss-of-fluid test (LOFT) program was one of the most relevant research projects in the area of nuclear safety. Its last experiment, LP-FP-2, simulated a V-sequence. A great deal of information was recorded on the fission product release, transport, and deposition. A theoretical approach to the chemical behavior of iodine in the blowdown suppression tank (BST) of the LOFT facility was attempted with the IODE and IMPAIR-2/M codes. The comparison of the predictions with the existing experimental data led to the conclusion that the BST system behaved as a low-volatility system, with most of the iodine in the form of the soluble nonvolatile species iodide. Only a partial conversion to volatile molecular iodine was observed due to the presence of radiation. However, the intensity of the γ field was so weak that this transformation was not quantitatively meaningful.