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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.
Tsuyoshi Kusunoki, Masahiko Kyouya, Hideo Kobayashi, Masa-Aki Ochiai
Nuclear Technology | Volume 109 | Number 2 | February 1995 | Pages 275-285
Technical Paper | Reactor Operation | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35060
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A Nuclear-powered ship Engineering Simulation SYstem (NESSY) has been developed by the Japan A tomic Energy Research Institute as an advanced design tool for research and development of future marine reactors. A marine reactor must respond to changing loads and to the ship’s motions because of the ship’s maneuvering and its presence in a marine environment. The NESSY has combined programs for the reactor plant behavior calculations and the ship’s motion calculations. Thus, it can simulate reactor power fluctuations caused by changing loads and the ship’s motions. It can also simulate the behavior of water in the pressurizer and steam generators. This water sloshes in response to the ship’s motions. The performance of NESSY has been verified by comparing the simulation calculations with the measured data obtained by experiments performed using the nuclear ship Mutsu. The effects of changing loads and the ship’s motions on the reactor behavior can be accurately simulated by NESSY.