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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.
G. D. Del Cul, William D. Bostick
Nuclear Technology | Volume 109 | Number 1 | January 1995 | Pages 161-162
Technical Note | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35076
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Packed-column experiments with iron dust of 40 to 60 mesh (Fisher 1–57) showed an excellent uptake of pertechnetate ions from alkaline (pH ∼ 8.5) high-nitrate (100 to 250 g/ℓ) solutions at flow rates measured in bed volumes (BVs) of between 0.05 and 0.15 BV/min. The columns worked well until they became plugged by rusting after several hundred bed volumes of solution were flowed through (330 to 900 BV). Similar tests using organic ion-exchange resins, such as Dowex SRB-OH and Reillex HP and Reillex HPQ, and the same alkaline high-nitrate solutions showed breakthroughs after 20 to 50 BV were passed.
