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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.
Tadafumi Koyama, Reiko Fujita, Masatoshi Hzuka, Yukio Sumida
Nuclear Technology | Volume 110 | Number 3 | June 1995 | Pages 357-368
Technical Paper | Actinide Burning and Transmutation Special / Enrichment and Reprocessing System | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35107
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new electrorefiner with a ceramic partition has been developed for pyrometallurgical reprocessing of metallic fuel. In this electrorefiner, dissolution of spent fuel and deposition take place simultaneously, resulting in an increase of the processing rate. The feasibility of this electrorefiner was confirmed by a polarization profile and a current efficiency of an electrotransportation of uranium from a pure uranium anode to an iron cathode through a liquid cadmium pool. Separation of active fission products from actinide was confirmed by a transportation of simulating fission product elements with and without imposing electropotential. The maximum cathode current density onto a liquid cadmium pool without formation of a dendrite was measured against the concentration, and it was found to decrease with increasing concentration of uranium in cadmium. The estimated time required to process 50 kg of heavy metal by the new electrorefiner was less than that of the original electrorefiner.