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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
Chun-Chang Chao, Chi Ta Chen, Min Lee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 111 | Number 1 | July 1995 | Pages 23-33
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35141
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The core damage frequency caused by loss of residual heat removal (RHR) events was assessed during midloop operation of a Westinghouse-designed threeloop pressurized water reactor. The assessment considers two types of outages (refueling and drained maintenance) and uses failure data collected specifically for shutdown condition. Event trees were developed for five categories of loss of RHR events. Human actions to mitigate the loss of RHR events were identified and human error probabilities were quantified using the human cognitive reliability (HCR) and the technique for human error rate prediction (THERP) models. The results showed that the core damage frequency caused by loss of RHR events during midloop operation was 3.4 x 10-5 per year. The results also showed that the core damage frequency can be reduced significantly by removing a pressurizer safety valve before entering midloop operation. The establishment of reflux cooling, i.e., decay heat removal through the steam generator secondary side, also plays an important role in mitigating the loss of RHR events during midloop operation.