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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.
Carl A. Beard, John J. Buksa, Michael W. Cappiello, J. Wiley Davidson, Jay S. Elson, John R. Ireland, Robert A. Krakowski, Burt J. Krohn, William C. Sailor, Joseph L. Sapir
Nuclear Technology | Volume 111 | Number 1 | July 1995 | Pages 122-132
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35151
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A conceptual target and blanket design for an accelerator transmutation of waste system capable of transmuting the high-level waste stream from 2.5 light water reactors is described. Typically, four such targetblanket designs would be served by a single linear accelerator. The target consists of rows of solid tungsten rod bundles, cooled by heavy water and surrounded by a lead annulus. The annular blanket, which surrounds the target, consists of a set of actinide-oxide-slurrybearing tubes, each 3 m long, surrounded by heavy water moderator. Heat is removed from the slurry tubes by passing the slurry through an external heat exchanger. Long-lived fission products are burned in regions that are separate from the actinides. Using the Monte Carlo codes LAHET and MCNP, a conceptual design for a beam current of 62.5 mA/target of 1.6-GeV protons has been developed. Preliminary engineering analyses on key system components have been performed. A preliminary layout of the concept and the associated primary-heat transport subsystems was developed, demonstrating a multiple-containment-boundary design philosophy.