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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.
Akio Toba, Akira Omoto
Nuclear Technology | Volume 112 | Number 3 | December 1995 | Pages 382-387
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35164
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Boiling water reactor (BWR) utilities in Japan began to consider the development of a mechanistic model to describe the critical heat transfer conditions in the BWR fuel subchannel. Such a mechanistic model will not only decrease the necessity of tests, but will also help by removing some overly conservative safety margins in thermal hydraulics. With the use of a postdry-out heat transfer correlation, new acceptance criteria may be applicable to evaluate the fuel integrity. Mechanistic subchannel analysis models will certainly back up this approach. This model will also be applicable to the analysis of large-size fuel bundles and examination of corrosion behavior.