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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.
O. J. Wallace
Nuclear Technology | Volume 113 | Number 1 | January 1996 | Pages 112-122
Technical Note | Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35204
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Trapezoidal rule and Gauss-Legendre quadratures are representative of the numeric techniques used in integrating over radiation source regions in point-kernel shielding programs. The orders of quadrature selected for such integrations are important since a sparse quadrature may calculate inaccurate results while unnecessarily large orders of quadrature waste computer time. Rules are given for choosing trapezoidal and Gauss quadrature orders for linear, radial, and azimuthal intervals of integration, based on problem geometry and source attenuation. These rules show that for like accuracy, a trapezoidal rule quadrature of order N may be replaced by a Gauss quadrature with order between the square root of N and N/2. Replacing trapezoidal-scale quadratures by lesser order Gauss quadratures can save large amounts of computer time. Gauss quadratures, on the other hand, ideally should be set up individually for detector points in different locations.