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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.
Chang H. Oh, John C. Chapman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 113 | Number 3 | March 1996 | Pages 327-337
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35212
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Flow experiment and analysis were performed to determine flow instability condition in a single thin vertical rectangular flow channel (1.98 mm in channel gap, 50.8mm in width, and 121.92 or 60.96 cm in heated height), which represents one of the Advanced Test Reactor’s inner coolant channels between fuel plates. The maximum surface heat flux and flow rate are 159.8kW/m2 and 462.5 kg/s-m2, respectively, which simulates decay heat removal from the single heated surface of the Advanced Test Reactor. The tests are conducted at atmospheric and subatmospheric pressure, simulating expected conditions during a hypothetical loss-of-coolant accident. The precursor of the flow instability [the point of net void generation and the onset of flow instability (OFI) defined by Saha and Zuber] was compared, and the OFI map (power density versus minimum mass flux at OFI) was developed in this study.