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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.
Alain Raymond, Brigitte Lagarde, Annick Pitiot
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 2 | August 1996 | Pages 192-197
Technical Paper | Characterization of Radioactive Waste in France / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35265
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To comply with the regulations laid down by the French safety authorities for a national surface disposal site, one must obtain a good evaluation of the activity of the long-lived nuclides in each individual package. Because this cannot be done on a routine basis by direct nondestructive measurements, experiments are being conducted in France to calculate the activity of long-lived nuclides from the measured activity of “key” nuclides (60Co and 137Cs). This is achieved through the use of scaling factors and correlation functions that are calculated from the analysis of a limited number of representative waste samples. The first results obtained for some typical French pressurized water reactor radioactive wastes, including ion-exchange resins, evaporator concentrates, and filter cartridges, are presented. Significant correlations are observed for the 63Ni/60Co and 94Nb/60Co nuclide pairs, while I4C does not seem to correlate with 60Co. A good correlation between 137Cs and 90Sr is established for resins, while in the case of filters, only a tendency to correlation appears. This evaluation work is only at a preliminary stage, and much improvement of the results presented here is expected from research programs being carried out in this field by Electricité de France, Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique, and the French National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management in cooperation with the Commission of the European Communities.