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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.
Gordana Vukovic, Michael L. Corradini
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 1 | July 1996 | Pages 46-60
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35274
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To investigate liquid-metal (fuel)/water (coolant) interactions, a vertical shock tube has been designed and constructed. A series of tests was conducted with gallium, indium, lead, and tin as the fuel materials at either low” (Tf ∼ 300°C) or “high” fuel temperature (Tf ∼ 600°C), with water at room temperature (low Tc) and in the range of Tc = 56 to 67°C (high Tc), and with driving pressures from 0.25 to 1.22 MPa. These materials were tested to determine their compatibility for potential use in liquid-metal divertor systems for fusion power plants. The increase in fuel and water temperature, as well as the increase of driving pressure, caused more energetic interactions to occur. High Tf tin and lead interactions, and high Tf and Tc gallium and indium interactions were the most energetic. Stronger interactions produced finer debris fragments. In high Tf gallium and indium interactions, small superficial oxidation was observed. For the first two pulses, larger ratios of compression- (compression of expansion vessel gas) to-expansion work correspond to the experiments with higher fuel and coolant temperatures. For the first pulse, only work ratio values of the most energetic experiments are larger than those of isothermal experiments. Consequently, for such experiments, the impulse values of second pulses are the largest. Higher values of the conversion ratio for the first pulse correspond to more energetic interactions. Even for the most energetic experiments, the conversion ratio is no higher than 1.2%, and no more than 15% (or a few millimetres-thick surface layer) of the initially loaded fuel participated in the interaction, assuming equal initial volumes of fuel and coolant.
