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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.
Farzad Rahnema, Dan Ilas, Shivakumar Sitaraman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 117 | Number 2 | February 1997 | Pages 184-194
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT97-A35324
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A typical advanced boiling water reactor (BWR) pin cell configuration is used to develop numerical benchmarks for the effects of moderator and fuel properties on the eigenvalue. Results are developed for pin cell configurations with different moderator densities and temperatures and different fuel exposures and temperatures. These configurations (98) correspond to those typical of cold, hot-operating, and transient conditions in B WRs. All of the calculations were performed using the Monte Carlo code MCNP with the continuous-energy cross sections derived from version VI of the Evaluated Nuclear Data Files ENDF/B.
