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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.
Mark S. Jarzemba
Nuclear Technology | Volume 118 | Number 2 | May 1997 | Pages 132-141
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT97-A35373
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The assessment of long-term isolation performance for a geologic repository requires the use of mathematical models that consider the probability and consequences of postulated disruptive scenarios. In the case of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, volcanism is one of the important disruptive scenarios being considered in site evaluation. A stochastic modeling approach is developed for use in simulating the airborne release of radioactive particulates associated with the basaltic volcanism scenario. The modeling approach considers such factors as the eruption energetics, eruption duration, wind velocity, and particle properties to compute the activity areal density as a function of spatial location. Various components of the model are based on empirical relationships and data that are reported for observed and monitored cinder cone eruptions analogous to those that likely occurred in the Yucca Mountain region in the past. Illustrative applications of the stochastic model are presented for the cases of a single-event realization and a multiple-event average realization.