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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.
Li Wang, Yang Liu, Fuyu Zhao
Nuclear Technology | Volume 186 | Number 1 | April 2014 | Pages 33-44
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-15
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents mathematical modeling of dynamic phenomena in large pressurized water reactors to study load-follow capability. One of the main reactor types in China's national nuclear development, CPR1000, uses a mode G control method, with G banks, N banks, R banks, and soluble boron to adjust reactor power changes and the axial power shape. In this paper, a new control mode is adopted that can follow the daily variation of power demand without changing the boron concentration. The control banks are regrouped to realize reactivity/temperature control by M banks and axial offset control by an AO bank. A two-node dynamic core model is constructed, taking into account the coupling coefficient and the mutual influence. The transient parameters are obtained by steady-state calculation of a single channel using the original design and operation parameters of CPR1000. Then, to adopt a control mode without soluble boron adjustment, the optimal control implementation is connected to the core simulation platform. Simulation results show that this optimal control policy can provide the capability for the CPR1000 to follow a daily load curve.