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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.
Ross Hays, Paul Turinsky
Nuclear Technology | Volume 186 | Number 1 | April 2014 | Pages 76-89
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-68
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The process of transitioning from the current once-through nuclear fuel cycle to a hypothetical closed fuel cycle necessarily introduces a much greater degree of supply feedback and complexity. When considering such advanced technologies, it is necessary to consider when and how fuel cycle facilities can be deployed in order to avoid resource conflicts while maximizing certain stakeholder values. A multiobjective optimization capability was developed around the VISION nuclear fuel cycle simulation code to allow for the automated determination of optimum deployment scenarios and objective trade-off surfaces for dynamic fuel cycle transition scenarios. A parallel simulated annealing optimization framework with modular objective function definitions is utilized to maximize computational power and flexibility. Three sample objective functions representing a range of economic and sustainability goals are presented, as well as representative optimization results demonstrating both robust convergence toward a set of optimum deployment configurations and a consistent set of trade-off surfaces.