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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.
Michel Amblard, Jean-Marc Delhaye, Karine Froment, Jean-Marie Seiler, Bruno Tourniaire
Nuclear Technology | Volume 153 | Number 3 | March 2006 | Pages 315-325
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT06-A3710
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the ANAIS experiments, water was injected as a jet or a spray at a given temperature and a given flow rate onto a superheated (~1600°C) molten steel layer for an imposed value of the heat rate delivered to the steel layer by induction heating. At the beginning of a test, water was injected during a few seconds with a high flow rate. Thereafter, the flow rate was decreased to evacuate the thermal power under steady-state conditions. The heat generation rate in the metal was maintained during the water injection at ~1 MW/m2, which represents a typical reactor situation. The test results showed that the steel-water heat transfer led to different final situations depending on the injection mode and water velocity. In addition, the water-cooling power was rather high at the very beginning of the transient and comparable to the heat rate delivered to the metal layer in steady-state conditions. Also, it was observed that no steam explosion occurred in any case, and that a solid layer always formed at the steel free-surface.