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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.
S. Chatzidakis, P. T. Forsberg, L. H. Tsoukalas
Nuclear Technology | Volume 192 | Number 1 | October 2015 | Pages 61-73
Technical Paper | Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-112
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Governments are interested in radiation signal encryption in projects relating to international safeguards; however, the available algorithms do not suitably address the challenges presented by the increasing computational capability of various actors, which require recent encryption algorithms to be more robust against attack algorithms. Therefore, an algorithmic approach for performing radiation signal encryption employing the nonlinear capabilities of artificial neural networks with the noise-like properties of chaotic systems is proposed herein. The radiation signal digital envelope consists of the encrypted signal such as may be found through gamma spectroscopy, the secret key for the encryption, and the associated hash value. The presented algorithmic approach demonstrates, in an orderly manner, an integrated method for computing this radiation signal digital envelope. Indispensable constituents of encryption include both the construction of a time series with chaotic characteristics and the incorporation of a hash function generator to satisfy the security requirements of confidentiality, authentication, and nonrepudiation. The methodology is demonstrated via the encryption and subsequent decryption of two frequently occurring radiation signals, namely, gamma spectroscopy signals from 60Co and 137Cs. The results obtained demonstrate the capability of the algorithmic approach to integrate artificial neural networks and chaos dynamics to produce the radiation signal digital envelope (for given security requirements).