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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.
Jun Wang, Michael L. Corradini, Troy Haskin, Yapei Zhang, Qing Lu, Wenxi Tian, Guanghui Su, Suizheng Qiu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 192 | Number 1 | October 2015 | Pages 25-34
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-96
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To better understand the MELCOR oxidation and degradation models, past work compared the MELCOR model to a CORA experiment (CORA Test 13). These MELCOR analyses specifically focused on fuel bundle heatup and clad oxidation when compared to CORA test data. The comparison allowed the authors to investigate differences between hydrogen generation data and simulation results. Several potential reasons were considered for hydrogen generation rate differences, including MELCOR input power, heat transfer modeling, the clad solid-phase oxidation model, and the gaseous steam diffusion model. This work focuses on the possible uncertainty in the clad oxidation models used in MELCOR. First, the MELCOR nodalization approach for the CORA test was reviewed. Then, the temperature history and spatial variation were examined. One main focus was to consider other clad solid-phase oxidation models to compare the MELCOR models. This was accomplished by developing a separate model, MYCOAC, using MELCOR temperature predictions as input. Finally, the mass transfer resistance of steam diffusion to the clad surface was examined and found to be a small effect. While the Baker-Just solid-phase oxidation model showed better agreement with CORA data at low temperatures, the conclusion in this paper is that the oxidation models are not the major source of uncertainty in hydrogen generation rate differences. Future work will focus on heat transfer modeling of the CORA test.