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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.
Stojan Petelin, Borut Mavko, Bostjan Koncar, Yassin A. Hassan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 158 | Number 1 | April 2007 | Pages 56-68
Technical Paper | Best Estimate Methods | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3824
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper provides a scaling methodology that was applied for scaling of the BETHSY integral test facility to the real nuclear power plant (NPP). The similarity of physical phenomena between the BETHSY experimental facility and the scaled-up model (representation of the real NPP) was analyzed on the small-break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) scenario. A comprehensive numerical analysis using the RELAP5 thermal-hydraulic code was performed to evaluate the optimal scaling-up of the BETHSY facility to the real NPP. In order to investigate the phenomenological scaling-up basis, two enlarged RELAP5 input models were constructed, differing in scaling criteria for the primary cooling system: proportional volume scaling and scaling based on the Froude number. A better agreement with the physical phenomena of the SBLOCA experiment was achieved in the case of proportional volume scaling. In addition, scaling of heat structures was also analyzed. It was shown that the best predictions of the transient phenomena were obtained when the heat structures were scaled according to the tensile stress criterion.