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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.
Ana Da Silva, Pradip Saha, Eric P. Loewen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 196 | Number 1 | October 2016 | Pages 74-88
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT16-55
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The legacy electromagnetic (EM) pump analysis tool MATRIX has been improved by the addition of a thermal analysis module. Although the module is patterned after the general-purpose Advanced General Electric Network Analyzer (AGENA) code, it is developed from a more fundamental approach to provide a better understanding and control of the thermal analysis of the EM pump. The MATRIX results are verified against the AGENA results and the test data from the 160 m3/min large EM pump tests, which provided a good estimate of the thermal conductance between the lamination and the inner duct wall. Full and good contact between the lamination and the inner duct wall is necessary to keep the copper conductor temperatures low. Parametric studies, as expected, confirmed the correct trend of increasing copper conductor temperatures with increasing frequency. The MATRIX results show that a new proposed insulation material for the future EM pumps is beneficial since it could reduce the copper block temperature by ~20°C. Such analysis can help develop a better EM pump with a more compact design and better insulation material.