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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.
K. Nagarajan, T. Subramanian, B. Prabhakara Reddy, P. R. Vasudeva Rao, Baldev Raj
Nuclear Technology | Volume 162 | Number 2 | May 2008 | Pages 259-263
Technical Note | First International Pyroprocessing Research Conference | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A3954
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Reducing the cooling time of spent fast breeder reactor (FBR) fuel, thus reducing the doubling time and introducing metallic fuels into FBRs, is essential for meeting the increasing energy demand of India. Development of pyrochemical reprocessing technology for processing the spent FBR fuels is another prerequisite. Accordingly, studies on the molten salt electrorefining process for metallic fuels and the oxide electrowinning process for oxide fuels have been carried out at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. A laboratory-scale argon atmosphere facility for molten salt electrorefining process studies is operational. Using this facility, studies on all the unit operations of the process have been carried out on uranium alloys. A code, PRAGAMAN, based on thermochemical modeling has been developed to simulate the electrotransport behavior of elements during the electrorefining process. Based on our studies, the eutectic MgCl2-NaCl-KCl ternary salt has been proposed as the alternate electrolyte for the conventional 2CsCl-NaCl electrolyte for oxide processing. A facility to demonstrate the remotization of all the process steps of the molten salt electrorefining process flow sheet for metallic fuels at 1- to 3-kg scale is being set up. Basic electrochemical studies on the reduction behavior of the chlorides and oxychlorides of uranium and the lanthanides in molten salts have also been carried out. This paper describes the studies carried out so far and the plans for the near future.