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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.
Yuh Ming Ferng, Yung Shin Tseng, Bau Shei Pei, S. Long Wang, Chunkuan Shih, Tsun Fu Hung
Nuclear Technology | Volume 162 | Number 3 | June 2008 | Pages 308-322
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A3958
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this paper, possible influences of power uprate on the distribution characteristics of erosion-corrosion (E/C) wear sites were analyzed through proper two-phase models. These models include three-dimensional two-phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and appropriate E/C analysis. An analytical approach was applied to boiling water reactors. Based on the simulation results, the present CFD simulations successfully predicted two-phase phenomena that occurred in the piping system including centrifugal effects, gravitational effects, an imbalance of phase and mass separation in a T-junction, etc. When coupled with the calculated two-phase flow structures, the appropriate E/C models can be used to indicate the local distributions of severe E/C wear sites on the wall of the fittings. This shows a reasonable agreement with the plant-measured results. With these models, the impacts of power uprate on the distribution characteristics of E/C wear sites can be investigated. Comparisons between the calculated results for 100, 105, and 110% power levels clearly reveal that the power uprate has an insignificant effect on the distribution characteristics of wear sites for the selected piping system under investigation, especially in the wear ranges.