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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.
B. Tourniaire, O. Varo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 164 | Number 1 | October 2008 | Pages 143-151
Technical Note | Icapp '06 | doi.org/10.13182/NT164-143
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In case of a pressurized water reactor's severe accident with core meltdown and vessel failure, corium would spread on the concrete basemat of the plant. The high temperature of the corium pool maintained by the residual power would lead to the erosion of the concrete walls and potentially to the bypass of the containment. The ablation velocity of concrete is governed by the heat flux between the corium pool and the concrete wall, and its calculation is of particular significance to predict whether and when the basemat would fail in such a situation. From a hydrodynamic point of view, this issue is related to heat transfer between a volumetric heated bubbling pool and a porous wall with gas injection. Several experimental studies have been performed in the past, and many correlations have been proposed to address this issue. The main purpose of this paper is to assess these correlations from comparisons against the available experimental data. After a review of these data, the different correlations are presented. Attention focuses here on the correlations generally used in molten core-concrete interaction study: The Kutateladze-Malenkov, Konsetov, and BALI correlations. Deckwer's correlation is also included in this review. The comparisons between the results of these correlations and the experimental data are then discussed.