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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.
Guoxiang Zhang, Nicolas Spycher, Eric Sonnenthal, Carl Steefel, Tianfu Xu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 164 | Number 2 | November 2008 | Pages 180-195
Technical Paper | Tough206 | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A4018
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A Pitzer ion-interaction model for concentrated aqueous solutions was added to the reactive multiphase flow and transport code TOUGHREACT. The model is described and verified against published experimental data and the geochemical code EQ3/6. The model is used to simulate water-rock-gas interactions caused by boiling and evaporation within and around nuclear waste emplacement tunnels at the proposed high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The coupled thermal, hydrological, and chemical processes considered consist of water and air/vapor flow, evaporation, boiling, condensation, solute and gas transport, formation of highly concentrated brines, precipitation of deliquescent salts, generation of acid gases, and vapor-pressure lowering caused by the high salinity of the concentrated brine.