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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.
Ray S. Booth
Nuclear Technology | Volume 198 | Number 2 | May 2017 | Pages 217-227
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1299494
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Functionals derived from the finite Laplace transforms of time moments of experimental data are used to fit these data to exponential functions. The functionals provide linear relationships for individually determining parameter values successively. This new and unique fitting method is first derived and then applied to data containing up to four exponentials to demonstrate its capabilities. Advantages of this fitting procedure include the following. (1) Parameters of the fit can be determined from the data region where they are most important by a wide verity of methods, including conventional ones. (2) Fitting algorithms are available that are simple to program; use conventional “stripping techniques”; are quite robust; and have been tested for a wide range in the number of data points, statistical errors, data ranges, and parameter values. (3) Fitting algorithms are included that use the conventional correlation coefficient of two expressions to fit data with even or uneven time intervals. (4) Decay constants and their associated magnitudes are determined separately and independently from different functionals. (5) Each iteration of the fit requires relatively few computations, usually only selected integrals, which can be completed quite rapidly. (6) Parameter errors can be estimated by conventional techniques.