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Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2023)
February 6–9, 2023
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Nuclear energy: enabling production of food, fiber, hydrocarbon biofuels, and negative carbon emissions
In the 1960s, Alvin Weinberg at Oak Ridge National Laboratory initiated a series of studies on nuclear agro-industrial complexes1 to address the needs of the world’s growing population. Agriculture was a central component of these studies, as it must be. Much of the emphasis was on desalination of seawater to provide fresh water for irrigation of crops. Remarkable advances have lowered the cost of desalination to make that option viable in countries like Israel. Later studies2 asked the question, are there sufficient minerals (potassium, phosphorous, copper, nickel, etc.) to enable a prosperous global society assuming sufficient nuclear energy? The answer was a qualified “yes,” with the caveat that mineral resources will limit some technological options. These studies were defined by the characteristic of looking across agricultural and industrial sectors to address multiple challenges using nuclear energy.
Fernando Ferrante, Stuart Lewis
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 3 | March 2021 | Pages 413-423
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1775451
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work explores recent developments in severe accident analysis and risk assessment to inform and expand on these perspectives. Variations in nuclear reactor safety policy, reactor designs, extent of use of risk information in decision making, and other aspects can impact how safety policies regarding nuclear installations are developed and implemented. In particular, the relationship of nuclear policy in the United States is explored with regard to quantitative risk criteria or goals and their relationship with health objectives. In the United States and many countries around the world, health objectives are defined with regard to the potential impact to the public in terms of “early” fatalities and “latent” fatalities. This paper discusses how the link between these health objectives and quantitative risk goals have been developed and how recent information may change the perspective originally held when the policies were established (e.g., that there would be a significant margin between the risk of operating nuclear facilities and these goals). Given that these metrics play a significant role in how current risk applications are used for operating nuclear reactors, especially when results are to be compared with thresholds, it is important to recognize the evolution and current understanding of associated embedded margins. Given the additional 30 years of insights, the expansion of risk application in the commercial nuclear reactor industry, and improvements in methodologies and computing capabilities, significant additional information has been gained. These insights are discussed and presented in this paper.