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August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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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.
Huihua Yang, Qiyun Cheng, Ling Zou, Rui Hu, Wei Ji
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 9 | September 2025 | Pages 1960-1985
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2421678
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
With the increased interest in the design and deployment of advanced reactor systems, a desire for simulation tools supporting system analyses of reactor operation and safety is rising. Molten salt reactors (MSRs), one of the advanced reactor systems, utilize liquid-fused salt fuel as both coolant and fuel. During operation, MSRs generate insoluble fission products, including noble metals and gases. The buildup of these species in the fuel salt presents safety concerns, as they may deposit on surfaces of critical components and produce excessive decay heat, causing the failure of system components. The timely removal of these noble metals and gases would ensure the safe operation of the reactor system. The dynamic nature of salt fuel systems, involving the generation, decay, deposition, and extraction of noble metals and gases, calls for robust species transport models to facilitate system analysis and monitoring and the design of efficient species removal components. This paper concentrates on the development of a computational framework for species transport consisting of multiphase transport model formulation, mass transfer between phases, numerical implementation in the MOOSE environment, verification through the method of manufacture solutions, and validation against experimental data from the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment. Integrating this framework into the System Analysis Module (SAM) code further enhances SAM’s capabilities for advanced reactor analysis in the future.