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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.
Ling Zou, Quan Zhou, Dan O’Grady, Rui Hu, Alex Heald, Haihua Zhao
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 9 | September 2025 | Pages 1986-2002
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2377522
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work presents the development and implementation of the one-dimensional freezing model in system analysis code SAM (System Analysis Module), code verification using analytical solutions, and code demonstration of a postulated overcooling transient for a fluoride salt–cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR) system and safety analysis applications. This paper first summarizes the freezing model, finite element numerical method, and special numerical treatment for handling transitions between single- and two-phase conditions. Analytical solutions are derived for two cases, with and without solid walls, for code verification purposes. As expected, the numerical results predicted by SAM agree very well with the analytical solution. A code demonstration is then performed on a postulated protected overcooling transient event of a generic reference pebble bed FHR design. The code was found to successfully predict salt freezing during such a postulated event. However, due to the lack of salt freezing testing data, code validation is not performed in this work, but will be pursued in future studies when such data become available.