ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
August 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Jean-Francois Wald, Bertrand Iooss
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 12 | December 2025 | Pages 2987-3003
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2025.2529125
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study proposes to quantify the uncertainty in a CPU time costly computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model used to evaluate the local temperature field in the situation of blocked fuel assembly in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) transfer tube. Several uncertain parameters are identified and a first uncertainty propagation study is conducted on a low-fidelity (poorly refined) mesh for CPU cost issues. Then, using the concept of “support points,” an algorithm is employed to reduce the size of the initial design of experiments. A high-fidelity model (finer mesh, more CPU time expensive) is then run on this small-size design of experiments. A metamodel was finally built on those high-fidelity results to propagate uncertainties and finely analyze the results. The successful results that are obtained show that metamodeling has the potential to overcome the issue of costly CPU time CFD models in the near future. Despite good quantitative results, the main purpose of the present study remains the novel methodology that was set up for uncertainty propagation in CFD.