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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.
Akira Yamaguchi, Takashi Takata, Hiroyuki Ohshima, Akikazu Kurihara
Nuclear Technology | Volume 167 | Number 1 | July 2009 | Pages 118-126
Technical Paper | NURETH-12 / Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A8856
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Sodium-water reaction is a design-basis accident of a sodium fast reactor. A breach of the heat transfer tube in a steam generator (SG) results in contact of liquid sodium with water. The typical phenomenon is that the pressurized water blows off and is mixed with the liquid sodium surrounding SG tubes. The design and safety concern is a possibility of the secondary failure of nearby heat transfer tubes that could cause undesirable development of the accident. One needs to evaluate the temperature transients of the heat transfer tubes in the reaction region for safety evaluation. In the present study, a computational method is developed for this purpose. It solves the sodium thermal hydraulics and the heat conduction in the adjacent heat transfer tubes. An experiment performed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency is analyzed with the method developed in this study. It is found that analyzed temperatures are in good agreement with the experimental data. Based on the experimental and computational results, multiphase multicomponent flow characteristics are depicted. Furthermore, the heat transfer coefficient is evaluated using the instantaneous heat flux and temperature obtained from the numerical simulation.