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.
Tatsuhiko Sato, Daiki Satoh, Akira Endo, Nobuhiro Shigyo, Hiroshi Yasuda, Masashi Takada, Kazuaki Yajima, Takashi Nakamura
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 1 | October 2009 | Pages 113-117
Dose/Dose Rate | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 1) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9109
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To improve radiation safety in high-energy accelerator facilities, the authors have been developing the new radiation dose monitor device DARWIN: Dose monitoring system Applicable to various Radiations with WIde energy raNges. DARWIN is composed of (a) a phoswitch-type scintillation detector, which consists of liquid organic scintillator BC501A coupled with ZnS(Ag) scintillation sheets doped with 6Li, and (b) a data acquisition (DAQ) system for digital analysis of the waveform of the scintillator signals. The DAQ system was recently updated in order to apply DARWIN in monitoring dose rates in radiation fields having time structure, introducing an originally developed module based on a field-programmable gate array. To examine the performance of DARWIN placed in radiation fields composed of varieties of particles over wide energy ranges, the authors mounted DARWIN on a jet aircraft and measured neutron, photon, muon, electron, and positron dose rates at high altitudes. The measured dose rates excellently agreed with the corresponding data calculated by EXPACS over a wide altitude range. This agreement indicates the applicability of DARWIN to dose monitoring in complex radiation fields such as those in high-energy accelerator facilities and aircrafts.