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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.
Bryan Bednarz, Bin Han, X. George Xu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 2 | November 2009 | Pages 270-273
Neutron Data | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 2) / Radiation Biology and Medicine | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9193
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
During radiation therapy treatments, neutron contamination can be a source of unwanted radiation dose to the patient and medical personnel. Accurate cross-section data is needed to characterize the neutron contamination in medical accelerators using Monte Carlo methods. In this study, a comparison of the photoneutron yields using the default LA150U and the Chinese Nuclear Data Center (CNDC) photonuclear cross sections was performed. Thick tungsten plates, each of 0.125-cm thickness (one-third radiation length), were directly irradiated by an electron beam in MCNPX. In order to match typical radiation therapy energy ranges, the energy distribution of the electron beam was modeled as a Gaussian distribution with a mean energy of 18.3 MeV and a 3% full-width at half-maximum. The photoneutron yield using the LA150U is consistently [approximately]12 to 17% higher than those from the CNDC data for each target thickness. The average photoneutron energy difference between the two cross-section libraries ranged from 3 to 42%. No major differences were seen between relative neutron fluences per solid angle for the two cross-section libraries. The discrepancies between the datasets provided above can be attributed to the oversimplification of using the default LA150U 184W cross section for all other naturally occurring isotopes of tungsten. Therefore, the lack of cross-section data in the LA150U library is a definite concern when using MCNPX to determine secondary neutron production in a medical accelerator room since a majority of contamination neutrons are produced in tungsten components.