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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.
D. Broggio, J. Janeczko, S. Lamart, E. Blanchardon, N. Borisov, A. Molokanov, V. Yatsenko, D. Franck
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 3 | December 2009 | Pages 824-831
MC Calculations | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (PART 3) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9313
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In vivo measurements are usually carried out under the hypothesis of a known activity distribution inside the body. The measurements and the interpretation of in vivo measurements performed with the minimum hypothesis about the activity distribution are presented and discussed. Measurements have been performed with a devoted four-germanium-detector system on a male subject presenting a 30-yr-old wound contamination by americium and plutonium isotopes. The measurements have been processed after the construction of voxelized phantoms of the measured body parts and Monte Carlo (MC) calculations of organ- and detector-specific counting efficiencies. The phantom construction and MC calculations were assisted by the OEDIPE software, and the reliability of the modeling has been controlled by a comparison of the measured and simulated efficiencies for point-source measurements and for the measurement of a Spitz anthropomorphic knee phantom. Mainly based on measurements at the knee level, the 241Am specific bone activity was (0.27 ± 23%) Bq/g. Using measurements at the thorax level, no activity could be detected in the lungs; the liver activity was between 410 and 460 Bq. The activity of the axillary, thoracic airways and trunk lymph nodes depends on the retained hypothesis, but a reasonable assessment for the axillary lymph nodes is between 100 and 350 Bq.