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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.
R. E. Maerker
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 96 | Number 4 | August 1987 | Pages 263-289
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE87-A16391
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A second example of applying the LEPRICON methodology to an existing pressurized water reactor is described. The present application is an analysis of ad hoc dosimetry inserted into the H. B. Robinson-2 reactor to monitor the effects on pressure vessel fluence produced by the introduction of a low-leakage fuel management scheme during cycle 9. The use of the simultaneous dosimetry at both a downcomer location and in the reactor cavity allowed a quantitative evaluation to be made by the LEPRICON procedure of the relative merits of each location. Unfolded results using the dosimetry indicate that the cumulative neutron fluence above 1 MeV originally calculated for the critical lower circumferential weld of the pressure vessel during cycle 9, 7.2 × 1017 n/cm2± 15.9%, should be adjusted upward by about one standard deviation to a value of 8.8 × 1017 n/cm2 with a reduced uncertainty of 10.9%.