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Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Reboot: Nuclear needs a success . . . anywhere
The media have gleefully resurrected the language of a past nuclear renaissance. Beyond the hype and PR, many people in the nuclear community are taking a more measured view of conditions that could lead to new construction: data center demand, the proliferation of new reactor designs and start-ups, and the sudden ascendance of nuclear energy as the power source everyone wants—or wants to talk about.
Once built, large nuclear reactors can provide clean power for at least 80 years—outlasting 10 to 20 presidential administrations. Smaller reactors can provide heat and power outputs tailored to an end user’s needs. With all the new attention, are we any closer to getting past persistent supply chain and workforce issues and building these new plants? And what will the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president mean for nuclear?
As usual, there are more questions than answers, and most come down to money. Several developers are engaging with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or have already applied for a license, certification, or permit. But designs without paying customers won’t get built. So where are the customers, and what will it take for them to commit?
George R. Fegan, Daniel I. Herborn, Steven M. Lippincott
Nuclear Technology | Volume 37 | Number 1 | January 1978 | Pages 13-18
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32086
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Received January 31, 1977 Accepted for Publication September 7, 1977 The net free volume of the containment is an essential parameter in the loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) containment pressure analysis for pressurized water reactors. For an optimized emergency core cooling system performance due to the importance of backpressure during the reflood phase of a LOCA, it is necessary to have the predicted pressure quite close to the design pressure. Using a geometric analysis, an estimate of 56 241.99 m3 (1 986 167 ft3) for the net free volume has been made for the containment of the Trojan nuclear plant. Two sets of data were produced from the normally scheduled structural integrity and integrated leak-rate tests on the Trojan containment. These data sets were used to arrive at two new estimates of the net free volume. A deterministic equation giving volume as a function of the slope of a linear relationship between depressurization and time was developed. After an analysis of the reliability of the data, estimates of this linear slope were made from the two data sets. These two slopes gave net free volume estimates of 58 000 m3 (2.05 × 106 ft3) and 57 650 m3 (2.036 × 106 ft3) when used in the deterministic equation. The maximum deviation from the geometric-based estimate was <4%.
