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Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
Standards Program
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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Latest News
Four million nuclear jobs by 2050: Who will do them?
Industry leaders from around the globe met this month to discuss the talent development that will be necessary for the long-term success of the nuclear industry.
The International Conference on Nuclear Knowledge Management and Human Resources Development, hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, was held in Vienna earlier this month. Discussed there was the agency’s forecast for nuclear capacity to more than double—or hopefully triple—by 2050 and the requirement of more than four million professionals to support the industry.
B. Thierry Meslin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 84 | Number 3 | March 1989 | Pages 239-246
Technical Paper | Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Risk Management / Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34205
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Electricité de France has conducted a probabilistic safety study on one of its 1300-MW(electric) reactors since the beginning of 1986. Practically all the reliability data used in this study are derived from the experience feedback from EdF’s pressurized water reactor units. The data concerning common-cause failures (CCFs) are therefore calculated on the basis of the information in EdF’s national files or on-site investigations. For most of the components (in particular, pumps and valves), the SRDF (system for gathering reliability data) and the event file of EdF’s Nuclear and Fossil Generation Division were used and >1200 data sheets were analyzed. Approximately 100 data sheets concerning CCFs were identified and CCF rates were deduced using the binomial failure rate method. In addition, a number of exhaustive investigations were carried out at the site chosen for the probabilistic study and samples of CCFs were analyzed in qualitative terms. The results were taken into account in the studies, and corrective actions were implemented on the site. Several observations were made on the basis of this work. The CCFs seem inevitable as they are of a complex and variable nature: problems of design or operation, meteorological conditions, human error, etc. As a result, it is very difficult to find a simple remedy and the number of solutions is often equal to the number of cases observed. Experience feedback is of fundamental importance to the rapid identification and correction of CCFs, especially for utilities that, like EdF, operate many standardized units. Finally, it appears that quantification of the problem is possible to a certain extent and that the order of magnitude of the rates of order 2 (ß2) CCFs is relatively well known, as is that of most components of order 0.1. The determination of the β rates at higher orders (β3, β4, etc.) still seems to be full of uncertainties, however.