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Sample records for human factors upgrade

  1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF DETAILED HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING GUIDELINES FOR DIGITAL CONTROL ROOM UPGRADES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    BROWN, W.; O'HARA, J.M.

    2004-01-01

    As part of the Department of Energy and Electric Power Research Institute's hybrid control room project, detailed human factors engineering guidance was developed for designing human-system interfaces that may be affected by introduction of additional digital technology during modernization of nuclear power plants. The guidance addresses several aspects of human-system interaction: information display, interface management, soft controls, alarms, computer-based procedures, computerized operator support systems, communications, and workstation/workplace design. In this paper, the ways in which digital upgrades might affect users' interaction with systems in each of these contexts are briefly described, and the contents of the guidance developed for each of the topics is also described

  2. Approaches for the integration of human factors into the upgrading and refurbishment of control rooms - Summary and conclusions - Principal Working Group 1 on Operating Experience and Human Factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    A modern approach to control room design, be it for upgrading or complete refurbishment, requires the integration of many disciplines and approaches. The integration of human factors into such a process continues to present challenges. How such a process should be conceived, planned, and carried out is of considerable interest to designers, operators and regulators. Many NPPs around the world have been, or will be faced with decisions concerning modernization of their control rooms. Such changes can be driven by a range of issues including; the need to replace outdated control and instrumentation systems; increasing regulatory concern about human performance; or the need to provide a better process control environment for NPPs whose life cycles extend beyond that originally intended. Considering the importance of operator performance for safe and profitable operations, a process for ensuring that human factors issues are properly addressed could be central to the success or failure of such a project. Human factors is of particular importance when a combination of existing and new systems are to be used, resulting in a so-called 'hybrid' control room. The workshop addressed this topical area by providing a forum where a number of important areas could be discussed and experiences and lessons shared. Topics identified before hand as important and worthy of discussion included: - Exploration of how human factors issues can be identified. - Consideration of those processes and techniques necessary to ensure that appropriate requirements are specified, and that suitable data is gathered and analysed. - Identification and discussion of issues related to the above topics together with lessons from utilities, vendors and regulators which have faced, or are currently facing, these challenges. The meeting itself focused on the state of knowledge and current best practices within these areas and provided a forum for the open discussion of the human factors issues, as seen by

  3. Human Factors Principles in Information Dashboard Design

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hugo, Jacques V.; St. Germain, Shawn

    2016-06-01

    When planning for control room upgrades, nuclear power plants have to deal with a multitude of engineering and operational impacts. This will inevitably include several human factors considerations, including physical ergonomics of workstations, viewing angles, lighting, seating, new communication requirements, and new concepts of operation. In helping nuclear power utilities to deal with these challenges, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has developed effective methods to manage the various phases of the upgrade life cycle. These methods focus on integrating human factors engineering processes with the plant’s systems engineering process, a large part of which is the development of end-state concepts for control room modernization. Such an end-state concept is a description of a set of required conditions that define the achievement of the plant’s objectives for the upgrade. Typically, the end-state concept describes the transition of a conventional control room, over time, to a facility that employs advanced digital automation technologies in a way that significantly improves system reliability, reduces human and control room-related hazards, reduces system and component obsolescence, and significantly improves operator performance. To make the various upgrade phases as concrete and as visible as possible, an end-state concept would include a set of visual representations of the control room before and after various upgrade phases to provide the context and a framework within which to consider the various options in the upgrade. This includes the various control systems, human-system interfaces to be replaced, and possible changes to operator workstations. This paper describes how this framework helps to ensure an integrated and cohesive outcome that is consistent with human factors engineering principles and also provide substantial improvement in operator performance. The paper further describes the application of this integrated approach in the

  4. Human Factors Engineering Aspects of Modifications in Control Room Modernization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hugo, Jacques [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Clefton, Gordon [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Joe, Jeffrey [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2017-06-01

    This report describes the basic aspects of control room modernization projects in the U.S. nuclear industry and the need for supplementary guidance on the integration of human factors considerations into the licensing and regulatory aspects of digital upgrades. The report pays specific attention to the integration of principles described in NUREG-0711 (Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model) and how supplementary guidance can help to raise general awareness in the industry regarding the complexities of control room modernization projects created by many interdependent regulations, standards and guidelines. The report also describes how human factors engineering principles and methods provided by various resources and international standards can help in navigating through the process of licensing digital upgrades. In particular, the integration of human factors engineering guidance and requirements into the process of licensing digital upgrades can help reduce uncertainty related to development of technical bases for digital upgrades that will avoid the introduction of new failure modes.

  5. Human-machine interface upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kropik, M.; Matejka, K.; Sklenka, L.; Chab, V.

    2002-01-01

    The article describes a new human-machine interface that was installed at the VR-1 training reactor. The human-machine interface upgrade was completed in the summer 2001. The interface was designed with respect to functional, ergonomic and aesthetic requirements. The interface is based on a personal computer equipped with two displays. One display enables alphanumeric communication between the reactor operator and the nuclear reactor I and C. The second display is a graphical one. It presents the status of the reactor, principal parameters (as power, period), control rods positions, course of the reactor power. Furthermore, it is possible to set parameters, to show the active core configuration, to perform reactivity calculations, etc. The software for the new human-machine interface was produced with the InTouch developing tool of the Wonder-Ware Company. It is possible to switch the language of the interface between Czech and English because of many foreign students and visitors to the reactor. Microcomputer based communication units with proper software were developed to connect the new human-machine interface with the present reactor I and C. The new human-machine interface at the VR-1 training reactor improves the comfort and safety of the reactor utilisation, facilitates experiments and training, and provides better support for foreign visitors. (orig.)

  6. Verification and validation of human factors issues in control room design and upgrades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Green, M.; Collier, S. [Inst. for Energiteknikk, Halden (Norway). OECD Halden Reactor Project

    1999-12-01

    Systems, facilities and equipment are periodically updated during a power plant's lifetime. This has human factors implications, especially if the central control room is involved. Human factors work may therefore be required. There is an extensive literature on human factors itself, but not so much on how it is verified and validated. Therefore, HRP and the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate commissioned a study. The objective was to review the literature and establish a knowledge base on verification and validation (V and V) of human factors issues. The report first discusses verification and validation as applied to human factors work. It describes a design process and the typical human factors topics involved. It then presents a generic method for V and V of human factors. This is built on a review of standards, guidelines and other references given in an annotated bibliography. The method is illustrated by application to some human factors topics.

  7. Verification and validation of human factors issues in control room design and upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Green, M.; Collier, S.

    1999-12-01

    Systems, facilities and equipment are periodically updated during a power plant's lifetime. This has human factors implications, especially if the central control room is involved. Human factors work may therefore be required. There is an extensive literature on human factors itself, but not so much on how it is verified and validated. Therefore, HRP and the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate commissioned a study. The objective was to review the literature and establish a knowledge base on verification and validation (V and V) of human factors issues. The report first discusses verification and validation as applied to human factors work. It describes a design process and the typical human factors topics involved. It then presents a generic method for V and V of human factors. This is built on a review of standards, guidelines and other references given in an annotated bibliography. The method is illustrated by application to some human factors topics

  8. UNC Nuclear Industries' human-factored approach to the operating or maintenance procedure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, A.A.; Clark, J.E.

    1982-01-01

    The development of Human Factors Engineering (HFE) and UNC Nuclear Industries' (UNC) commitment to minimizing the potential for human error in the performance of operating or maintenance procedures have lead to a procedure upgrade program. Human-factored procedures were developed using information from many sources including, but not limited to, operators, a human factors specialist, engineers and supervisors. This has resulted in the Job Performance Aid (JPA). This paper presents UNC's approach to providing human-factored operating and maintenance procedures

  9. Assimilation of enterprise technology upgrades: a factor-based study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claybaugh, Craig C.; Ramamurthy, Keshavamurthy; Haseman, William D.

    2017-02-01

    The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the differences in the propensity of firms to initiate and commit to the assimilation of an enterprise technology upgrade. A research model is proposed that examines the influences that four technological and four organisational factors have on predicting assimilation of a technology upgrade. Results show that firms with a greater propensity to assimilate the new enterprise resource planning (ERP) version have a higher assessment of relative advantage, IS technical competence, and the strategic role of IS relative to those firms with a lower propensity to assimilate a new ERP version.

  10. Human factors guidelines for nuclear power plant applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ketchel, J.

    1993-01-01

    In 1989, Waters et al. reported to the Human Factors Society on developing human factors criteria for a new reactor plant. They correctly indicated that much of the guidance documentation in human factors engineering has derived from MIL-STD-1472 and its antecedents. Guidelines for human-computer interface have sprung primarily from the Smith and Mosier compendium and its source documents. NUREG-0700, which is currently being updated, was developed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as a general evaluation guide for inspecting control rooms. In addition, the Electric Power Research Institute, Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, US Department of Energy, the NRC, and others have published a number of specialized documents on a range of subjects. The number of guidelines and standards has grown in the past few years to an impressive number, including those published by international organizations and professional societies. This paper provides an update on current efforts to provide appropriate guidance for the power industry and, perhaps more importantly, offers a perspective on how users should think about using the available materials and what else is needed. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) continues to be one of the principal participants in providing guidance to the utilities. Human factors guidelines is indeed a timely topic, currently of great interest to EPRI's constituents and to designers of new and upgraded nuclear power plants (NPMs) in the Advanced Light Water Reactor and the Instrumentation and Control Upgrade Initiative programs

  11. Human factors methods for nuclear control room design. Volume I. Human factors enhancement of existing nuclear control rooms. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seminara, J.L.; Seidenstein, S.; Eckert, S.K.; Smith, D.L.

    1979-11-01

    Human factors engineering is an interdisciplinary specialty concerned with influencing the design of equipment systems, facilities, and operational environments to promote safe, efficient, and reliable operator performance. Human factors approaches were applied in the design of representative nuclear power plant control panels. First, methods for upgrading existing operational control panels were examined. Then, based on detailed human factors analyses of operator information and control requirements, designs of reactor, feedwater, and turbine-generator control panels were developed to improve the operator-control board interface, thereby reducing the potential for operator errors. In addition to examining present-generation concepts, human factors aspects of advanced systems and of hybrid combinations of advanced and conventional designs were investigated. Special attention was given to warning system designs. Also, a survey was conducted among control board designers to (1) develop an overview of design practices in the industry, and (2) establish appropriate measures leading to a more systematic concern for human factors in control board design

  12. Human factors aspects of the major upgrade to control systems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Higgins, J.; Pope, N.

    1997-01-01

    The Plutonium Facility (TA-55) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has been in operation for over 15 years. It handles projects such as: stockpile maintenance, surveillance, and dismantlement; pit rebuild; plutonium power source fabrication for long duration spacecraft missions (e.g., Cassini); nuclear materials technology research; nuclear materials storage; and remediation of nuclear waste. The Operations Center of TA-55 is the nerve center of the facility where operators are on duty around the clock and monitor several thousand data points using the Facility Control System (FCS). The FCS monitors, displays, alarms, and provides some limited control of the following systems; HVAC, fire detection and suppression, radiation detection, electrical, and other miscellaneous systems. The FCS was originally based on late 1970s digital technology, which is not longer supported by the vendors. Additionally, the equipment failure rates increased notably in the 1990s. Thus, plans were put into place to upgrade and replace the FCS hardware, software, and display components with modernized equipment. The process was complicated by the facts that: the facility was operational and could not be totally closed for the modifications; complete documentation was not available for the existing system; the Safety Analyses for the facility were in the process of being upgraded at the same time; and of course limited time and budgets. This paper will discuss the human factors aspects of the design, installation, and testing of the new FCS within the above noted constraints. Particular items to be discussed include the functional requirements definition, operating experience review, screen designs, test program, operator training, and phased activation of the new circuits in an operational facility

  13. TA-55 facility control system upgrade project - human-system interface functional requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Atkins, W.H.; Pope, N.G.; Turner, W.J.; Brown, R.E.

    1995-11-01

    The functional requirements for that part of the Technical Area (TA)-55 Operations Center Upgrade Project that involves the human-system interface (HSI) are described in this document. The upgrade project seeks to replace completely the center's existing computerized data acquisition and display system, which consists of the field multiplexer units, Data General computer systems, and associated peripherals and software. The upgrade project has two parts-the Facility Data Acquisition Interface System (FDAIS) and the HSI. The HSI comprises software and hardware to provide a high-level graphical operator interface to the data acquisition system, as well as data archiving, alarm annunciation, and logging. The new system will be built with modern, commercially available components; it will improve reliability and maintainability, and it can be expanded for future needs

  14. Emergency operating procedure upgrade program and audit results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graham, P.D.

    1989-01-01

    This paper describes the method and results of upgrading the River Bend station boiling water reactor 6 emergency operating procedures (EOPs). The upgrade program replaced difficult-to-implement narrative procedures with well-developed flowcharts. The flowcharts eliminate a number of human factors problems, are user friendly, provide for easy implementation, and provide technical information in a clear, concise format. Positive results were seen immediately. The operating crews found the flowcharts to be clear, understandable, and usable. Simulator training and EOP implementation became something that the operators no longer dreaded, and their confidence in their ability to control emergency situations was greatly improved. The paper provides a summary of the EOP upgrade program

  15. Double Shell Tank (DST) Human Factors Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    CHAFFEE, G.A.

    1994-01-01

    This report documents the data collection and analyses that were performed in development of material to be used in the Human Factors chapter for the upgrade to the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) for the Double-Shell Tank Farms (DSTF). This study was conducted to collect the data that is necessary to prepare the Human Factors chapter for the upgrade of the SAR for the DSTF. Requirements for the HF chapter of the SAR generally dictate that the facility management describe how the consideration of operator capabilities and limitations and operating experience are used in ensuring the safe and effective operation of the facility. Additionally, analysis to indicate the contribution of human error to the safety basis accidents or events must be reported. Since the DSTF is a mature operating facility and the requirement to prepare a HF chapter is new, it was not expected that the consideration of HF principles would be an explicit part of DSTF operations. It can be expected, however, that the programs that guide the daily operations at the DSTF contain provisions for the consideration of the needs of their operating personnel and lessons learned from prior experience. Consideration of both the SAR requirements and the nature of the DSTF operations led to the following objectives being defined for the study: (1) to identify the programs at the OSTF where human performance may be considered; (2) to describe how HF principles and operating experience are used to ensure safe and reliable human performance at the DSTF; (3) to describe how HF principles and operating experience are considered as modifications or improvements are made at the DSTF; and (4) to perform task analysis sufficient to understand the potential for human error in OSTF operations

  16. Human Factors evaluation of LCS 254 and 255

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goffe, L.; Held, J.E.

    1993-01-01

    This report includes the results of the Human Factors evaluation of the local control stations (LCS) 254 and 255 performed by Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) Human Factors. Recommendations are included in order that the panel designs will be upgraded to comply with human engineering design guidelines. Figures 1 and 2 are included as examples of recommended changes. Also, consideration was given to including the proposed engineering changes which are currently on-going for LCS 255. Appendix A identifies the human engineering requirements from NUREG-0700 which were used in the evaluation process, and the areas of the design which do not comply with the guidelines. Those areas of the panel design which fail to comply with the human engineering guidelines are label location, label content, location aids, panel layout, and control display integration. Each of these design deficiencies and proposed corrections are described in this report

  17. Main Control Room Upgrade for Kori Unit 1 in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ha, Jae Taeg; Choi, Moon Jae

    2014-01-01

    Kori Unit 1 is a 30 years old nuclear power plant and its MCR and MCB was upgraded based on the latest Human Factors Engineering (HFE) principles. The objectives of applying the Human Factors Engineering (HFE) principles are to minimize the human errors and to enhance the safe operation of the plant. In order to systematically incorporate the HFE design principles into the Human System Interface (HSI) design, HFE Program Plan (HFEPP) for Kori Unit 1 was developed and the plan provided an overview of the HSI design process along with detailed methods and results. The upgrade includes addition of Bypassed and Inoperable Status Indication System (BISI) and the replacement of the conventional MMI devices such as hardwired hand switches, recorders and indicators with new advanced control and display devices using VDUs (Video Display Units). The VDUs significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the monitoring function. Plant Monitoring System (PMS) and Plant Annunciator System (PAS) were upgraded also by replacing the outdated systems with advanced digital systems with future expansion capability. In addition, the MCR related equipment and/or facilities were replaced or improved. Some of these include the enhancement of MCR interior designs for better working environment, dimmable ceiling lighting, aesthetically pleasing decor of ceiling, wall and floor as well as ergonomically improved operator consoles

  18. Main Control Room Upgrade for Kori Unit 1 in Korea

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ha, Jae Taeg; Choi, Moon Jae [KEPCO, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-08-15

    Kori Unit 1 is a 30 years old nuclear power plant and its MCR and MCB was upgraded based on the latest Human Factors Engineering (HFE) principles. The objectives of applying the Human Factors Engineering (HFE) principles are to minimize the human errors and to enhance the safe operation of the plant. In order to systematically incorporate the HFE design principles into the Human System Interface (HSI) design, HFE Program Plan (HFEPP) for Kori Unit 1 was developed and the plan provided an overview of the HSI design process along with detailed methods and results. The upgrade includes addition of Bypassed and Inoperable Status Indication System (BISI) and the replacement of the conventional MMI devices such as hardwired hand switches, recorders and indicators with new advanced control and display devices using VDUs (Video Display Units). The VDUs significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the monitoring function. Plant Monitoring System (PMS) and Plant Annunciator System (PAS) were upgraded also by replacing the outdated systems with advanced digital systems with future expansion capability. In addition, the MCR related equipment and/or facilities were replaced or improved. Some of these include the enhancement of MCR interior designs for better working environment, dimmable ceiling lighting, aesthetically pleasing decor of ceiling, wall and floor as well as ergonomically improved operator consoles.

  19. Methods development to evaluate the risk of upgrading to DCS: The human factor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ostrom, L.T.; Wilhelmsen, C.A. [Idaho National Engineering Lab., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    1995-04-01

    The NRC recognizes that a more complete technical basis for understanding and regulating advanced digital technologies in commercial nuclear power plants is needed. A concern is that the introduction of digital safety systems may have an impact on risk. There is currently no standard methodology for measuring digital system reliability. A tool currently used to evaluate NPP risk in analog systems is the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). The use of this tool to evaluate the digital system risk was considered to be a potential methodology for determining the risk. To test this hypothesis, it was decided to perform a limited PRA on a single dominant accident sequence. However, a review of existing human reliability analysis (HRA) methods showed that they were inadequate to analyze systems utilizing digital technology. A four step process was used to adapt existing HRA methodologies to digital environments and to develop new techniques. The HRA methods were then used to analyze an NPP that had undergone a backfit to digital technology in order to determine, as a first step, whether the methods were effective. The very small-break loss of coolant accident sequence was analyzed to determine whether the upgrade to the Eagle-21 process protection system had an effect on risk. The analysis of the very small-break LOCA documented in the Sequoyah PRA was used as the basis of the analysis. The analysis of the results of the HRA showed that the mean human error probabilities for the Eagle-21 PPS were slightly less than those for the analog system it replaced. One important observation from the analysis is that the operators have increased confidence steming from the better level of control provided by the digital system. The analysis of the PRA results, which included the human error component and the Eagle-21 PPS, disclosed that the reactor protection system had a higher failure rate than the analog system, although the difference was not statistically significant.

  20. Maintenance procedure upgrade programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, J.J.; Zimmerman, C.M.

    1988-01-01

    This paper describes a systematic approach to upgrading nuclear power plant maintenance procedures. The approach consists of four phases: diagnosis, program planning, program implementation, and program evaluation. Each phase is explained as a series of steps to ensure that all factors in a procedure upgrade program are considered

  1. Some aspects of digital I and C and digital human-system interface upgrades in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mandic, D.

    2005-01-01

    Digital I and C technology introduces some new terms and new processes like software life cycle, process computer configuration control, digital human-system interface (HSI), software V and V (Verification and Validation), software common mode failure potential, software documentation, etc. Based on the experience from NEK, and other NPPs and published reports from other organizations, this paper sheds light on challenging tasks related to some aspects of the digital I and C upgrades and especially the NPP MCR/MCB HSI (Nuclear Power Plant Main Control Room / Main Control Board Human-System Interface) upgrade. The Ref. [1], EPRI Report TR-1008122 was used as a guidance to analyze original NEK MCR/MCB HSI design (1970s), to describe migration from the original MCR/MCB HSI design to the 2005 AS-BUILT status and to propose the authors vision for the key planning aspects for I and C upgrades and MCR modernization. This paper submits the justified proposal for the endpoint vision and the migration path applicable to NEK MCR/MCB HSI modernization, as well as some of the possible risks and lessons learned. (author)

  2. The Upgrade to Hybrid Incubators in China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hu, Yimei; Gao, Yuchen

    countries and emerging economics. Based on a single in-depth case-study of Tuspark Incubator, this study explores key factors and specific ways for the upgrade to hybrid incubators in the context of China. By using categorical analysis, three factors, i.e. incubation subdivision, intermediary platform......, and proactive approach, are found to be essential for a formerly government-sponsored TBI’s upgrading. The result of this study also provides new insights and several implications for incubator managers and policy makers in emerging economies. In addition, whether the key factors can be used in upgrade of other...... TBIs in China requires further study....

  3. AGS intensity upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roser, T.

    1995-01-01

    After the successful completion of the AGS Booster and several upgrades of the AGS, a new intensity record of 6.3 x 10 13 protons per pulse accelerated to 24 GeV was achieved. The high intensity slow-extracted beam program at the AGS typically serves about five production targets and about eight experiments including three rare Kaon decay experiments. Further intensity upgrades are being discussed that could increase the average delivered beam intensity by up to a factor of four

  4. Human-machine interface (HMI) report for 241-SY-101 data acquisition system (DACS) upgrade study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Truitt, R.W.

    1997-01-01

    This report provides an independent evaluation of information for a Windows based Human Machine Interface (HMI) to replace the existing DOS based Iconics HMI currently used in the Data Acquisition and Control System (DACS) used at Tank 241-SY-101. A fundamental reason for this evaluation is because of the difficulty of maintaining the system with obsolete, unsupported software. The DACS uses a software operator interface (Genesis for DOS HMI) that is no longer supported by its manufacturer, Iconics. In addition to its obsolescence, it is complex and difficult to train additional personnel on. The FY 1997 budget allocated $40K for phase 1 of a software/hardware upgrade that would have allowed the old DOS based system to be replaced by a current Windows based system. Unfortunately, budget constraints during FY 1997 has prompted deferral of the upgrade. The upgrade needs to be performed at the earliest possible time, before other failures render the system useless. Once completed, the upgrade could alleviate other concerns: spare pump software may be able to be incorporated into the same software as the existing pump, thereby eliminating the parallel path dilemma; and the newer, less complex software should expedite training of future personnel, and in the process, require that less technical time be required to maintain the system

  5. A human reliability assessment screening method for the NRU upgrade project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bremner, F.M.; Alsop, C.J.

    1997-01-01

    The National Research Universal (NRU) reactor is a 130MW, low pressure, heavy water cooled and moderated research reactor. The reactor is used for research, both in support of Canada's CANDU development program, and for a wide variety of other research applications. In addition, NRU plays an important part in the production of medical isotopes, e.g., generating 80% of worldwide supplies of Molybdenum-99. NRU is owned and operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), and is currently undergoing upgrading as part of AECL's continuing commitment to operate their facilities in a safe manner. As part of these upgrades both deterministic and probabilistic safety assessments are being carried out. It was recognized that the assignment of Human Error Probabilities (HEPs) is an important part of the Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) studies, particularly for a facility whose design predates modern ergonomic practices, and which will undergo a series of backfitted modifications whilst continuing to operate. A simple Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) screening method, looking at both pre- and post-accident errors, was used in the initial safety studies. However, following review of this method within AECL and externally by the regulator, it was judged that benefits could be gained for future error reduction by including additional features, as later described in this document. The HRA development project consisted of several stages; needs analysis, literature review, development of method (including testing and evaluation), and implementation. This paper discusses each of these stages in further detail. (author)

  6. Enhancing the NCSU PULSTAR reactor control room with human factors considerations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glover, B.L.; Pupons, D.E.; Perez, P.B.

    1993-01-01

    The North Carolina PULSTAR research reactor was constructed to support teaching, training, and research. The training provided is not limited to academic students but encompasses plant operators, managers, engineers, designers, and supporting organizations in the nuclear industry. Our facility is under-going design changes to maximize teaching effectiveness and continued safe operation by providing current technology in the control room. The opportunity for the enhancements is a result of the generosity of neighboring utilities and the US Department of Energy instrumentation upgrade funds. Our objective, to provide a control room environment that conforms to selected industry practices, required human factors input. A human factors course, offered jointly between the industrial engineering and the psychology departments, included the PULSTAR control room enhancement as a case study

  7. Core exit thermocouple upgrade at Zion station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ulinski, T.M.; Ferg, D.A.

    1989-01-01

    Following the Three Mile Island accident, the ability of the core exit thermocouple (CET) system to monitor reactor core conditions and core cooling status became a requirement of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Since the thermocouple system at Zion station was not originally required for postaccident monitoring, Commonwealth Edison Company (CECo) committed to upgrading the CET system and to installing a subcooling margin monitoring (SMM) system. The significance of this commitment was that CECo proposed to accomplish the upgrade effort using internal resources and by developing the required in-house expertise instead of procuring integrated packages from several nuclear steam supply system vendors. The result was that CECo was able to demonstrate a number of new capabilities and unique design features with a significant cost savings. These included a qualified connector with an integral thermocouple cold-reference junction temperature compensation; the design, assembly, testing, and installation of a seismically qualified class 1E microprocessor; a commercial-grade dedication/upgrade process for safety-related hardware; a human factors review capability, and a verification and validation program for safety-related software. A discussion of these new capabilities and details of the design features is presented in this paper

  8. Human factors considerations in control room modernization: Trends and personnel performance issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Hara, J.; Stubler, B.; Kramer, J.

    1997-01-01

    Advanced human-system interface (HSI) technology is being integrated into existing nuclear plants as part of plant modifications and upgrades. The result of this trend is that hybrid HSIs are created, i.e., HSIs containing a mixture of conventional (analog) and advanced (digital) technology. The purpose of the present research is to define the potential effects of hybrid HSIs on personnel performance and plant safety and to develop human factors guidance for safety reviews of them where necessary. In support of this objective, human factors topics associated with hybrid HSIs were identified. A human performance topic is an aspect of hybrid HSIs, such as a design or implementation feature, for which human performance concerns were identified. The topics were then evaluated for their potential significance to plant safety. Twelve topics were identified as potentially safety significant issues, i.e., their human performance concerns have the potential to compromise plant safety. The issues were then prioritized and a subset was selected for design review guidance development. 6 refs

  9. Processing options for bitumen upgrading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harji, A.N.; Koppel, P.E.; Mazurek, W.L.; Meysami, P.

    2003-01-01

    It is estimated that 178 billion barrels of oil can be recovered from Alberta's vast heavy oil reserves. The challenge lies in the logistics of recovering, upgrading and transporting the oil to market. The Canadian Energy Research Institute conducted a recent study to determine market potential by 2007 for diluted bitumen and synthetic crude oil produced from upgraded bitumen. The viability for a wide range of bitumen feedstocks was assessed along with the sensitivity of refinery demand to their prices. The 3 major markets for western Canadian bitumen include PADD 2 in the United States, western Canada, and Ontario. Bitumen is too viscous to transport by pipeline and cannot be processed by most of the existing refineries. Therefore, in order to develop a mass market for the product, bitumen must undergo the energy intensive upgrading process at existing refineries. The factors impacting which method of upgrading is most suitable were discussed with particular attention to the impact that Canada's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol may have on Alberta's bitumen resource in terms of costs of complying with greenhouse gas reduction initiatives. The authors emphasized that it is crucial to customize an upgrading project to meet site and market specific factors. 8 refs., 3 tabs., 3 figs

  10. Upgrade of the AGS H- linac

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alessi, J.G.; Buxton, W.; Kponou, A.; LoDestro, V.; Mapes, M.; McNerney, A.J.; Raparia, D.

    1994-01-01

    The AGS linac presently accelerates 25 mA of H - to 200 MeV at a 5 Hz rep-rate and 500 μs pulse width. The Booster takes 4 pulses every 3.8 seconds, and the remaining pulses are used for isotope production. The authors are in the process of upgrading the linac to increase the average current delivered for isotope production by more than a factor of two, while at the same time expecting to decrease linac downtime. Various aspects of this upgrade are discussed, including the upgrade of the control system, new high power transmission line, transport line vacuum, and rf power supply system upgrades

  11. Performing instrumentation and controls upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kessler, F. M.; Connell, T. J.; Ryan, M. P.

    1992-01-01

    I and C upgrades are comprised of a varying range of content, complexity, expansiveness, and criticality. There are common threads in all upgrades which can be simplified by the development of a long term I and C upgrade plan. The development of a such a plan can establish effective ground rules for upgrades, large and small. It can be the basis from which to begin an upgrade evaluation and the standard which is used to compare the degree of compliance of any upgrade regarding the plan or to define the differences from the plan and an individual upgrade. Primary motivation for I and C upgrades are obsolescence and unavailability of spare parts. Numerous other areas of consideration are also involved in an upgrade. Today's technology results in most upgrades largely or totally utilizing digital equipment. The use of digital equipment is fairly new in many I and C applications and requires an elaborate evaluation from functional, qualification, operational, and licensing perspectives as well as others. A well defined upgrade plan developed as a basis for I and C upgrades is a significant start to ensuring an effective upgrade process. Properly developed and implemented, the plan will support I and C upgrade efforts to ensure that the intricacies associated with such tasks eliminate the existing problems which require the upgrade to be performed. The upgrade plan also results in ensuring the maximum benefit from all perspectives of the plant enhancements being carried out and considered for future implementation. Instrumentation and controls aging and replacement are issues of growing importance due to the potential for significant impact on plant operation and efficiency. Obsolescence and unavailability of spare parts are major drivers towards evaluating the cost benefits of upgrading current equipment. In addition to these two primary factors, the advantages of utilizing digital equipment have also become of prime importance when evaluating instrumentation and

  12. Slum upgrading in developing countries: lessons from Ghana and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The paper identifies common elements in the upgrading programmes in the literature. It assesses two slum upgrading projects from Ghana and Kenya to determine how the elements were factored into the projects' implementation. The article concludes that stakeholders involved in slum upgrading in Africa should consider ...

  13. UPGRADES

    CERN Multimedia

    J. Spalding and D. Contardo

    2012-01-01

      The CMS Upgrade Programme consists of four classes of projects: (a) Detector and Systems upgrades which are ongoing and largely (though not entirely) target LS1. (b) Full system upgrades for three projects that are preparing TDRs: Pixels, HCAL and L1 Trigger. The projects target completion by LS2. (c) Infrastructure consolidation and upgrades to improve operational robustness and to support the above projects. (d) Phase 2 replacement of the Tracker and major upgrades of the Trigger and Forward Detectors. For (a) and (c), detailed costing exists and is being integrated into a common reporting system. The schedule milestones for each project will be linked into the overall schedule planning for LS1. For the three TDR projects, the designs have progressed significantly since the Technical Proposal in 2010. Updated detailed cost estimates and schedules will be prepared with the TDRs to form the basis for tracking the projects through completion. To plan the upgrades and the supporting simulati...

  14. Human-machine interface (HMI) report for 241-SY-101 data acquisition [and control] system (DACS) upgrade study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Truitt, R.W.

    1997-10-22

    This report provides an independent evaluation of information for a Windows based Human Machine Interface (HMI) to replace the existing DOS based Iconics HMI currently used in the Data Acquisition and Control System (DACS) used at Tank 241-SY-101. A fundamental reason for this evaluation is because of the difficulty of maintaining the system with obsolete, unsupported software. The DACS uses a software operator interface (Genesis for DOS HMI) that is no longer supported by its manufacturer, Iconics. In addition to its obsolescence, it is complex and difficult to train additional personnel on. The FY 1997 budget allocated $40K for phase 1 of a software/hardware upgrade that would have allowed the old DOS based system to be replaced by a current Windows based system. Unfortunately, budget constraints during FY 1997 has prompted deferral of the upgrade. The upgrade needs to be performed at the earliest possible time, before other failures render the system useless. Once completed, the upgrade could alleviate other concerns: spare pump software may be able to be incorporated into the same software as the existing pump, thereby eliminating the parallel path dilemma; and the newer, less complex software should expedite training of future personnel, and in the process, require that less technical time be required to maintain the system.

  15. A HUMAN FACTORS META MODEL FOR U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CONTROL ROOM MODERNIZATION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joe, Jeffrey C.

    2017-03-01

    Over the last several years, the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) has sponsored human factors research and development (R&D) and human factors engineering (HFE) activities through its Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program to modernize the main control rooms (MCR) of commercial nuclear power plants (NPP). Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in partnership with numerous commercial nuclear utilities, has conducted some of this R&D to enable the life extension of NPPs (i.e., provide the technical basis for the long-term reliability, productivity, safety, and security of U.S. NPPs). From these activities performed to date, a human factors meta model for U.S. NPP control room modernization can now be formulated. This paper discusses this emergent HFE meta model for NPP control room modernization, with the goal of providing an integrated high level roadmap and guidance on how to perform human factors R&D and HFE for those in the U.S. nuclear industry that are engaging in the process of upgrading their MCRs.

  16. Superconducting magnet development for the LHC upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rossi, Lucio

    2012-01-01

    LHC is now delivering proton and heavy ion collisions at the highest energy. Upgrading the LHC beyond its design performance is a long term program that started during the LHC construction, with some fundamental R and D programs. The upgrade program is based on a vigorous superconductor and magnet R and D, aimed at increasing the field in accelerator magnets from 8 T to 12 T for the luminosity upgrade, with the scope of increasing the collider luminosity by a factor 5 to 10 from 2022. The upgrade program might continue with the LHC energy upgrade, which would require magnets producing field in the range of 16-20 T. The results obtained so far and the future challenges are discussed together with the possible plan to reach the goals. (author)

  17. UPGRADES

    CERN Multimedia

    J. Butler and J. Nash

    2011-01-01

    Recent progress on the CMS upgrades was summarised, in a workshop held at Fermilab between 7th and 10th November, attended by more than 150 people, many of whom came from Europe and Asia. Important goals of the workshop were to begin to formulate a schedule for the upgrades and to determine project interdependencies. Input was received from all the upgrade working groups and will be combined into a first-pass schedule over the next several weeks. In addition, technical progress on each of the major subtasks was presented and plans for the near-term future were established. Slides from the more than 100 talks are located at: https://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=153564 In the opening plenary session, Frank Zimmermann, of the CERN Beams Department, gave his view of the LHC luminosity evolution. The luminosity will increase faster than we assumed in designing the upgrades. CMS will need to re-evaluate the current upgrade plans and revise them if necessary. CMS Upgrade Physics coordinator...

  18. Upgrading the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Carrio, F; The ATLAS collaboration

    2013-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the most central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. Its main upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC phase (phase 2) where the luminosity will have increased 5-fold compared to the design luminosity (1034 cm−2s−1) but with maintained energy (i.e. 7+7 TeV). An additional luminosity increase by a factor of 2 can be achieved by luminosity leveling. This upgrade will probably happen around 2022. The upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on- and off- detector electronics so that all calorimeter signals are directly digitized and sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. To achieve the required reliability, redundancy has been introduced at different levels. An ambitious upgrade development program is pursued studying different electronics options. Three different options are presently being investigated for the front-end electronic upgrade. Which one to u...

  19. Cost evaluation of I and C upgrade approach in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Hyun-Tae; Lee, Jae-Ki

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Cost evaluation process for I and C system upgrade is built. • 4 cost factors affecting I and C system upgrade are described. • Additional cost incurred by a phased upgrade is calculated. • Cost for system upgrade between upgrade implementations is compared. - Abstract: Utilities have recently been debating the respective pros and cons of implementation of a multi-phase upgrade during several normal outages versus a single major upgrade implementation during a prolonged outage. We have studied these approaches and have been developing the basic design of nuclear power plants (NPPs) instrumentation and control (I and C) upgrade since early 2008. As part of this study, analyses of the NPPs I and C systems were conducted and the need for upgrading the systems was raised. One of the primary concerns regarding the system upgrade is a cost-benefit implementation, which will influence the upgrade approach. From this viewpoint, the I and C upgrade must consider economic factors such as I and C vendor cost, architecture engineering cost, installation cost, utility cost, and other transition costs such as training and procedure development. This paper presents a comparison study of economical aspects including cost evaluation between the aforementioned upgrade implementations and suggests a solution for I and C upgrade approach

  20. Human factor in the process of nuclear power development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Enenkl, V.

    The building up of nuclear power requires the training not only of personnel but of the whole population as well. Professional workers in nuclear power facilities production and personnel operating the equipment of nuclear power plants must be on a high technical and managerial level. The important quality of such personnel is their reliability and responsibility. The human factor influences the level, quality and thereby also the service-life of the machines and equipment and their operation. The improvement of the quality of work in nuclear power production depends on upgrading the scientific and technical level of workers and personnel, their training, in-service education and the raising of the social standing. (B.H.)

  1. A demonstrated method for upgrading existing control room interiors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brice, R.M.; Terrill, D.; Brice, R.M.

    1991-01-01

    The main control room (MCR) of any nuclear power plant can justifiably be called the most important area staffed by personnel in the entire facility. The interior workstation configuration, equipment arrangement, and staff placement all affect the efficiency and habitability of the room. There are many guidelines available that describe various human factor principles to use when upgrading the environment of the MCR. These involve anthropometric standards and rules for placement of peripheral equipment. Due to the variations in plant design, however, hard-and-fast rules have not and cannot be standardized for retrofits in any significant way. How then does one develop criteria for the improvement of a MCR? The purpose of this paper is to discuss, from the designer's point of view, a method for the collection of information, development of criteria, and creation of a final design for a MCR upgrade. This method is best understood by describing the successful implementation at Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah nuclear plant

  2. Hardware upgrade for A2 data acquisition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ostrick, Michael; Gradl, Wolfgang; Otte, Peter-Bernd; Neiser, Andreas; Steffen, Oliver; Wolfes, Martin; Koerner, Tito [Institut fuer Kernphysik, Mainz (Germany); Collaboration: A2-Collaboration

    2014-07-01

    The A2 Collaboration uses an energy tagged photon beam which is produced via bremsstrahlung off the MAMI electron beam. The detector system consists of Crystal Ball and TAPS and covers almost the whole solid angle. A frozen-spin polarized target allows to perform high precision measurements of polarization observables in meson photo-production. During the last summer, a major upgrade of the data acquisition system was performed, both on the hardware and the software side. The goal of this upgrade was increased reliability of the system and an improvement in the data rate to disk. By doubling the number of readout CPUs and employing special VME crates with a split backplane, the number of bus accesses per readout cycle and crate was cut by a factor of two, giving almost a factor of two gain in the readout rate. In the course of the upgrade, we also switched most of the detector control system to using the distributed control system EPICS. For the upgraded control system, some new tools were developed to make full use of the capabilities of this decentralised slow control and monitoring system. The poster presents some of the major contributions to this project.

  3. INCORPORATION OF HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING ANALYSES AND TOOLS INTO THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR DIGITAL CONTROL ROOM UPGRADES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'HARA, J.M.; BROWN, W.

    2004-01-01

    Many nuclear power plants are modernizing with digital instrumentation and control systems and computer-based human-system interfaces (HSIs). The purpose of this paper is to summarize the human factors engineering (HFE) activities that can help to ensure that the design meets personnel needs. HFE activities should be integrated into the design process as a regular part of the engineering effort of a plant modification. The HFE activities will help ensure that human performance issues are addressed, that new technology supports task performance, and that the HSIs are designed in a manner that is compatible with human physiological, cognitive and social characteristics

  4. An evaluation of human factors research for ultrasonic inservice inspection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pond, D.J.; Donohoo, D.T.; Harris, R.V. Jr.

    1998-03-01

    This work was undertaken to determine if human factors research has yielded information applicable to upgrading requirements in ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section XI, improving methods and techniques in Section V, and/or suggesting relevant research. A preference was established for information and recommendations which have become accepted and standard practice. Manual Ultrasonic Testing/Inservice Inspection (UT/ISI) is a complex task subject to influence by dozens of variables. This review frequently revealed equivocal findings regarding effects of environmental variables as well as repeated indications that inspection performance may be more, and more reliably, influenced by the workers' social environment, including managerial practices, than by other situational variables. Also of significance are each inspector's relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities, and determination of these is seen as a necessary first step in upgrading requirements, methods, and techniques as well as in focusing research in support of such programs, While understanding the effects and mediating mechanisms of the variables impacting inspection performance is a worthwhile pursuit for researchers, initial improvements in industrial UTASI performance may be achieved by implementing practices already known to mitigate the effects of potentially adverse conditions. 52 refs., 2 tabs

  5. An evaluation of human factors research for ultrasonic inservice inspection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pond, D.J.; Donohoo, D.T.; Harris, R.V. Jr.

    1998-03-01

    This work was undertaken to determine if human factors research has yielded information applicable to upgrading requirements in ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section XI, improving methods and techniques in Section V, and/or suggesting relevant research. A preference was established for information and recommendations which have become accepted and standard practice. Manual Ultrasonic Testing/Inservice Inspection (UT/ISI) is a complex task subject to influence by dozens of variables. This review frequently revealed equivocal findings regarding effects of environmental variables as well as repeated indications that inspection performance may be more, and more reliably, influenced by the workers` social environment, including managerial practices, than by other situational variables. Also of significance are each inspector`s relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities, and determination of these is seen as a necessary first step in upgrading requirements, methods, and techniques as well as in focusing research in support of such programs, While understanding the effects and mediating mechanisms of the variables impacting inspection performance is a worthwhile pursuit for researchers, initial improvements in industrial UTASI performance may be achieved by implementing practices already known to mitigate the effects of potentially adverse conditions. 52 refs., 2 tabs.

  6. Captain upgrade CRM training: A new focus for enhanced flight operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taggart, William R.

    1993-01-01

    Crew Resource Management (CRM) research has resulted in numerous payoffs of applied applications in flight training and standardization of air carrier flight operations. This paper describes one example of how basic research into human factors and crew performance was used to create a specific training intervention for upgrading new captains for a major United States air carrier. The basis for the training is examined along with some of the specific training methods used, and several unexpeced results.

  7. IMPROVING CONTROL ROOM DESIGN AND OPERATIONS BASED ON HUMAN FACTORS ANALYSES OR HOW MUCH HUMAN FACTORS UPGRADE IS ENOUGH ?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    HIGGINS,J.C.; OHARA,J.M.; ALMEIDA,P.

    2002-09-19

    THE JOSE CABRERA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IS A ONE LOOP WESTINGHOUSE PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR. IN THE CONTROL ROOM, THE DISPLAYS AND CONTROLS USED BY OPERATORS FOR THE EMERGENCY OPERATING PROCEDURES ARE DISTRIBUTED ON FRONT AND BACK PANELS. THIS CONFIGURATION CONTRIBUTED TO RISK IN THE PROBABILISTIC SAFETY ASSESSMENT WHERE IMPORTANT OPERATOR ACTIONS ARE REQUIRED. THIS STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THE DESIGN ON CREW PERFORMANCE AND PLANT SAFETY AND TO DEVELOP DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS.FIVE POTENTIAL EFFECTS WERE IDENTIFIED. THEN NUREG-0711 [1], PROGRAMMATIC, HUMAN FACTORS, ANALYSES WERE CONDUCTED TO SYSTEMATICALLY EVALUATE THE CR-LA YOUT TO DETERMINE IF THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS. THESE ANALYSES INCLUDED OPERATING EXPERIENCE REVIEW, PSA REVIEW, TASK ANALYSES, AND WALKTHROUGH SIMULATIONS. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THESE ANALYSES, A VARIETY OF CONTROL ROOM MODIFICATIONS WERE IDENTIFIED. FROM THE ALTERNATIVES, A SELECTION WAS MADE THAT PROVIDED A REASONABLEBALANCE BE TWEEN PERFORMANCE, RISK AND ECONOMICS, AND MODIFICATIONS WERE MADE TO THE PLANT.

  8. Energy upgrading measures improve also indoor climate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foldbjerg, Peter; Knudsen, Henrik Nellemose

    2014-01-01

    A new survey shows that the economy is what motivates Danish owners of single-family houses the most to start energy upgrading, and that improved indoor climate is also an important factor. After the upgrading, homeowners experience both improved economy and indoor climate. In a strategy...... to increase the number of homeowners who venture into a major energy upgrading of their house, the demonstrated positive side effects, more than energy savings, should be included in the communication to motivate homeowners. The barriers should be reduced by “taking the homeowners by the hand” and helping...... them to choose relevant energy-saving solutions as well as clarifying the financial consequences and opportunities....

  9. Upgrade of the CMS hardron calorimeter for an upgraded LHC

    OpenAIRE

    Anderson, Jake

    2012-01-01

    The CMS barrel and endcap hadron calorimeters (Hcal) upgrading the current photo-sensors are hybrid photodiodes (HPDs) to meet the demands of the upgraded luminosity of the LHC. A key aspect of the Hcal upgrade is to add longitudinal segmentation to improve background rejection, energy resolution, and electron isolation at L1 trigger. The increased segmentation can be achieved by replacing the HPD's with multi-pixel Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes. The upgraded electron...

  10. Project scenarios for bitumen upgrading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koppel, P.E.; Mazurek, W.L.; Harji, A.

    2002-01-01

    The established reserves of Alberta's heavy oil resources are 178 billion barrels, and potential recoverable reserves are 315 billion barrels. The challenge of production includes the logistics of recovery, upgrading and transportation to market. Utilization of the bitumen is not simple because bitumen is too viscous to transport by pipeline. In addition, it is not processable by most existing refineries unless it can be upgraded through dilution. This paper examined different factors regarding the economic viability of various upgrading methods of a wide range of bitumen feedstocks. The study also examined the sensitivity of refinery demand to the prices of these feedstocks, along with the competitiveness among bitumen-based feedstock and conventional crudes. Western Canada, Ontario and the PADD II district in the United States are the 3 major markets for western Canadian bitumen based feedstock, the demand for which depends on refinery configurations and asphalt demand. This paper described the following 4 generic scenarios that describe Alberta bitumen upgrading projects: (1) adjacent to open pit mines, (2) adjacent to steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) facilities, (3) remotely located from resource production at an existing refinery, and (4) pipeline bitumen. It was noted that producers should determine the best way to upgrade the bitumen to ensure there is an economic market for the product, but they should also be aware not to over process the bitumen so as not to leave existing refinery facilities under-utilized. 2 refs., 1 tab., 3 figs

  11. High Flux Isotope Reactor power upgrade status

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rothrock, R.B.; Hale, R.E.; Cheverton, R.D.

    1997-01-01

    A return to 100-MW operation is being planned for the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). Recent improvements in fuel element manufacturing procedures and inspection equipment will be exploited to reduce hot spot and hot streak factors sufficiently to permit the power upgrade without an increase in primary coolant pressure. Fresh fuel elements already fabricated for future use are being evaluated individually for power upgrade potential based on their measured coolant channel dimensions

  12. Scenarios for the LHC Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Scandale, Walter

    2008-01-01

    The projected lifetime of the LHC low-beta quadrupoles, the evolution of the statistical error halving time, and the physics potential all call for an LHC luminosity upgrade by the middle of the coming decade. In the framework of the CARE-HHH network three principal scenarios have been developed for increasing the LHC peak luminosity by more than a factor of 10, to values above 1035 cm−2s−1. All scenarios imply a rebuilding of the high-luminosity interaction regions (IRs) in combination with a consistent change of beam parameters. However, their respective features, bunch structures, IR layouts, merits and challenges, and luminosity variation with β∗ differ substantially. In all scenarios luminosity leveling during a store would be advantageous for the physics experiments. An injector upgrade must complement the upgrade measures in the LHC proper in order to provide the beam intensity and brightness needed as well as to reduce the LHC turnaround time for higher integrated luminosity.

  13. UPGRADES

    CERN Document Server

    D. Contardo and J. Spalding

    2013-01-01

    There is very good progress in the execution of the LS1 projects and in launching construction of the Phase 1 upgrades. We focus here on two main achievements since the last CMS Week. The approval of the third Phase 1 TDR The preparation of the L1 Trigger Upgrade Technical Design Report has been a major effort of the collaboration at the beginning of this year, especially to develop supporting Trigger menu and physics performance studies. These studies have demonstrated the efficiency of the upgraded system to ensure low lepton and jet trigger thresholds, leading to a significant increase of the acceptance for the Higgs measurements, in the associated production mode and in the ττ decays, as well as for the stop searches involving multiple jets in the final state. The TDR was submitted to the LHCC in May and approved at the June committee meeting. It is now a public document, completing the series of the three TDRs describing the Phase 1 upgrades, with the new Pixel system and the HCAL rea...

  14. Establishing a value chain for human factors in nuclear power plantcontrol room modernization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joe, Jeffrey Clark [Idaho National Laboratory; Thomas, Kenneth David [Idaho National Laboratory; Boring, Ronald Laurids [Idaho National Laboratory

    2015-07-01

    Commercial nuclear power plants in the United States (U.S.) have operated reliably and efficiently for decades. With the life extensions of plants now being planned for operation beyond their original operating licenses, there are opportunities to achieve even greater efficiencies, while maintaining high operational reliabilities, with strategic, risk- and economically-informed, upgrades to plant systems and infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program supports the commercial nuclear industry’s modernization efforts through research and development (R&D) activities across many areas to help establish the technical and economic bases for modernization activities. The Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control Systems Technologies pathway is one R&D focus area for the LWRS program, and has researchers at Idaho National Laboratory working with select utility partners to use human factors and instrumentation and controls R&D to help modernize the plant’s main control room. However, some in the nuclear industry have not been as enthusiastic about using human factors R&D to inform life extension decision making. Part of the reason for this may stem from uncertainty decision-makers have regarding how human factors fits into the value chain for nuclear power plant control room modernization. This paper reviews past work that has attempted to demonstrate the value of human factors, and then describes the value chain concept, how it applies to control room modernization, and then makes a case for how and why human factors is an essential link in the modernization value chain.

  15. The LHCb VELO upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodríguez Pérez, Pablo

    2013-01-01

    LHCb is a forward spectrometer experiment dedicated to the study of new physics in the decays of beauty and charm hadrons produced in proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The VErtex LOcator (VELO) is the microstrip silicon detector surrounding the interaction point, providing tracking and vertexing measurements. The upgrade of the LHCb experiment, planned for 2018, will increase the luminosity up to 2×10 33 cm −2 s −1 and will perform the readout as a trigger-less system with an event rate of 40 MHz. Extremely non-uniform radiation doses will reach up to 5×10 15 1 MeV n eq /cm 2 in the innermost regions of the VELO sensors, and the output data bandwidth will be increased by a factor of 40. An upgraded detector is under development based in a pixel sensor of the Timepix/Medipix family, with 55×55μm 2 pixels. In addition a microstrip solution with finer pitch, higher granularity and thinner than the current detector is being developed in parallel. The current status of the VELO upgrade program will be described together with recent testbeam results

  16. Climate balance of biogas upgrading systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pertl, A.; Mostbauer, P.; Obersteiner, G.

    2010-01-01

    One of the numerous applications of renewable energy is represented by the use of upgraded biogas where needed by feeding into the gas grid. The aim of the present study was to identify an upgrading scenario featuring minimum overall GHG emissions. The study was based on a life-cycle approach taking into account also GHG emissions resulting from plant cultivation to the process of energy conversion. For anaerobic digestion two substrates have been taken into account: (1) agricultural resources and (2) municipal organic waste. The study provides results for four different upgrading technologies including the BABIU (Bottom Ash for Biogas Upgrading) method. As the transport of bottom ash is a critical factor implicated in the BABIU-method, different transport distances and means of conveyance (lorry, train) have been considered. Furthermore, aspects including biogas compression and energy conversion in a combined heat and power plant were assessed. GHG emissions from a conventional energy supply system (natural gas) have been estimated as reference scenario. The main findings obtained underlined how the overall reduction of GHG emissions may be rather limited, for example for an agricultural context in which PSA-scenarios emit only 10% less greenhouse gases than the reference scenario. The BABIU-method constitutes an efficient upgrading method capable of attaining a high reduction of GHG emission by sequestration of CO 2 .

  17. Old PCs: Upgrade or Abandon?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez, Ernest

    1997-01-01

    Examines the practical realities of upgrading Intel personal computers in libraries, considering budgets and technical personnel availability. Highlights include adding RAM; putting in faster processor chips, including clock multipliers; new hard disks; CD-ROM speed; motherboards and interface cards; cost limits and economic factors; and…

  18. Upgrading plant amino acids through cattle to improve the nutritional value for humans: effects of different production systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, M; Sonesson, U; Hessle, A

    2017-03-01

    Efficiency in animal protein production can be defined in different ways, for example the amount of human-digestible essential amino acids (HDEAA) in the feed ration relative to the amount of HDEAA in the animal products. Cattle production systems are characterised by great diversity and a wide variety of feeds and feed ration compositions, due to ruminants' ability to digest fibrous materials inedible to humans such as roughage and by-products from the food and biofuel industries. This study examined the upgrading of protein quality through cattle by determining the quantity of HDEAA in feeds and animal products and comparing different milk and beef production systems. Four different systems for milk and beef production were designed, a reference production system for milk and beef representing typical Swedish production systems today and three alternative improved systems: (i) intensive cattle production based on maize silage, (ii) intensive systems based on food industry by-products for dairy cows and high-quality forage for beef cattle, and (iii) extensive systems based on forage with only small amounts of concentrate. In all four production systems, the quantity of HDEAA in the products (milk and meat) generally exceeded the quantity of HDEAA in the feeds. The intensive production models for beef calves generally resulted in output of the same magnitude as input for most HDEAA. However, in beef production based on calves from dairy cows, the intensive rearing systems resulted in lower output than input of HDEAA. For the extensive models, the amounts of HDEAA in meat were of the same magnitude as the amounts in the feeds. The extensive models with beef calves from suckler cows resulted in higher output in meat than input in feeds for all HDEAA. It was concluded that feeding cattle plants for production of milk and meat, instead of using the plants directly as human food, generally results in an upgrading of both the quantity and quality of protein, especially

  19. LHCb VELO Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    van Beuzekom, Martin; Ketel, Tjeerd; Gershon, Timothy; Parkes, Christopher; Reid, Matthew

    2011-01-01

    The VErtex LOcator (VELO) is a vital piece of apparatus for allowing precision measurements in hadronic physics. It provides not only superb impact parameter resolutions but also excellent momentum resolution, both important discriminating tools for precision high energy physics. This poster focuses on the R&D going into the future LHCb VELO detector. At present there are two proposed options for the upgrade; pixel chips or strip detectors. The LHCb upgrade is designed with higher luminosities and increased yields in mind. In order to get more out of the LHCb detector changes to the front end electronics will have to be made. At present, the first level hardware trigger is sets a limiting factor on the maximum efficiency for hadronic channels. As the VELO is positioned so close the proton-proton interaction region, whatever the choice of sensor, we will require efficient cooling and some proposed solutions are outlined. The LHCb TimePix telescope has had a very successful years running, with various devic...

  20. Upgraded wood residue fuels 1995

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vinterbaeck, J.

    1995-01-01

    The Swedish market for upgraded residue fuels, i.e. briquettes, pellets and wood powder, has developed considerably during the nineties. The additional costs for the upgrading processes are regained and create a surplus in other parts of the system, e.g. in the form of higher combustion efficiencies, lower investment costs for burning equipment, lower operation costs and a diminished environmental impact. All these factors put together have resulted in a rapid growth of this part of the energy sector. In 1994 the production was 1.9 TWh, an increase of 37 % compared to the previous year. In the forthcoming heating season 1995/96 the production may reach 4 TWh. 57 refs, 11 figs, 6 tabs

  1. SLC-2000: A luminosity upgrade for the SLC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Breidenbach, M.; Decker, F.-J.; Helm, R.; Napoly, O.; Phinney, N.; Raimondi, P.; Raubenheimer, T.O.; Siemann, R.; Zimmermann, F.; Hertzbach, S.

    1996-01-01

    We discuss a possible upgrade to the Stanford Linear Collider (SLC), whose objective is to increase the SLC luminosity by at least a factor 7, to an average Z production rate of more than 35,000 per week. The centerpiece of the upgrade is the installation of a new superconducting final doublet with a field gradient of 240 T/m, which will be placed at a distance of only 70 cm from the interaction point. In addition, several bending magnets in each final focus will be lengthened and two octupole correctors are added. A complementary upgrade of damping rings and bunch compressors will allow optimum use of the modified final focus and can deliver, or exceed, the targeted luminosity. The proposed upgrade will place the SLC physics program in a very competitive position, and will also enable it to pursue its pioneering role as the first and only linear collider. (author)

  2. Upgrade of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Moreno, P; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. The bulk of its upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC phase (phase 2) where the peak luminosity will increase 5x compared to the design luminosity (10^34 cm−2s−1) but with maintained energy (i.e. 7+7 TeV). An additional increase of the average luminosity with a factor of 2 can be achieved by luminosity leveling. This upgrade is expected to happen around 2023. The TileCal upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on- and off-detector electronics to the extent that all calorimeter signals will be digitized and sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. To achieve the required reliability, redundancy has been introduced at different levels. Three different options are presently being investigated for the front-end electronic upgrade. Extensive test beam studies will determine which option will be selected. 10 ...

  3. Methods for cost-benefit-risk analysis of material-accounting upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fishbone, L.G.; Gordon, D.M.; Higinbotham, W.; Keisch, B.

    1988-01-01

    The authors have developed a cost-benefit-risk methodology for evaluating material-accounting upgrades at key measurement points in nuclear facilities. The focus of this methodology is on nuclear-material measurements and their effects on inventory differences and shipper/receiver differences. The methodology has three main components: cost, benefits, and risk factors. The fundamental outcome of the methodology is therefore cost-benefit ratios characterizing the proposed upgrades, with the risk factors applied as necessary to the benefits. Examples illustrate the methodology's use

  4. Factors influencing the technology upgrading and catch-up of Chinese wind turbine manufacturers: Technology acquisition mechanisms and government policies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiu, Yueming; Ortolano, Leonard; David Wang, Yi

    2013-01-01

    This paper uses firm level data for the Chinese wind turbine manufacturing industry from 1998 to 2009 to quantify the effects of technology acquisition mechanisms – purchasing production licenses from foreign manufacturers, joint design with foreign design firms, joint-ventures and domestic R and D – on wind turbine manufacturers' technology levels (as measured by turbine size, in megawatts). It also examines the impacts of government policies on manufacturer technology levels. Technology upgrading (measured by increase of turbine size) and catch-up (measured by decrease in the distance to the world technology frontier in terms of turbine size) are used to measure advances in technology level. Results from econometric modeling studies indicate that firms' technology acquisition mechanisms and degree of business diversification are statistically significant factors in influencing technology upgrading. Similar results were found for the catch-up variable (i.e., distance to the world technology frontier). The influence of government policies is significant for technology upgrading but not catch-up. These and other modeling results are shown to have implications for both policymakers and wind turbine manufacturers. - Highlights: ► Technology acquired through joint design has the highest level. ► Technology acquired through purchasing production license has the lowest level. ► Technology acquired through domestic R and D has the level in between. ► A firm with related other businesses tends to have a higher level of technology. ► The influence of policies is significant for technology upgrade but not catch-up

  5. LHC Interaction Region Upgrade Phase I

    CERN Document Server

    Ostojic, R

    2009-01-01

    The LHC is starting operation with beam in 2008. The primary goal of CERN and the LHC community is to ensure that the collider is operated efficiently, maximizing its physics reach, and to achieve the nominal performance in the shortest term. Since several years the community has been discussing the directions for upgrading the experiments, in particular ATLAS and CMS, the LHC machine and the CERN proton injector complex. A well substantiated and coherent scenario for the first phase of the upgrade, which is foreseen in 2013, is now approved by CERN Council. In this paper, we present the goals and the proposed conceptual solution for the Phase-I upgrade of the LHC interaction regions. This phase relies on the mature Nb-Ti superconducting magnet technology, with the target of increasing the luminosity by a factor of 2-3 with respect to the nominal luminosity of 1034 cm-2s-1, while maximising the use of the existing infrastructure.

  6. Seismic upgrading of the spent fuel storage building at Kozloduy NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alexandrov, A.; Borov, V.; Jordanov, M.; Karamanski, T.; Mihaylov, K.

    2001-01-01

    The Spent Fuel Storage Building at Kozloduy NPP site has been analysed for new review level earthquake with 0.2 g peak ground acceleration (compared to the initial design basis earthquake with 0.1 g PGA). The preliminary seismic analysis of the existing building structure using the 5% site specific response spectrum showed the need of seismic structural upgrading. Two upgrading concepts were evaluated on the basis of several factors. The main factor considered was preventing the collapse of the hall structure and the travelling cranes on the fuel storage area during and after a SSE. A three dimensional finite element model was created for the investigation of the seismic response of the existing structure and for the design of the building upgrading. The modelling of the heavy travelling crane and its sub-crane structure was one of the key points. Different configurations of the new upgrading and strengthening structures were investigated. Some interesting conclusions have been drawn from the experience in analysing and upgrading of such a complex industrial structure, comprised of elements with substantial differences in material, rigidity, construction and general behaviour. (author)

  7. National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) Center Stack Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neumeyer, C.; Avasarala, S.; Chrzanowski, J.; Dudek, L.; Fan, H.; Hatcher, H.; Heitzenroeder, P.; Menard, J.; Ono, M.; Ramakrishnan, S.; Titus, P.; Woolley, R.; Zhan, H.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of the NSTX Center Stack Upgrade project is to expand the NSTX operational space and thereby the physics basis for next-step ST facilities. The plasma aspect ratio (ratio of plasma major to minor radius) of the upgrade is increased to 1.5 from the original value of 1.26, which increases the cross sectional area of the center stack by a factor of ∼ 3 and makes possible higher levels of performance and pulse duration.

  8. Upgrading during difficult times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tiefenbach, K.

    1993-01-01

    The Co-op Upgrader is part of an integrated refinery and upgrader complex in Regina, Saskatchewan. The upgrader processes 50,000 bbl/d heavy sour crude oil, mostly Fosterton and dilute Lloydminster crude, via hydrogen addition and carbon rejection, desulfurization, demetallization, and denitrification to yield a synthetic crude blend. The synthetic crude is refined to produce gasoline and diesel fuel. Byproducts from the integrated operation include 100,000 tonnes/y of petroleum coke, 65,000 tonnes/y of sulfur, propane, butane, fuel oil, and metals (Ni and V) in the form of spent catalysts. Recent operational and economic challenges faced by the upgrader are reviewed. Technical challenges include operating the upgrader's high-temperature high-pressure heavy oil hydrotreating unit and distillate hydrogenation unit, removal and replacement of the desulfurization catalyst, waste management, and producing coke of sufficient quality. Economic challenges include the shrinking differential between light and heavy oil, higher prices for natural gas (the main raw material for hydrogen production for upgrading), seasonal changes in product specifications, and lower prices for sulfur and metal byproducts. The upgrader is also affected by interest rates since borrowing costs are the single largest expenditure after crude oil purchases. 4 figs

  9. Upgrading the Atlas Tile Calorimeter Electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Popeneciu, G; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    Tile Calorimeter is the central hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. Around 2024, after the upgrade of the LHC the peak luminosity will increase by a factor of 5 compared to the design value, thus requiring an upgrade of the Tile Calorimeter readout electronics. Except the photomultipliers tubes (PMTs), most of the on- and off-detector electronics will be replaced, with the aim of digitizing all PMT pulses at the front-end level and sending them with 10 Gb/s optical links to the back-end electronics. One demonstrator prototype module is planned to be inserted in Tile Calorimeter in 2015 that will include hybrid electronic components able to probe the new design.

  10. NSLS control system upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, J.D.; Ramamoorthy, Susila; Tang, Y.N.

    1994-01-01

    The NSLS consists of two storage rings, a booster and a linac. A major upgrade of the control system (installed in 1978) was undertaken and has been completed. The computer architecture is being changed from a three level star-network to a two level distributed system. The microprocessor subsystem, host computer and workstations, communication link and the main software components are being upgraded or replaced. Since the NSLS rings operate twenty four hours a day a year with minimum maintenance time, the key requirement during the upgrade phase is a non-disruptive transition with minimum downtime. Concurrent with the upgrade, some immediate improvements were required. This paper describes the various components of the upgraded system and outlines the future plans. ((orig.))

  11. NSLS control system upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, J.D.; Ramamoorthy, S.; Tang, Yong N.

    1995-01-01

    The NSLS consists of two storage rings, a booster and a linac. A major upgrade of the control system (installed in 1978) was undertaken and has been completed. The computer architecture is being changed from a three level star-network to a two level distributed system. The microprocessor subsystem, host computer and workstations, communication link and the main software components are being upgraded or replaced. Since the NSLS rings operate twenty four hours a day a year with minimum maintenance time, the key requirement during the upgrade phase is a non-disruptive transition with minimum downtime. Concurrent with the upgrade, some immediate improvements were required. This paper describes the various components of the upgraded system and outlines the future plans

  12. Upgrading the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Souza, J; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. Its main upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC phase (phase 2) where the peak luminosity will increase 5-fold compared to the design luminosity (10exp34 cm−2s−1) but with maintained energy (i.e. 7+7 TeV). An additional increase of the average luminosity with a factor of 2 can be achieved by luminosity leveling. This upgrade will probably happen around 2023. The upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on- and off-detector electronics so that all calorimeter signals are directly digitized and sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. To achieve the required reliability, redundancy has been introduced at different levels. The smallest independent on-detector electronics module has been reduced from 45 channels to 6, greatly reducing the consequences of a failure in the on-detector electronics. The size of t...

  13. Bi-Provincial Upgrader

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-01-01

    Husky Oil's Bi-Provincial Upgrader is located in the rural municipality of Wilton, east of Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. It is jointly owned by Husky Oil and the Saskatchewan government. The upgrader is designed to produce 7.300 m 3 /cd of synthetic crude from 8.440 m 3 /cd of diluted Lloyd blend and distillates from the existing Lloydminster refinery. The designed coke and sulphur production is 415 t/day and 240 t/day respectively. Chronology of the Bi-Provincial Upgrader project was presented, along with details of the heavy oil feedstock properties for Cold Lake, Lloydminster and Lloyd Blend. Upgrader production history since start-up, synthetic crude oil customers, and the evolution of prices for Edmonton light vs. Husky LLB at Hardisty were also reviewed. 3 tabs., 9 figs

  14. Human factors in training

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dutton, J.W.; Brown, W.R.

    1981-01-01

    The Human Factors concept is a focused effort directed at those activities which require human involvement. Training is, by its nature, an activity totally dependent on the Human Factor. This paper identifies several concerns significant to training situations and discusses how Human Factor awareness can increase the quality of learning. Psychology in the training arena is applied Human Factors. Training is a method of communication represented by sender, medium, and receiver. Two-thirds of this communications model involves the human element directly

  15. Upgrade of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Carrio, F

    2015-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. The bulk of its upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC phase (P hase - II ) where the pea k luminosity will increase 5 times compared to the design luminosity (10 34 cm −2 s −1 ) but with maintained energy (i.e. 7+7 TeV). An additional increase of the average luminosity with a factor of 2 can be achieved by luminosity levelling. This upgrade is expe cted to happen around 202 4 . The TileCal upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on - and off - detector electronics to the extent that all calorimeter signals will be digitized and sent to the off - detector electronics in the counting room. To achieve th e required reliability, redundancy has been introduced at different levels. Three different options are presently being investiga...

  16. Incidence, predictors, and procedural results of upgrade to resynchronization therapy: the RAFT upgrade substudy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Essebag, Vidal; Joza, Jacqueline; Birnie, David H; Sapp, John L; Sterns, Laurence D; Philippon, Francois; Yee, Raymond; Crystal, Eugene; Kus, Teresa; Rinne, Claus; Healey, Jeffrey S; Sami, Magdi; Thibault, Bernard; Exner, Derek V; Coutu, Benoit; Simpson, Chris S; Wulffhart, Zaev; Yetisir, Elizabeth; Wells, George; Tang, Anthony S L

    2015-02-01

    The resynchronization-defibrillation for ambulatory heart failure trial (RAFT) study demonstrated that adding cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in selected patients requiring de novo implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD) reduced mortality as compared with ICD therapy alone, despite an increase in procedure-related adverse events. Data are lacking regarding the management of patients with ICD therapy who develop an indication for CRT upgrade. Participating RAFT centers provided data regarding de novo CRT-D (CRT with ICD) implant, upgrade to CRT-D during RAFT (study upgrade), and upgrade within 6 months after presentation of study results (substudy). Substudy centers enrolled 1346 (74.9%) patients in RAFT, including 644 de novo, 80 study upgrade, and 60 substudy CRT attempts. The success rate (initial plus repeat attempts) was 95.2% for de novo versus 96.3% for study upgrade and 90.0% for substudy CRT attempts (P=0.402). Acute complications occurred among 26.2% of de novo versus 18.8% of study upgrade and 3.4% of substudy CRT implantation attempts (PRAFT study and other trials. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

  17. Applying Human Factors Evaluation and Design Guidance to a Nuclear Power Plant Digital Control System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomas Ulrich; Ronald Boring; William Phoenix; Emily Dehority; Tim Whiting; Jonathan Morrell; Rhett Backstrom

    2012-08-01

    The United States (U.S.) nuclear industry, like similar process control industries, has moved toward upgrading its control rooms. The upgraded control rooms typically feature digital control system (DCS) displays embedded in the panels. These displays gather information from the system and represent that information on a single display surface. In this manner, the DCS combines many previously separate analog indicators and controls into a single digital display, whereby the operators can toggle between multiple windows to monitor and control different aspects of the plant. The design of the DCS depends on the function of the system it monitors, but revolves around presenting the information most germane to an operator at any point in time. DCSs require a carefully designed human system interface. This report centers on redesigning existing DCS displays for an example chemical volume control system (CVCS) at a U.S. nuclear power plant. The crucial nature of the CVCS, which controls coolant levels and boration in the primary system, requires a thorough human factors evaluation of its supporting DCS. The initial digital controls being developed for the DCSs tend to directly mimic the former analog controls. There are, however, unique operator interactions with a digital vs. analog interface, and the differences have not always been carefully factored in the translation of an analog interface to a replacement DCS. To ensure safety, efficiency, and usability of the emerging DCSs, a human factors usability evaluation was conducted on a CVCS DCS currently being used and refined at an existing U.S. nuclear power plant. Subject matter experts from process control engineering, software development, and human factors evaluated the DCS displays to document potential usability issues and propose design recommendations. The evaluation yielded 167 potential usability issues with the DCS. These issues should not be considered operator performance problems but rather opportunities

  18. ATLAS Tracker Upgrade: Silicon Strip Detectors for the sLHC

    CERN Document Server

    Koehler, M; The ATLAS collaboration

    2010-01-01

    To extend the physics potential of the Large Hadron Colider (LHC) at CERN, upgrades of the accelerator complex and the detectors towards the Super-LHC (sLHC) are foreseen. The upgrades, separated in Phase-1 and Phase-2, aim at increasing the luminosity while leaving the energy of the colliding particles (7 TeV per proton beam) unchanged. After the Phase-2 upgrade the instantaneous luminosity will be a factor of 5-10 higher than the design luminosity of the LHC. Due to the increased track rate and extreme radiation levels for the tracking detectors, upgrades of the detectors are necessary. At ATLAS, one of the two general purpose detectors at the LHC, the current inner detector will be replaced by an all-silicon tracker. This article describes the plans for the Phase-2 upgrade of the silicon strip detector of ATLAS. Radiation hard n-in-p silicon detectors with shorter strips than currently installed in ATLAS are planned. Results of measurements with these sensors and plans for module designs will be discussed.

  19. Tumor type resulting in upgrade: An analysis based on 333 low grade soft tissue sarcoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Langer, Stefan

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available [english] Introduction: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS are rare tumors. Based on histopathological criteria, three grades are distinguished from low (G1 to intermediate (G2 and high grade (G3. After complete initial surgical resection, some G1 STS recur as lesions with an upgrade of a previous G1 STS to a recurrent G2 STS. This upgrade indicates higher malignancy of the STS. Our aim was to find possible risk factors for these upgrades including age, localization of tumor and tumor type. Methods: This retrospective case-control study evaluated 333 patients. Of these 333, 54.7% were male and 45.3% female. All patients underwent R0 resections and among these, 10% subsequently upgraded. The processed data include age, gender, tumor type, tumor localization, local recurrence and upgrade. Results: Patients with upgrades have a higher mean age of 5.5 years than our reference collective. The tumor type has a significant effect on upgrades. Patients with fibrosarcomas are at a threefold risk of an upgrade compared to patients with other G1 STS.Conclusion: Our results indicate that age and tumor type play a key role in upgrades in G1 STS. Patients, age 60 and above and diagnosed with G1 fibrosarcomas, are three times as likely to upgrade compared to patients younger than 60 with other G1 STS. We discuss the significance of these risk factors and whether aside from complete tumor resection, additional therapies (e.g. irradiation may be applied to improve therapeutic outcome.

  20. A kernel plus method for quantifying wind turbine performance upgrades

    KAUST Repository

    Lee, Giwhyun

    2014-04-21

    Power curves are commonly estimated using the binning method recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission, which primarily incorporates wind speed information. When such power curves are used to quantify a turbine\\'s upgrade, the results may not be accurate because many other environmental factors in addition to wind speed, such as temperature, air pressure, turbulence intensity, wind shear and humidity, all potentially affect the turbine\\'s power output. Wind industry practitioners are aware of the need to filter out effects from environmental conditions. Toward that objective, we developed a kernel plus method that allows incorporation of multivariate environmental factors in a power curve model, thereby controlling the effects from environmental factors while comparing power outputs. We demonstrate that the kernel plus method can serve as a useful tool for quantifying a turbine\\'s upgrade because it is sensitive to small and moderate changes caused by certain turbine upgrades. Although we demonstrate the utility of the kernel plus method in this specific application, the resulting method is a general, multivariate model that can connect other physical factors, as long as their measurements are available, with a turbine\\'s power output, which may allow us to explore new physical properties associated with wind turbine performance. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Benefits of Advanced Control Room Technologies: Phase One Upgrades to the HSSL, Research Plan, and Performance Measures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Le Blanc, Katya [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Joe, Jeffrey [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Rice, Brandon [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Ulrich, Thomas [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Boring, Ronald [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-05-01

    Control Room modernization is an important part of life extension for the existing light water reactor fleet. None of the 99 currently operating commercial nuclear power plants in the U.S. has completed a full-scale control room modernization to date. A full-scale modernization might, for example, entail replacement of all analog panels with digital workstations. Such modernizations have been undertaken successfully in upgrades in Europe and Asia, but the U.S. has yet to undertake a control room upgrade of this magnitude. Instead, nuclear power plant main control rooms for the existing commercial reactor fleet remain significantly analog, with only limited digital modernizations. Previous research under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program has helped establish a systematic process for control room upgrades that support the transition to a hybrid control room. While the guidance developed to date helps streamline the process of modernization and reduce costs and uncertainty associated with introducing digital control technologies into an existing control room, these upgrades do not achieve the full potential of newer technologies that might otherwise enhance plant and operator performance. The aim of the control room benefits research is to identify previously overlooked benefits of modernization, identify candidate technologies that may facilitate such benefits, and demonstrate these technologies through human factors research. This report describes the initial upgrades to the HSSL and outlines the methodology for a pilot test of the HSSL configuration.

  2. The D0 Upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abachi, S.; D0 Collaboration

    1995-07-01

    In this paper we describe the approved DO Upgrade detector, and its physics capabilities. The DO Upgrade is under construction and will run during the next Fermilab collider running period in early 1999 (Run II). The upgrade is designed to work at the higher luminosities and shorter bunch spacings expected during this run. The major elements of t he upgrade are: a new tracking system with a silicon tracker, scintillating fiber tracker, a 2T solenoid, and a central preshower detector; new calorimeter electronics; new muon trigger and tracking detectors with new muon system electronics; a forward preshower detector; new trigger electronics and DAQ improvements to handle the higher rates.

  3. Status of TMX upgrade diagnostics construction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hornady, R.S.; Davis, J.C.; Simonen, T.C.

    1981-01-01

    This report describes the status of the initial TMX Upgrade diagnostics and the state of development of additional diagnostics being prepared for later TMX Upgrade experiments. The initial diagnostic instrument set has been described in the TMX Upgrade Proposal. This set is required to get TMX Upgrade operational and to evaluate its initial performance. Additional diagnostic instruments are needed to then carry out the more detailed experiments outlined by the TMX Upgrade program milestones. The relation of these new measurements to the physics program is described in The TMX Upgrade Program Plan

  4. Slum Upgrading and Health Equity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corburn, Jason; Sverdlik, Alice

    2017-03-24

    Informal settlement upgrading is widely recognized for enhancing shelter and promoting economic development, yet its potential to improve health equity is usually overlooked. Almost one in seven people on the planet are expected to reside in urban informal settlements, or slums, by 2030. Slum upgrading is the process of delivering place-based environmental and social improvements to the urban poor, including land tenure, housing, infrastructure, employment, health services and political and social inclusion. The processes and products of slum upgrading can address multiple environmental determinants of health. This paper reviewed urban slum upgrading evaluations from cities across Asia, Africa and Latin America and found that few captured the multiple health benefits of upgrading. With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focused on improving well-being for billions of city-dwellers, slum upgrading should be viewed as a key strategy to promote health, equitable development and reduce climate change vulnerabilities. We conclude with suggestions for how slum upgrading might more explicitly capture its health benefits, such as through the use of health impact assessment (HIA) and adopting an urban health in all policies (HiAP) framework. Urban slum upgrading must be more explicitly designed, implemented and evaluated to capture its multiple global environmental health benefits.

  5. Upgrading and downgrading of prostate cancer from biopsy to radical prostatectomy: incidence and predictive factors using the modified Gleason grading system and factoring in tertiary grades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Epstein, Jonathan I; Feng, Zhaoyong; Trock, Bruce J; Pierorazio, Phillip M

    2012-05-01

    Prior studies assessing the correlation of Gleason score (GS) at needle biopsy and corresponding radical prostatectomy (RP) predated the use of the modified Gleason scoring system and did not factor in tertiary grade patterns. To assess the relation of biopsy and RP grade in the largest study to date. A total of 7643 totally embedded RP and corresponding needle biopsies (2004-2010) were analyzed according to the updated Gleason system. All patients underwent prostate biopsy prior to RP. The relation of upgrading or downgrading to patient and cancer characteristics was compared using the chi-square test, Student t test, and multivariable logistic regression. A total of 36.3% of cases were upgraded from a needle biopsy GS 5-6 to a higher grade at RP (11.2% with GS 6 plus tertiary). Half of the cases had matching GS 3+4=7 at biopsy and RP with an approximately equal number of cases downgraded and upgraded at RP. With biopsy GS 4+3=7, RP GS was almost equally 3+4=7 and 4+3=7. Biopsy GS 8 led to an almost equal distribution between RP GS 4+3=7, 8, and 9-10. A total of 58% of the cases had matching GS 9-10 at biopsy and RP. In multivariable analysis, increasing age (pfactoring in multiple variables including the number of positive cores and the maximum percentage of cancer per core, the concordance indexes were not sufficiently high to justify the use of nomograms for predicting upgrading and downgrading for the individual patient. Almost 20% of RP cases have tertiary patterns. A needle biopsy can sample a tertiary higher Gleason pattern in the RP, which is then not recorded in the standard GS reporting, resulting in an apparent overgrading on the needle biopsy. Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Physics potential of ATLAS upgrades at HL-LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Testa, Marianna; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    The High Luminosity-Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) is expected to start in 2026 and to pro- vide an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb−1 in ten years, a factor 10 more than what will be collected by 2023. This high statistics will allow ATLAS to perform precise measurements in the Higgs sector and improve searches for new physics at the TeV scale. The luminosity needed is L ∼ 7.51034 cm−2 s−1, corresponding to ∼200 additional proton-proton pile- up interactions. To face such harsh environment some sub-detectors of the ATLAS experiment will be upgraded or completely substituted. The performances of the new or upgraded ATLAS sub-detectors are presented, focusing in particular on the new inner tracker and a proposed high granularity time device. The impact of those upgrades on crucial physics measurements for HL-LHC program is also shown.

  7. Feasibility study for Tehran Research Reactor power upgrading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farhadi, Kazem [Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], E-mail: kfarhadi@aeoi.org.ir; Khakshournia, Samad [Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2008-07-15

    The present work is concerned with a power upgrading study of Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). The upgrading study is aimed at investigating the possibility of raising power of the TRR from the current level of 5 MW{sub th} to a higher level without violating the original thermal-hydraulic safety criteria. The existing core, comprising 22 standard fuel elements and five control fuel elements, is used for the analyses. Different reactor thermal powers (5-11 MW) and different core coolant flow rates (500-921 m{sup 3}/h) are considered. It is shown that, for the present core, this goal could be achieved safely by gradually opening the butterfly control valve until the desired coolant flow rate is reached. The TRR power could be upgraded up to around 7.5 MW{sub th} with the total power peaking factor maintained at less than or equal to 3.0.

  8. Feasibility study for Tehran Research Reactor power upgrading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farhadi, Kazem; Khakshournia, Samad

    2008-01-01

    The present work is concerned with a power upgrading study of Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). The upgrading study is aimed at investigating the possibility of raising power of the TRR from the current level of 5 MW th to a higher level without violating the original thermal-hydraulic safety criteria. The existing core, comprising 22 standard fuel elements and five control fuel elements, is used for the analyses. Different reactor thermal powers (5-11 MW) and different core coolant flow rates (500-921 m 3 /h) are considered. It is shown that, for the present core, this goal could be achieved safely by gradually opening the butterfly control valve until the desired coolant flow rate is reached. The TRR power could be upgraded up to around 7.5 MW th with the total power peaking factor maintained at less than or equal to 3.0

  9. Investigation of thermal integration between biogas production and upgrading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Xiaojing; Yan, Jinying; Li, Hailong; Chekani, Shabnam; Liu, Loncheng

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Identify thermal characteristics of amine-based biogas upgrading for waste heat recovery. • Identify thermal characteristics of AD biogas production as sink for heat recovery. • Evaluation of thermal integration between biogas production and upgrading to improve overall energy efficiency. • Cost analysis applied for the economic feasibility of the thermal integration. • Using the principles of target design and system integration for connected thermal processes. - Abstract: Thermal integration of anaerobic digestion (AD) biogas production with amine-based chemical absorption biogas upgrading has been studied to improve the overall efficiency of the intergraded system. The thermal characteristics have been investigated for industrial AD raw biogas production and amine-based chemical absorption biogas upgrading. The investigation provides a basic understanding for the possibilities of energy saving through thermal integration. The thermal integration is carried out through well-defined cases based on the thermal characteristics of the biogas production and the biogas upgrading. The following factors are taken into account in the case study: thermal conditions of sub-systems, material and energy balances, cost issues and main benefits. The potential of heat recovery has been evaluated to utilise the waste heat from amine-based upgrading process for the use in the AD biogas production. The results show that the thermal integration has positive effects on improving the overall energy efficiency of the integrated biogas plant. Cost analysis shows that the thermal integration is economically feasible

  10. Upgrading of TREAT experimental capabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dickerman, C.E.; Rose, D.; Bhattacharyya, S.K.

    1982-01-01

    The TREAT facility at the Argonne National Laboratory site in the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory is being upgraded to provide capabilities for fast-reactor-safety transient experiments not possible at any other experimental facility. Principal TREAT Upgrade (TU) goal is provision for 37-pin size experiments on energetics of core-disruptive accidents (CDA) in fast breeder reactor cores with moderate sodium void coefficients. this goal requires a significant enhancement of the capabilities of the TREAT facility, specifically including reactor control, hardened neutron spectrum incident on the test sample, and enlarged building. The upgraded facility will retain the capability for small-size experiments of the types currently being performed in TREAT. Reactor building and crane upgrading have been completed. TU schedules call for the components of the upgraded reactor system to be finished in 1984, including upgraded TREAT fuel and control system, and expanded coverage by the hodoscope fuel-motion diagnostics system

  11. Human factor reliability program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knoblochova, L.

    2017-01-01

    The human factor's reliability program was at Slovenske elektrarne, a.s. (SE) nuclear power plants. introduced as one of the components Initiatives of Excellent Performance in 2011. The initiative's goal was to increase the reliability of both people and facilities, in response to 3 major areas of improvement - Need for improvement of the results, Troubleshooting support, Supporting the achievement of the company's goals. The human agent's reliability program is in practice included: - Tools to prevent human error; - Managerial observation and coaching; - Human factor analysis; -Quick information about the event with a human agent; -Human reliability timeline and performance indicators; - Basic, periodic and extraordinary training in human factor reliability(authors)

  12. Repairing and Upgrading Your PC

    CERN Document Server

    Thompson, Robert

    2009-01-01

    Repairing and Upgrading Your PC delivers start-to-finish instructions, simple enough for even the most inexperienced PC owner, for troubleshooting, repairing, and upgrading your computer. Written by hardware experts Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson, this book covers it all: how to troubleshoot a troublesome PC, how to identify which components make sense for an upgrade, and how to tear it all down and put it back together. This book shows how to repair and upgrade all of your PC's essential components.

  13. Critical human-factors issues in nuclear-power regulation and a recommended comprehensive human-factors long-range plan. Critical discussion of human factors areas of concern

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hopkins, C.O.; Snyder, H.L.; Price, H.E.; Hornick, R.J.; Mackie, R.R.; Smillie, R.J.; Sugarman, R.C.

    1982-08-01

    This comprehensive long-range human factors plan for nuclear reactor regulation was developed by a Study Group of the Human Factors Society, Inc. This Study Group was selected by the Executive Council of the Society to provide a balanced, experienced human factors perspective to the applications of human factors scientific and engineering knowledge to nuclear power generation. The report is presented in three volumes. Volume 1 contains an Executive Summary of the 18-month effort and its conclusions. Volume 2 summarizes all known nuclear-related human factors activities, evaluates these activities wherever adequate information is available, and describes the recommended long-range (10-year) plan for human factors in regulation. Volume 3 elaborates upon each of the human factors issues and areas of recommended human factors involvement contained in the plan, and discusses the logic that led to the recommendations

  14. Industry perspective on digital upgrades: A utility perspective on digital upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blauw, R.J.

    1994-01-01

    Nuclear utilities face the need to upgrade aging and obsolete safety related and other critical equipment. This is the result of operation and maintenance concerns for reliability and maintainability. Digital technology is an option for these upgrades. A number of utilities have attempted exercising the digital option. The regulatory licensing results have been inconsistent and have raised a variety of issues. These issues and the subsequent licensing uncertainties have caused some utilities to temporarily drop digital technology as an upgrade option. Resolution of these issues and the need for regulatory stability is driving the development of industry standards and guidelines. These will provide guidance to support consistent design and implementation of digital upgrades. Successful completion of these documents is necessary for renewed consideration of the use of digital technology. This paper will present a utility perspective on how project management, configuration control, and a rigorous design process can serve to address the present regulatory issues. These issues include commercial grade dedication, reliability, electromagnetic interference, and failure and error management. This perspective is consistent with the standards and guidelines development effort

  15. Managing RTP Console Upgrading Project: Best Practice for Nuclear Malaysia as TSO in Supporting NPP Development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nurfarhana Ayuni Joha; Syahirah Abdul Rahman; Izhar Abu Hussin

    2011-01-01

    Human Resource Development (HRD) is required for Nuclear Power Programme (NPP). To be a Technical Support Organisation (TSO) for NPP, Nuclear Malaysia should be ready to take the responsibility in supporting Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) and NPP Operators. In nurturing Nuclear Malaysia as TSO, the prime important and focus of HRD for the NPP is the reactor engineering technology. Nuclear Malaysia gives various phases of supports needed to build NPP such as during siting, design, planning, licensing, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance in its own way and capability. The current Nuclear Malaysia unique approach is the TRIGA PUSPATI reactor (RTP) upgrading project. Research reactor plays an important role in Research and Developpement organization as a nuclear facility to assist the development of NPP. Therefore, upgrading the research reactor is needed to build the skills and gain knowledge of workers to work safely. After 29 years of operation, the RTP system is facing aging problems due to many components in the reactor are outdated. Therefore, immediate action should be carried out to mitigate the aging factor of the reactor to prevent the worsening of the aging problem, and to prevent untoward incident from happening. Action should also cover short and long term planning to prevent current situation from recurring. Currently, RTP is upgrading its console from analog to digital system. One of the achievements in this console upgrading project is the development and implementation of project management. This paper comprises the overview on the RTP console upgrading project, the project management and how this project can lead Nuclear Malaysia to be a good TSO for the development of NPP. (author)

  16. SRS control system upgrade requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hill, L.F.

    1998-01-01

    This document defines requirements for an upgrade of the Sodium Removal System (SRS) control system. The upgrade is being performed to solve a number of maintainability and operability issues. The upgraded system will provide the same functions, controls and interlocks as the present system, and in addition provide enhanced functionality in areas discussed in this document

  17. H-1 Upgrades (4BW/4BN) (H-1 Upgrades)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    automatic blade fold of the new composite rotor blades, new performance matched transmissions, a new four-bladed tail rotor and drive system, upgraded...Upgrades December 2015 SAR March 18, 2016 10:59:17 UNCLASSIFIED 4 Col Steven Girard PMA-276 USMC Light/Attack Helicopter Program Executive Officer...attack helicopter is to provide rotary wing close air support, anti-armor, armed escort, armed/visual reconnaissance and fire support coordination

  18. The importance of the human factor in a physical protection system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, A.; Rocha, A.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: A complete physical protection system gathers three elements: equipment's, guards and procedures. The integration of these three elements will guarantee the efficiency of the overall PPS in such a way that it can meet the objectives that were defined during its project: clear and precise procedures will rule the relation between the technical factor (equipments/ hardware and software) and the human factor (guards). The technical factor is easily adapted ad upgraded to continue meet the objectives of the PPS; however, the human factor presents some resistance, internal and external, concerning the performance of its function within the overall PPS. The objective of this paper is to show the importance of the human factor as an integrant part of the PPS of a nuclear facility. 1. Good relationship between guards and other employees in a facility; 2. the knowledge and acceptance of rules and procedures; 3. and the awareness of the needing to implement security measures, as well as the cooperation with these measures to avoid unauthorized nuclear material removal from the facility or sabotage with consequent radioactive release will guarantee the success of the human factor within the overall PPS. In countries where there is no recent record of terrorist activities, as in Brazil's case, these three key factors are particularly critical, once the concept of security culture is not present in those people's way of life. The target public of this survey are the employees, including the guards of the security force, of the CNAAA - Central Nuclear Almirante Alvaro Alberto - consisting of Angra 1 and Angra 2 nuclear power plants. The tools used to came up with the conclusions of this work were two different kinds of questionnaires: a) one of the questionnaires was answered by the guards of the security force concerning their feelings or impressions about other employees' knowledge, acceptance and cooperation of/with the security measures applied on site, and their

  19. Upgrading the ATLAS control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munson, F.H.; Ferraretto, M.

    1993-01-01

    Heavy-ion accelerators are tools used in the research of nuclear and atomic physics. The ATLAS facility at the Argonne National Laboratory is one such tool. The ATLAS control system serves as the primary operator interface to the accelerator. A project to upgrade the control system is presently in progress. Since this is an upgrade project and not a new installation, it was imperative that the development work proceed without interference to normal operations. An additional criteria for the development work was that the writing of additional ''in-house'' software should be kept to a minimum. This paper briefly describes the control system being upgraded, and explains some of the reasons for the decision to upgrade the control system. Design considerations and goals for the new system are described, and the present status of the upgrade is discussed

  20. LHC luminosity upgrade detector challenges

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva; de Roeck, Albert; Bortoletto, Daniela; Wigmans, Richard; Riegler, Werner; Smith, Wesley H

    2006-01-01

    LHC luminosity upgrade: detector challenges The upgrade of the LHC machine towards higher luminosity (1035 cm -2s-1) has been studied over the last few years. These studies have investigated scenarios to achieve the increase in peak luminosity by an order of magnitude, as well as the physics potential of such an upgrade and the impact of a machine upgrade on the LHC DETECTORS. This series of lectures will cover the following topics: • Physics motivation and machine scenarios for an order of magnitude increase in the LHC peak luminosity (lecture 1) • Detector challenges including overview of ideas for R&D programs by the LHC experiments: tracking and calorimetry, other new detector developments (lectures 2-4) • Electronics, trigger and data acquisition challenges (lecture 5) Note: the much more ambitious LHC energy upgrade will not be covered

  1. The LHCb Muon Upgrade

    CERN Multimedia

    Cardini, A

    2013-01-01

    The LHCb collaboration is currently working on the upgrade of the experiment to allow, after 2018, an efficient data collection while running at an instantaneous luminosity of 2x10$^{33}$/cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. The upgrade will allow 40 MHz detector readout, and events will be selected by means of a very flexible software-based trigger. The muon system will be upgraded in two phases. In the first phase, the off-detector readout electronics will be redesigned to allow complete event readout at 40 MHz. Also, part of the channel logical-ORs, used to reduce the total readout channel count, will be removed to reduce dead-time in critical regions. In a second phase, higher-granularity detectors will replace the ones installed in highly irradiated regions, to guarantee efficient muon system performances in the upgrade data taking conditions.

  2. Upgrader alley : oil sands fever strikes Edmonton

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Griffiths, M.; Dyer, S.

    2008-01-01

    Large-scale industrial complexes called upgraders are similar to oil refineries. Several upgraders are planned for the area just northeast of Edmonton, known as Upgrader Alley. Concerns have been expressed over the potential congestion and environmental impacts of these upgraders. Upgraders will also attract other industry, and the cumulative effects of development will have major impacts on the region, its people and the natural environment. The report provided an overview of Upgrader Alley, with reference to what is driving development; upgrading issues; what Upgrader Alley will look like; and how much water Upgrader Alley needs. The report also discussed impacts on the land, air quality, and greenhouse gases. Water demand issues were discussed with reference to impacts on the North Saskatchewan River, water levels, water quality, a water management framework, and groundwater resources. Cumulative impacts were also presented. It was concluded that if all the projects for which applications had been submitted were approved, the rapid pace of growth in Upgrader Alley would mimic that of Fort McMurray. If the rate of development were somewhat slower, there would be more time to develop and implement plans to reduce the impacts. 189 refs., 6 tabs., 14 figs

  3. Use of 2.5-D and 3-D technology to evaluate control room upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanes, L. F.; Naser, J.

    2006-01-01

    This paper describes an Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI) study in which 2.5-D and 3-D visualization technology was applied to evaluate the design of a nuclear power plant control room upgrade. The study involved converting 3-D CAD flies of a planned upgrade into a photo-realistic appearing virtual model, and evaluating the value and usefulness of the model. Nuclear utility and EPRI evaluators viewed and interacted with the control room virtual model with both 2.5-D and 3-D representations. They identified how control room and similar virtual models may be used by utilities for design and evaluation purposes; assessed potential economic and other benefits; and identified limitations, potential problems, and other issues regarding use of visualization technology for this and similar applications. In addition, the Halden CREATE (Control Room Engineering Advanced Tool-kit Environment) Verification Tool was applied to evaluate features of the virtual model against US NRC NUREG 0700 Revision 2 human factors engineering guidelines (NUREG 0700) [1]. The study results are very favorable for applying 2.5-D visualization technology to support upgrading nuclear power plant control rooms and other plant facilities. Results, however, show that today's 3-D immersive viewing systems are difficult to justify based on cost, availability and value of information provided for this application. (authors)

  4. Human factors guidelines for large-screen displays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collier, Steve

    2005-09-01

    Any control-room project (including upgrades or evolutionary improvements to existing control-rooms) is well advised at the outset first to gather and update related background material for the design. This information-gathering exercise should also take into account experience from similar projects and operating experience. For these reasons, we decided to use our research, and experience in large-screen display design with several clients to update human factors guidance for large-screen displays, to take into account new ergonomics guidelines, operating experience, and work from similar projects. To write the updated guidelines, we drew on much of our experience across several departments at IFE, including research funded by the HRP programme, and experience with individual clients. Guidance here is accordingly focused mainly on recent areas of technical and human innovations in the man-machine interface. One particular area of focus was on the increasing use of large-screen display systems in modern control-rooms, and on how guidelines could be adapted and supplemented for their design. Guidance or reference to recommended sources is also given for control suite arrangement and layout, control-room layout, workstation layout, design of displays and controls, and design of the work environment, especially insofar as these ergonomic issues interact with the effectiveness of modern displays, in particular large screen displays. The work shows that there can be synergy between HRP research and bilateral activities: the one side offers a capability to develop tools and guidelines, while the other side gives an opportunity to test and refine these in practice, to the benefit of both parties. (Author)

  5. Human factors guidelines for large-screen displays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collier, Steve

    2005-09-15

    Any control-room project (including upgrades or evolutionary improvements to existing control-rooms) is well advised at the outset first to gather and update related background material for the design. This information-gathering exercise should also take into account experience from similar projects and operating experience. For these reasons, we decided to use our research, and experience in large-screen display design with several clients to update human factors guidance for large-screen displays, to take into account new ergonomics guidelines, operating experience, and work from similar projects. To write the updated guidelines, we drew on much of our experience across several departments at IFE, including research funded by the HRP programme, and experience with individual clients. Guidance here is accordingly focused mainly on recent areas of technical and human innovations in the man-machine interface. One particular area of focus was on the increasing use of large-screen display systems in modern control-rooms, and on how guidelines could be adapted and supplemented for their design. Guidance or reference to recommended sources is also given for control suite arrangement and layout, control-room layout, workstation layout, design of displays and controls, and design of the work environment, especially insofar as these ergonomic issues interact with the effectiveness of modern displays, in particular large screen displays. The work shows that there can be synergy between HRP research and bilateral activities: the one side offers a capability to develop tools and guidelines, while the other side gives an opportunity to test and refine these in practice, to the benefit of both parties. (Author)

  6. Human factors in network security

    OpenAIRE

    Jones, Francis B.

    1991-01-01

    Human factors, such as ethics and education, are important factors in network information security. This thesis determines which human factors have significant influence on network security. Those factors are examined in relation to current security devices and procedures. Methods are introduced to evaluate security effectiveness by incorporating the appropriate human factors into network security controls

  7. Human factors design, verification, and validation for two types of control room upgrades at a nuclear power plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boring, Laurids Ronald [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2014-10-01

    This paper describes the NUREG-0711 based human factors engineering (HFE) phases and associated elements required to support design, verification and validation (V&V), and implementation of a new plant process computer (PPC) and turbine control system (TCS) at a representative nuclear power plant. This paper reviews ways to take a human-system interface (HSI) specification and use it when migrating legacy PPC displays or designing displays with new functionality. These displays undergo iterative usability testing during the design phase and then undergo an integrated system validation (ISV) in a full scope control room training simulator. Following the successful demonstration of operator performance with the systems during the ISV, the new system is implemented at the plant, first in the training simulator and then in the main control room.

  8. Human factors design, verification, and validation for two types of control room upgrades at a nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boring, Laurids Ronald

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the NUREG-0711 based human factors engineering (HFE) phases and associated elements required to support design, verification and validation (V&V), and implementation of a new plant process computer (PPC) and turbine control system (TCS) at a representative nuclear power plant. This paper reviews ways to take a human-system interface (HSI) specification and use it when migrating legacy PPC displays or designing displays with new functionality. These displays undergo iterative usability testing during the design phase and then undergo an integrated system validation (ISV) in a full scope control room training simulator. Following the successful demonstration of operator performance with the systems during the ISV, the new system is implemented at the plant, first in the training simulator and then in the main control room.

  9. [Human factors in medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazarovici, M; Trentzsch, H; Prückner, S

    2017-01-01

    The concept of human factors is commonly used in the context of patient safety and medical errors, all too often ambiguously. In actual fact, the term comprises a wide range of meanings from human-machine interfaces through human performance and limitations up to the point of working process design; however, human factors prevail as a substantial cause of error in complex systems. This article presents the full range of the term human factors from the (emergency) medical perspective. Based on the so-called Swiss cheese model by Reason, we explain the different types of error, what promotes their emergence and on which level of the model error prevention can be initiated.

  10. Setting priorities for safeguards upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Ayat, R.A.; Judd, B.R.; Patenaude, C.J.; Sicherman, A.

    1987-01-01

    This paper describes an analytic approach and a computer program for setting priorities among safeguards upgrades. The approach provides safeguards decision makers with a systematic method for allocating their limited upgrade resources. The priorities are set based on the upgrades cost and their contribution to safeguards effectiveness. Safeguards effectiveness is measured by the probability of defeat for a spectrum of potential insider and outsider adversaries. The computer program, MI$ER, can be used alone or as a companion to ET and SAVI, programs designed to evaluate safeguards effectiveness against insider and outsider threats, respectively. Setting the priority required judgments about the relative importance (threat likelihoods and consequences) of insider and outsider threats. Although these judgments are inherently subjective, MI$ER can analyze the sensitivity of the upgrade priorities to these weights and determine whether or not they are critical to the priority ranking. MI$ER produces tabular and graphical results for comparing benefits and identifying the most cost-effective upgrades for a given expenditure. This framework provides decision makers with an explicit and consistent analysis to support their upgrades decisions and to allocate the safeguards resources in a cost-effective manner

  11. Upgraded wood residue fuels 1995; Foeraedlade traedbraenslen 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vinterbaeck, J [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Science, Uppsala (Sweden). Dept. of Forest-Industry-Market Studies

    1995-11-01

    The Swedish market for upgraded residue fuels, i.e. briquettes, pellets and wood powder, has developed considerably during the nineties. The additional costs for the upgrading processes are regained and create a surplus in other parts of the system, e.g. in the form of higher combustion efficiencies, lower investment costs for burning equipment, lower operation costs and a diminished environmental impact. All these factors put together have resulted in a rapid growth of this part of the energy sector. In 1994 the production was 1.9 TWh, an increase of 37 % compared to the previous year. In the forthcoming heating season 1995/96 the production may reach 4 TWh. 57 refs, 11 figs, 6 tabs

  12. Towards a new LHC Interaction Region design for a luminosity upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Strait, J; Limon, P; Mokhov, N V; Sen, T; Zlobin, A V; Brüning, Oliver Sim; Ostojic, R; Rossi, L; Ruggiero, F; Taylor, T; ten Kate, H; Devred, A; Gupta, R; Harrison, M; Peggs, S; Pilat, F; Caspi, S; Gourlay, S; Sabbi, G

    2003-01-01

    After the LHC operates for several years at nominal parameters, it will be necessary to upgrade it for higher luminosity. Replacing the low-beta insertions with a higher performance design based on advanced superconducting magnets is one of the most straightforward steps in this direction. Preliminary studies show that, with magnet technology that is expected to be developed by early in the next decade, a factor of 2 to 5 reduction in beta* could be achieved with new insertions, as part of an upgrade aimed at a factor of 10 luminosity increase. In this paper we survey several possible second generation LHC interaction regions designs, which address the expected limitations on LHC performance imposed by the baseline insertions.

  13. Towards a new LHC interaction region design for a luminosity upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    James Strait et al.

    2003-01-01

    After the LHC operates for several years at nominal parameters, it will be necessary to upgrade it for higher luminosity. Replacing the low-β insertions with a higher performance design based on advanced superconducting magnets is one of the most straightforward steps in this direction. Preliminary studies show that, with magnet technology that is expected to be developed by early in the next decade, a factor of 2 to 5 reduction in β* could be achieved with new insertions, as part of an upgrade aimed at a factor of 10 luminosity increase. In this paper we survey several possible second generation LHC interaction regions designs, which address the expected limitations on LHC performance imposed by the baseline insertions

  14. Human factors guides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penington, J.

    1995-10-01

    This document presents human factors guides, which have been developed in order to provide licensees of the AECB with advice as to how to address human factors issues within the design and assessment process. This documents presents the results of a three part study undertaken to develop three guides which are enclosed in this document as Parts B, C and D. As part of the study human factors standards, guidelines, handbooks and other texts were researched, to define those which would be most useful to the users of the guides and for the production of the guides themselves. Detailed specifications were then produced to outline the proposed contents and format of the three guides. (author). 100 refs., 3 tabs., 11 figs

  15. Human factors guides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Penington, J [PHF Services Inc., (Canada)

    1995-10-01

    This document presents human factors guides, which have been developed in order to provide licensees of the AECB with advice as to how to address human factors issues within the design and assessment process. This documents presents the results of a three part study undertaken to develop three guides which are enclosed in this document as Parts B, C and D. As part of the study human factors standards, guidelines, handbooks and other texts were researched, to define those which would be most useful to the users of the guides and for the production of the guides themselves. Detailed specifications were then produced to outline the proposed contents and format of the three guides. (author). 100 refs., 3 tabs., 11 figs.

  16. Pipeline transportation of emerging partially upgraded bitumen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luhning, R.W.; Anand, A.; Blackmore, T.; Lawson, D.S.

    2002-01-01

    The recoverable reserves of Canada's vast oil deposits is estimated to be 335 billion barrels (bbl), most of which are in the Alberta oil sands. Canada was the largest import supplier of crude oil to the United States in 2001, followed by Saudi Arabia. By 2011, the production of oil sands is expected to increase to 50 per cent of Canada's oil, and conventional oil production will decline as more production will be provided by synthetic light oil and bitumen. This paper lists the announced oil sands projects. If all are to proceed, production would reach 3,445,000 bbl per day by 2011. The three main challenges regarding the transportation and marketing of this new production were described. The first is to expand the physical capacity of existing pipelines. The second is the supply of low viscosity diluent (such as natural gas condensate or synthetic diluent) to reduce the viscosity and density of the bitumen as it passes through the pipelines. The current pipeline specifications and procedures to transport partially upgraded products are presented. The final challenge is the projected refinery market constraint to process the bitumen and synthetic light oil into consumer fuel products. These challenges can be addressed by modifying refineries and increasing Canadian access in Petroleum Administration Defense District (PADD) II and IV. The technology for partial upgrading of bitumen to produce pipeline specification oil, reduce diluent requirements and add sales value, is currently under development. The number of existing refineries to potentially accept partially upgraded product is listed. The partially upgraded bitumen will be in demand for additional upgrading to end user products, and new opportunities will be presented as additional pipeline capacity is made available to transport crude to U.S. markets and overseas. The paper describes the following emerging partial upgrading methods: the OrCrude upgrading process, rapid thermal processing, CPJ process for

  17. The ALICE Inner Tracking System Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Siddhanta, Sabyasachi

    2015-01-01

    The long term plan of ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a detailed investigation and characterisation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). ALICE has devised a comprehensive upgrade strategy to enhance its physics capabilities and to exploit the LHC running conditions after the second long shutdown of the LHC scheduled in 2019-20. The upgraded ALICE will focus on high precision measurements of rare probes over a wide range of momenta, which will significantly improve the performance with respect to the present experimental set up. The upgrade strategy is based on the fact that after LS2 LHC will progressively increase its luminosity with Pb beams eventually reaching an interaction rate of about 50 kHz. To exploit the new LHC capabilities, several existing detectors will undergo a substantial upgrade and new detectors will be added. Within this upgrade strategy, the Inner Tracking System (ITS) upgrade forms an important cornerstone, providing precise measurements for...

  18. ALICE Upgrades: Plans and Potentials

    CERN Document Server

    Tieulent, Raphael

    2015-01-01

    The ALICE collaboration consolidated and completed the installation of current detectors during LS1 with the aim to accumulate 1 nb$^{-1}$ of Pb-Pb collisions during Run 2 corresponding to about 10 times the Run 1 integrated luminosity. In parallel, the ALICE experiment has a rich detector upgrade programme scheduled during the second LHC long shutdown (LS2, 2018-2019) in order to fully exploit the LHC Runs 3 and 4. The main objectives of this programme are: improving the tracking precision and enabling the read-out of all Pb-Pb interactions at a rate of up to 50 kHz, with the goal to record an integrated luminosity of 10 nb$^{-1}$ after LS2 in minimum-bias trigger mode. This sample would represent an increase by a factor of one hundred with respect to the minimum-bias sample expected during Run 2. The implementation of this upgrade programme, foreseen in LS2, includes: a new low-material Inner Tracking System at central rapidity with a forward rapidity extension to add vertexing capabilities to the current M...

  19. Upgrade of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carrió, F

    2015-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. The bulk of its upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC phase (Phase-II) where the peak luminosity will increase 5 times compared to the design luminosity (10 34 cm −2 s −1 ) but with maintained energy (i.e. 7+7 TeV). An additional increase of the average luminosity with a factor of 2 can be achieved by luminosity levelling. This upgrade is expected to happen around 2024. The TileCal upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on- and off- detector electronics to the extent that all calorimeter signals will be digitized and sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. To achieve the required reliability, redundancy has been introduced at different levels. Three different options are presently being investigated for the front-end electronic upgrade. Extensive test beam studies will determine which option will be selected. 10 Gbps optical links are used to read out all digitized data to the counting room while 5 Gbps down-links are used for synchronization, configuration and detector control. For the off-detector electronics a pre-processor (sROD) is being developed, which takes care of the initial trigger processing while temporarily storing the main data flow in pipeline and derandomizer memories. One demonstrator prototype module with the new calorimeter module electronics, but still compatible with the present system, is planned to be inserted in ATLAS this year

  20. McSUB V2.0, an upgraded version of the Monte Carlo library McSUB with inclusion of weight factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoek, M.

    1991-02-01

    The Monte Carlo library McSUB, which was described in an earlier report, has been upgraded to McSUB V2.0. McSUB V2.0 can be used to simulate the neutron transport in a medium which is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon or a mixture of deuterium and carbon. The implemented neutron energy interval is 0.1 - 20 MeV and the library can be used to simulate elastic and inelastic scattering. The inelastic scattering with carbon takes into account the four lowest excited states of the carbon nucleus. McSUB V2.0 is downward compatible with McSUB expect for the layout of the parameter file which now contains more variables. The major upgrade has been the inclusion of routines using weight factors which has speeded up the old version considerably. McSUB V2.0 also makes a biasing technique possible. It is now possible to e.g. let a neutron scatter with a selected nucleus followed by a biased scattering direction. (au)

  1. Human factors information system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goodman, P.C.; DiPalo, C.A.

    1991-01-01

    Nuclear power plant safety is dependent upon human performance related to plant operations. To provide improvements in human performance, data collection and assessment play key roles. This paper reports on the Human factors Information System (HFIS) which is designed to meet the needs of the human factors specialists of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. These specialists identify personnel errors and provide guidance designed to prevent such errors. HFIS is a simple and modular system designed for use on a personal computer. It is designed to contain four separate modules that provide information indicative of program or function effectiveness as well as safety-related human performance based on programmatic and performance data. These modules include the Human Factors Status module; the Regulatory Programs module; the Licensee Event Report module; and the Operator Requalification Performance module. Information form these modules can either be used separately or can be combined due to the integrated nature of the system. HFIS has the capability, therefore, to provide insights into those areas of human factors that can reduce the probability of events caused by personnel error at nuclear power plants and promote the health and safety of the public. This information system concept can be applied to other industries as well as the nuclear industry

  2. Upgrades of the ATLAS trigger system

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00221618; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    In coming years the LHC is expected to undergo upgrades to increase both the energy of proton-proton collisions and the instantaneous luminosity. In order to cope with these more challenging LHC conditions, upgrades of the ATLAS trigger system will be required. This talk will focus on some of the key aspects of these upgrades. Firstly, the upgrade period between 2019-2021 will see an increase in instantaneous luminosity to $3\\times10^{34} \\rm{cm^{-2}s^{-1}}$. Upgrades to the Level 1 trigger system during this time will include improvements for both the muon and calorimeter triggers. These include the upgrade of the first-level Endcap Muon trigger, the calorimeter trigger electronics and the addition of new calorimeter feature extractor hardware, such as the Global Feature Extractor (gFEX). An overview will be given on the design and development status the aforementioned systems, along with the latest testing and validation results. \\\\ By 2026, the High Luminosity LHC will be able to deliver 14 TeV collisions ...

  3. Alberta oil sands crudes : upgrading and marketing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ashar, M.

    2008-01-01

    Open pit mining and in situ techniques, such as steam stimulation, are used to recover Alberta's bitumen and heavy oil resources, which have higher viscosities than conventional hydrocarbons. The bitumen is typically upgraded to synthetic crude oil (SCO). In the simplest processing scheme, the bitumen is blended with diluent for ease in pipeline transport and then processed at refineries with upgrading facilities. The bitumen is also upgraded to light SCO at world-scale upgraders in Alberta. The SCO is then processed at refineries in downstream markets. The 2 categories of upgrading, notably primary and secondary upgrading, were described in this article along with technology options for both categories. Slurry hydrocracking is regarded as the most interesting emerging residual fuel upgrading technology. It combines special catalyst mixes with the latest slurry reactor designs as well as innovative catalyst capture and recycle schemes to produce very high conversions and potentially superior upgrading economics. The increase in volume and rate of SCO from Alberta provides refiners in the oil sands marketing sector an unprecedented choice of opportunities to improve profitability. Key trends indicate that production will increase substantially from 2008 to 2030. 5 figs

  4. Alberta oil sands crudes : upgrading and marketing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ashar, M. [Suncor Energy, Fort McMurray, AB (Canada)

    2008-05-15

    Open pit mining and in situ techniques, such as steam stimulation, are used to recover Alberta's bitumen and heavy oil resources, which have higher viscosities than conventional hydrocarbons. The bitumen is typically upgraded to synthetic crude oil (SCO). In the simplest processing scheme, the bitumen is blended with diluent for ease in pipeline transport and then processed at refineries with upgrading facilities. The bitumen is also upgraded to light SCO at world-scale upgraders in Alberta. The SCO is then processed at refineries in downstream markets. The 2 categories of upgrading, notably primary and secondary upgrading, were described in this article along with technology options for both categories. Slurry hydrocracking is regarded as the most interesting emerging residual fuel upgrading technology. It combines special catalyst mixes with the latest slurry reactor designs as well as innovative catalyst capture and recycle schemes to produce very high conversions and potentially superior upgrading economics. The increase in volume and rate of SCO from Alberta provides refiners in the oil sands marketing sector an unprecedented choice of opportunities to improve profitability. Key trends indicate that production will increase substantially from 2008 to 2030. 5 figs.

  5. To upgrade or not to upgrade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Torben Valdbjørn; Rose, Jørgen

    2017-01-01

    This paper identifies the key indicators that owners need to take into account in order to choose the most affordable extent of upgrading of a typical post-1945 building. The exterior look of the building is not to be changed. Indicators include measures, risk assessment related to the changes in...

  6. Upgrading uncompetitive products economically

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lu, Hua; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard

    2012-01-01

    for upgrading an uncompetitive product, and combine the solutions into a single solution. We also propose a spatial join-based solution that assumes P and T are indexed by an R-tree. Given a set of products in the same R-tree node, we derive three lower bounds on their upgrading costs. These bounds are employed...

  7. Habitability and Human Factors Contributions to Human Space Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumaya, Jennifer Boyer

    2011-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the work of the Habitability and Human Factors Branch in support of human space flight in two main areas: Applied support to major space programs, and Space research. The field of Human Factors applies knowledge of human characteristics for the design of safer, more effective, and more efficient systems. This work is in several areas of the human space program: (1) Human-System Integration (HSI), (2) Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, (3) Extravehicular Activity (EVA), (4) Lunar Surface Systems, (5) International Space Station (ISS), and (6) Human Research Program (HRP). After detailing the work done in these areas, the facilities that are available for human factors work are shown.

  8. South Ukraine NPP: Safety improvements through Plant Computer upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brenman, O.; Chernyshov, M. A.; Denning, R. S.; Kolesov, S. A.; Balakan, H. H.; Bilyk, B. I.; Kuznetsov, V. I.; Trosman, G.

    2006-01-01

    This paper summarizes some results of the Plant Computer upgrade at the Units 2 and 3 of South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). A Plant Computer, which is also called the Computer Information System (CIS), is one of the key safety-related systems at VVER-1000 nuclear plants. The main function of the CIS is information support for the plant operators during normal and emergency operational modes. Before this upgrade, South Ukraine NPP operated out-of-date and obsolete systems. This upgrade project wax founded by the U.S. DOE in the framework of the International Nuclear Safety Program (INSP). The most efficient way to improve the quality and reliability of information provided to the plant operator is to upgrade the Human-System Interface (HSI), which is the Upper Level (UL) CIS. The upgrade of the CIS data-acquisition system (DAS), which is the Lower Level (LL) CIS, would have less effect on the unit safety. Generally speaking, the lifetime of the LL CIS is much higher than one of the UL CIS. Unlike Plant Computers at the Western-designed plants, the functionality of the WER-1000 CISs includes a control function (Centralized Protection Testing) and a number of the plant equipment monitoring functions, for example, Protection and Interlock Monitoring and Turbo-Generator Temperature Monitoring. The new system is consistent with a historical migration of the format by which information is presented to the operator away from the traditional graphic displays, for example, Piping and Instrument Diagrams (P and ID's), toward Integral Data displays. The cognitive approach to information presentation is currently limited by some licensing issues, but is adapted to a greater degree with each new system. The paper provides some lessons learned on the management of the international team. (authors)

  9. The ALICE TPC Upgrad

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castro, Andrew; Alice-Usa Collaboration; Alice-Tpc Collaboration

    2017-09-01

    The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) currently used for ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment at CERN) is a gaseous tracking detector used to study both proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) In order to accommodate the higher luminosit collisions planned for the LHC Run-3 starting in 2021, the ALICE-TPC will undergo a major upgrade during the next LHC shut down. The TPC is limited to a read out of 1000 Hz in minimum bias events due to the intrinsic dead time associated with back ion flow in the multi wire proportional chambers (MWPC) in the TPC. The TPC upgrade will handle the increase in event readout to 50 kHz for heavy ion minimum bias triggered events expected with the Run-3 luminosity by switching the MWPCs to a stack of four Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) foils. The GEM layers will combine different hole pitches to reduce the dead time while maintaining the current spatial and energy resolution of the existing TPC. Undertaking the upgrade of the TPC represents a massive endeavor in terms of design, production, construction, quality assurance, and installation, thus the upgrade is coordinated over a number of institutes worldwide. The talk will go over the physics motivation for the upgrade, the ALICE-USA contribution to the construction of Inner Read Out Chambers IROCs, and QA from the first chambers built in the U.S

  10. ATLAS Upgrade Programme

    CERN Document Server

    Hillier, S J; The ATLAS collaboration

    2012-01-01

    With the already outstanding LHC luminosity performance, and planned LHC upgrades in the upcoming shutdowns, it is expected that within a short time-scale, the general purpose LHC experiments will have to cope with luminosities beyond their original design. In order to maintain detector performance and sensitivity to expected and new physics processes, ATLAS has defined a continuous upgrade programme which foresees staged enhancements during the next 10 years of operation, and then more widespread changes before the transition to the highest luminosities after 2022. This talk will describe several components of the ATLAS upgrade, focusing in particular on the Inner Detector and Trigger. The Inner Detector faces two challenges in the higher luminosity environment: high particle multiplicities and increased radiation dose. These will be addressed in the short term by a new layer of Pixel detectors, and in the long term by a complete replacement. The Trigger faces an increasingly difficult task of distinguishing...

  11. Safety upgrading at PAKS Nuclear Power Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bajsz, J.; Elter, J.

    2000-01-01

    The operation of Paks NPP has reached its half time. Until this time the plant fulfilled expectations raised before its construction: the four units have produced safely and reliably more than 200 TWh electricity. The production of the plant has been at the stable level since its construction and has provided 43-38 % of electricity consumed in Hungary. The annual production is around 14 TWh, which means a load factor higher than 85 %. Safety upgrading activities [1] at Paks had started in the late eighties, when the commissioning work of units 3 and 4 were carried out. That time the main emphases were put to lessons learned of the TMI and Chernobyl accidents. The international reviews hosted by our plant widened our review's scope. To systematize our approach a complete safety review, the AGNES (Advanced General Safety and New Evaluation of Safety) project was started in 1991. The goal of the project was to evaluate to what extent Paks NPP satisfied the current international safety expectations and to help in determining the priorities for safety enhancement and upgrading measures. The project completed in 1994 ranked our safety upgrading measures by safety significance, which became a basis for technical design work and financial scheduling. The other important outcome of the AGNES project was the introduction the Periodical Safety Review regime by our nuclear authority. These periodical reviews held after 10 years of operation offer the possibility - and obligation for the licensee - to perform a comprehensive assessment of the safety of the plant, to evaluate the integral effects of changes of circumstances happened during the review period. The goal of these reviews is to deal with cumulative effects of NPP ageing, modifications, operating experience and technical developments aimed at ensuring a high level of safety throughout plant service life. The execution of our safety-upgrading program is well advancing. For the whole program from 1996 to 2002 250

  12. Upgradation of Apsara reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mammen, S.; Mukherjee, P.; Bhatnagar, A.; Sasidharan, K.; Raina, V.K.

    2009-01-01

    Apsara is a 1 MW swimming pool type research reactor using high enriched uranium as fuel with light water as coolant and moderator. The reactor is in operation for more than five decades and has been extensively used for basic research, radioisotope production, neutron radiography, detector testing, shielding experiments etc. In view of its long service period, it is planned to carry out refurbishment of the reactor to extend its useful life. During refurbishment, it is also planned to upgrade the reactor to a 2 MW reactor to improve its utilization and to upgrade the structure, system and components in line with the current safety standards. This paper gives a brief account of the design features and safety aspects of the upgraded Apsara reactor. (author)

  13. Silicon Strip Detectors for the ATLAS sLHC Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Miñano, M; The ATLAS collaboration

    2011-01-01

    While the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is continuing to deliver an ever-increasing luminosity to the experiments, plans for an upgraded machine called Super-LHC (sLHC) are progressing. The upgrade is foreseen to increase the LHC design luminosity by a factor ten. The ATLAS experiment will need to build a new tracker for sLHC operation, which needs to be suited to the harsh sLHC conditions in terms of particle rates. In order to cope with the increase in pile-up backgrounds at the higher luminosity, an all silicon detector is being designed. To successfully face the increased radiation dose, a new generation of extremely radiation hard silicon detectors is being designed. The left part of figure 1 shows the simulated layout for the ATLAS tracker upgrade to be installed in the volume taken up by the current ATLAS pixel, strip and transition radiation detectors. Silicon sensors with sufficient radiation hardness are the subject of an international R&D programme, working on pixel and strip sensors. The...

  14. Upgrades and their training impact

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geise, W.B.

    1991-01-01

    In January, 1990, implementation of thermal hydraulic and core model upgrades to the Brunswick Simulator was completed. Static and dynamic NRC examination preparation, Licensed Operator Requalification training and training material development had to be completed to support an April, 1990's NRC exam date. Dramatic simulator improvements resulted in expanded performance. Unfortunately, insufficient time was available to fully retrain operators before their examinations. Because of this and other factors, the examinations resulted in 14 of 20 operators failing the dynamic simulator examination. The following paper describes the BSEP simulator impact on Licensed Training in 1990

  15. Biogas Upgrading and Waste-to-Energy | Bioenergy | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biogas Upgrading and Waste-to-Energy Biogas Upgrading and Waste-to-Energy NREL's waste-to-energy research and development required for upgrading biogas to fuels and high-value co-products. Featured (2014) Biogas Potential in the United States, NREL Fact Sheet (2013) View all NREL biogas upgrading and

  16. Human Factors Review Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paramore, B.; Peterson, L.R.

    1985-12-01

    ''Human Factors'' is concerned with the incorporation of human user considerations into a system in order to maximize human reliability and reduce errors. This Review Plan is intended to assist in the assessment of human factors conditions in existing DOE facilities. In addition to specifying assessment methodologies, the plan describes techniques for improving conditions which are found to not adequately support reliable human performance. The following topics are addressed: (1) selection of areas for review describes techniques for needs assessment to assist in selecting and prioritizing areas for review; (2) human factors engineering review is concerned with optimizing the interfaces between people and equipment and people and their work environment; (3) procedures review evaluates completeness and accuracy of procedures, as well as their usability and management; (4) organizational interface review is concerned with communication and coordination between all levels of an organization; and (5) training review evaluates training program criteria such as those involving: trainee selection, qualification of training staff, content and conduct of training, requalification training, and program management

  17. Human Factors Review Plan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paramore, B.; Peterson, L.R. (eds.)

    1985-12-01

    ''Human Factors'' is concerned with the incorporation of human user considerations into a system in order to maximize human reliability and reduce errors. This Review Plan is intended to assist in the assessment of human factors conditions in existing DOE facilities. In addition to specifying assessment methodologies, the plan describes techniques for improving conditions which are found to not adequately support reliable human performance. The following topics are addressed: (1) selection of areas for review describes techniques for needs assessment to assist in selecting and prioritizing areas for review; (2) human factors engineering review is concerned with optimizing the interfaces between people and equipment and people and their work environment; (3) procedures review evaluates completeness and accuracy of procedures, as well as their usability and management; (4) organizational interface review is concerned with communication and coordination between all levels of an organization; and (5) training review evaluates training program criteria such as those involving: trainee selection, qualification of training staff, content and conduct of training, requalification training, and program management.

  18. Analysis Efforts Supporting NSTX Upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, H.; Titus, P.; Rogoff, P.; Zolfaghari, A.; Mangra, D.; Smith, M.

    2010-01-01

    The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) is a low aspect ratio, spherical torus (ST) configuration device which is located at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) This device is presently being updated to enhance its physics by doubling the TF field to 1 Tesla and increasing the plasma current to 2 Mega-amperes. The upgrades include a replacement of the centerstack and addition of a second neutral beam. The upgrade analyses have two missions. The first is to support design of new components, principally the centerstack, the second is to qualify existing NSTX components for higher loads, which will increase by a factor of four. Cost efficiency was a design goal for new equipment qualification, and reanalysis of the existing components. Showing that older components can sustain the increased loads has been a challenging effort in which designs had to be developed that would limit loading on weaker components, and would minimize the extent of modifications needed. Two areas representing this effort have been chosen to describe in more details: analysis of the current distribution in the new TF inner legs, and, second, analysis of the out-of-plane support of the existing TF outer legs.

  19. The development of human factors technologies -The development of human factors experimental evaluation techniques-

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shim, Bong Sik; Oh, In Suk; Cha, Kyung Hoh; Lee, Hyun Chul

    1995-07-01

    In this year, we studied the followings: 1) Development of operator mental workload evaluation techniques, 2) Development of a prototype for preliminary human factors experiment, 3) Suitability test of information display on a large scale display panel, 4) Development of guidelines for VDU-based control room design, 5) Development of integrated test facility (ITF). 6) Establishment of an eye tracking system, and we got the following results: 1) Mental workload evaluation techniques for MMI evaluation, 2) PROTOPEX (PROTOtype for preliminary human factors experiment) for preliminary human factors experiments, 3) Usage methods of APTEA (Analysis-Prototyping-Training-Experiment-Analysis) experiment design, 4) Design guidelines for human factors verification, 5) Detail design requirements and development plan of ITF, 6) Eye movement measurement system. 38 figs, 20 tabs, 54 refs. (Author)

  20. Five TWh saved on profitable upgrading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bakken, Stein Arne.

    1999-01-01

    Article. In Norway, a project is planned to evaluate the upgrading potential of the hydroelectric power sector. The article criticizes the authorities for not supporting the upgrading of hydroelectric power plants in their eager to promote the development of wind power. An important contribution of the planned project will be a book from which the utilities may get advice on measures of upgrading. Generators and control systems account for 80% of the faults and interruptions in the power utilities. The turbine technology has made important progress in the 1990s. By pure upgrading measures alone, the turbine efficiencies may be increased enough for an additional 3 TWh to be taken out from the Norwegian hydroelectric power system. Today, the price of imported carbon-based Danish power determines whether the utilities find it profitable to rehabilitate the hydroelectric plants. The energy potential of upgrading is estimated to be 5 TWh. This energy can be generated with known technology and with no serious consequences for the environment

  1. Upgrade trigger: Biannual performance update

    CERN Document Server

    Aaij, Roel; Couturier, Ben; Esen, Sevda; De Cian, Michel; De Vries, Jacco Andreas; Dziurda, Agnieszka; Fitzpatrick, Conor; Fontana, Marianna; Grillo, Lucia; Hasse, Christoph; Jones, Christopher Rob; Le Gac, Renaud; Matev, Rosen; Neufeld, Niko; Nikodem, Thomas; Polci, Francesco; Del Buono, Luigi; Quagliani, Renato; Schwemmer, Rainer; Seyfert, Paul; Stahl, Sascha; Szumlak, Tomasz; Vesterinen, Mika Anton; Wanczyk, Joanna; Williams, Mark Richard James; Yin, Hang; Zacharjasz, Emilia Anna

    2017-01-01

    This document presents the performance of the LHCb Upgrade trigger reconstruction sequence, incorporating changes to the underlying reconstruction algorithms and detector description since the Trigger and Online Upgrade TDR. An updated extrapolation is presented using the most recent example of an Event Filter Farm node.

  2. Bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of lignin: Effects of process and upgrading parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Liangliang; Zhang, Yaning; Liu, Shiyu; Zhou, Nan; Chen, Paul; Cheng, Yanling; Addy, Min; Lu, Qian; Omar, Muhammad Mubashar; Liu, Yuhuan; Wang, Yunpu; Dai, Leilei; Anderson, Erik; Peng, Peng; Lei, Hanwu; Ruan, Roger

    2017-10-01

    Effects of process parameters on the yield and chemical profile of bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of lignin and the processes for lignin-derived bio-oil upgrading were reviewed. Various process parameters including pyrolysis temperature, reactor types, lignin characteristics, residence time, and feeding rate were discussed and the optimal parameter conditions for improved bio-oil yield and quality were concluded. In terms of lignin-derived bio-oil upgrading, three routes including pretreatment of lignin, catalytic upgrading, and co-pyrolysis of hydrogen-rich materials have been investigated. Zeolite cracking and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) treatment are two main methods for catalytic upgrading of lignin-derived bio-oil. Factors affecting zeolite activity and the main zeolite catalytic mechanisms for lignin conversion were analyzed. Noble metal-based catalysts and metal sulfide catalysts are normally used as the HDO catalysts and the conversion mechanisms associated with a series of reactions have been proposed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Human Factors in Marine Casualties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelenko Švetak

    2002-05-01

    Full Text Available Human factors play an important role in the origin of accidents,and it is commonly claimed that between seventy andninety-five percent of industrial and transport accidents involvehuman factors, see Figure 1.Some authorities, however, claim that ultimately, all accidentsinvolve human factors.

  4. Pulsed power supply for Nova Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bacon, J.L.; Kajs, J.P.; Walls, A.; Weldon, W.F.; Zowarka, R.C.

    1992-01-01

    This report describes work carried out at the Center for Electromechanics at The University of Texas at Austin (CEM-UT). A baseline design of the Nova Upgrade has been completed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The Nova Upgrade is an 18 beamline Nd: glass laser design utilizing fully relayed 4x4 30 cm aperture segmented optical components. The laser thus consists of 288 independent beamlets nominally producing 1.5 to 2.0 MJ of 0.35 μm light in a 3 to 5 ns pulse. The laser design is extremely flexible and will allow a wide range of pulses to irradiate ICF targets. This facility will demonstrate ignition/gain and the scientific feasibility of ICF for energy and defense applications. The pulsed power requirements for the Nova Upgrade are given. CEM-UT was contracted to study and develop a design for a homopolar generator/inductor (HPG/inductor) opening switch system which would satisfy the pulsed power supply requirements of the Nova Upgrade. The Nd:glass laser amplifiers used in the Nova Upgrade will be powered by light from xenon flashlamps. The pulsed power supply for the Nova Upgrade powers the xenon flashlamps. This design and study was for a power supply to drive flashlamps

  5. Hydrogen alternatives for a regional upgrader

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bailey, R.T.; Padamsey, R.

    1991-01-01

    For a proposed regional upgrader in Alberta, hydrogen will be needed to upgrade the bitumen and heavy oil to be processed by that facility. The upgrader will rely on high conversion hydrocracking which consumes 3.4 wt % hydrogen to produce a 106% volume yield of high quality synthetic crude. The costs of producing hydrogen via steam reforming of methane, partial oxidation of coal or upgrading residues, and electrolysis are compared, showing that steam reforming is the cheapest. However, an even cheaper source of hydrogen is available in the Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan area as byproducts from petrochemical plants. An economic analysis is presented of a proposed scheme to capture, purify, compress, and transfer hydrogen from one or two such plants to a nearby regional upgrader. The two plants could supply a total of 126.6 million ft 3 /d of hydrogen at a total installed capital cost of about half of that of a steam reforming plant of equivalent size. When operating costs are added (including the cost of replacing the hydrogen, currently used as fuel at the two plants, with natural gas), the total cost of hydrogen is substantially less than the costs for a hydrogen plant within the upgrader. 3 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs

  6. Actuator management for ECRH at ASDEX Upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rapson, Christopher J., E-mail: chris.rapson@ipp.mpg.de; Reich, Matthias; Stober, Joerg; Treutterer, Wolfgang

    2015-10-15

    Highlights: • Real-time actuator management algorithm developed for ECRH at ASDEX Upgrade. • First use of a control hierarchy in a fusion experiment. • Cost function evaluates optimal combination of all gyrotrons to all possible targets. • Considers many factors e.g. mirror movement, power available, presence and mode number of NTMs. • Configurable, robust algorithm is ready for online testing. - Abstract: Automated actuator management will be necessary on long pulse fusion experiments to adjust to unforeseen plasma events and unpredictable actuator availability. However, as a control problem, actuator management is underdeveloped in the fusion community. This contribution proposes an algorithm based on a control hierarchy and a cost function to optimally allocate scarce actuator resources to various objectives in real-time. Details are given on the development and offline testing which have been completed ready for deployment at ASDEX Upgrade. Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) is particularly relevant for actuator management due to its localised deposition which can flexibly target specific regions of the plasma for different effects such as non-inductive current drive, impurity regulation, control of MHD modes and of course heating. A further motivation is that automated actuator management will simplify the setup of ECRH, in keeping with the long term goal of integrating MHD control as a routine part of ASDEX Upgrade experiments.

  7. Actuator management for ECRH at ASDEX Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rapson, Christopher J.; Reich, Matthias; Stober, Joerg; Treutterer, Wolfgang

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Real-time actuator management algorithm developed for ECRH at ASDEX Upgrade. • First use of a control hierarchy in a fusion experiment. • Cost function evaluates optimal combination of all gyrotrons to all possible targets. • Considers many factors e.g. mirror movement, power available, presence and mode number of NTMs. • Configurable, robust algorithm is ready for online testing. - Abstract: Automated actuator management will be necessary on long pulse fusion experiments to adjust to unforeseen plasma events and unpredictable actuator availability. However, as a control problem, actuator management is underdeveloped in the fusion community. This contribution proposes an algorithm based on a control hierarchy and a cost function to optimally allocate scarce actuator resources to various objectives in real-time. Details are given on the development and offline testing which have been completed ready for deployment at ASDEX Upgrade. Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) is particularly relevant for actuator management due to its localised deposition which can flexibly target specific regions of the plasma for different effects such as non-inductive current drive, impurity regulation, control of MHD modes and of course heating. A further motivation is that automated actuator management will simplify the setup of ECRH, in keeping with the long term goal of integrating MHD control as a routine part of ASDEX Upgrade experiments.

  8. LHCb VELO Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Hennessy, Karol

    2016-01-01

    The upgrade of the LHCb experiment, scheduled for LHC Run-III, scheduled to start in 2021, will transform the experiment to a trigger-less system reading out the full detector at 40 MHz event rate. All data reduction algorithms will be executed in a high-level software farm enabling the detector to run at luminosities of $2\\times10^{33} \\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\\mathrm{s}^{-1}$. The Vertex Locator (VELO) is the silicon vertex detector surrounding the interaction region. The current detector will be replaced with a hybrid pixel system equipped with electronics capable of reading out at 40 MHz. The upgraded VELO will provide fast pattern recognition and track reconstruction to the software trigger. The silicon pixel sensors have $55\\times55 \\mu m^{2}$ pitch, and are read out by the VeloPix ASIC, from the Timepix/Medipix family. The hottest region will have pixel hit rates of 900 Mhits/s yielding a total data rate of more than 3 Tbit/s for the upgraded VELO. The detector modules are located in a separate vacuum, separate...

  9. ATLAS Upgrade Plans

    CERN Document Server

    Hopkins, W; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    After the successful LHC operation at the center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV in 2010-2012, plans are actively advancing for a series of upgrades of the accelerator, culminating roughly ten years from now in the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, delivering of the order of five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity along with luminosity leveling. The final goal is to extend the dataset from about few hundred fb−1 expected for LHC running to 3000/fb by around 2035 for ATLAS and CMS. In parallel, the experiments need to be keep lockstep with the accelerator to accommodate running beyond the nominal luminosity this decade. Current planning in ATLAS envisions significant upgrades to the detector during the consolidation of the LHC to reach full LHC energy and further upgrades. The challenge of coping with the HL-LHC instantaneous and integrated luminosity, along with the associated radiation levels, requires further major changes to the ATLAS detector. The designs are developing rapidly for a new...

  10. Human factors and safe patient care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norris, Beverley

    2009-03-01

    This paper aims to introduce the topic of human factors to nursing management and to identify areas where it can be applied to patient safety. Human factors is a discipline established in most safety critical industries and uses knowledge about human behaviour in the analysis and design of complex systems, yet it is relatively new to many in healthcare. Most safety critical industries have developed tools and techniques to apply human factors to system design, and these have been reviewed together with those resources already available for use in healthcare. Models of human behaviour such as the nature and patterns of human error, information processing, decision-making and team work have clear applications to healthcare. Human factors focus on a system view of safety, and propose that safety should, where possible, be 'designed in'. Other interventions such as building defences, mitigating hazards and education and training should only be used where design solutions cannot be found. Simple human factors principles such as: designing for standardization; the involvement of users and staff in designing services and procuring equipment; understanding how errors occur; and the workarounds that staff will inevitably take are vital considerations in improving patient safety. Opportunities for the application of human factors to healthcare and improved patient safety are discussed. Some existing tools and techniques for applying human factors in nursing management are also presented.

  11. Human factors issues in digital system design and implementation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galletti, Greg S.

    1998-01-01

    A goal of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is to ensure safety in the application of digital equipment upgrades to nuclear power plant control rooms and local control stations. One of the areas of specific interest is the integration of digital technology into existing analog control, display, and information systems and the implications of such integration for operators in regard to their use of this new equipment to safely operate the plant. This paper is a discussion of human performance issues related to the introduction of such digital equipment into operating nuclear power plants. (author)

  12. Upgrading the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Popeneciu, G; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the central hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. Around 2023, after the upgrade of the LHC (High Luminosity LHC, phase 2) the peak luminosity will increase by a factor of 5 compared to the design value (1034 cm-2 s-1), thus requiring an upgrade of the TileCal readout electronics. Except the 9852 photomultipliers (PMTs), most of the on- and off-detector electronics will be replaced, with the aim of digitizing all PMT pulses at 40 MHz at the front-end level and sending them with 10 Gbps optical links to the back-end electronics. Moreover, to increase reliability, redundancy will be introduced at different levels. Three different options are currently being investigated for the front-end electronics and extensive test beam studies are planned to select the best option. One demonstrator prototype module is also planned to be inserted in TileCal in 2014 that will include hybrid electronic components able to probe the new design, but still compatible with the presen...

  13. Human factors in nuclear safety oversight

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, K.

    1989-01-01

    The mission of the nuclear safety oversight function at the Savannah River Plant is to enhance the process and nuclear safety of site facilities. One of the major goals surrounding this mission is the reduction of human error. It is for this reason that several human factors engineers are assigned to the Operations assessment Group of the Facility Safety Evaluation Section (FSES). The initial task of the human factors contingent was the design and implementation of a site wide root cause analysis program. The intent of this system is to determine the most prevalent sources of human error in facility operations and to assist in determining where the limited human factors resources should be focused. In this paper the strategy used to educate the organization about the field of human factors is described. Creating an awareness of the importance of human factors engineering in all facets of design, operation, and maintenance is considered to be an important step in reducing the rate of human error

  14. LHCb VELO upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hennessy, Karol

    2017-02-11

    The upgrade of the LHCb experiment, scheduled for LHC Run-III, scheduled to start in 2021, will transform the experiment to a trigger-less system reading out the full detector at 40 MHz event rate. All data reduction algorithms will be executed in a high-level software farm enabling the detector to run at luminosities of 2×10{sup 33} cm{sup −2} s{sup −1}. The Vertex Locator (VELO) is the silicon vertex detector surrounding the interaction region. The current detector will be replaced with a hybrid pixel system equipped with electronics capable of reading out at 40 MHz. The upgraded VELO will provide fast pattern recognition and track reconstruction to the software trigger. The silicon pixel sensors have 55×55 μm{sup 2} pitch, and are read out by the VeloPix ASIC, from the Timepix/Medipix family. The hottest region will have pixel hit rates of 900 Mhits/s yielding a total data rate of more than 3 Tbit/s for the upgraded VELO. The detector modules are located in a separate vacuum, separated from the beam vacuum by a thin custom made foil. The foil will be manufactured through milling and possibly thinned further by chemical etching. The material budget will be minimised by the use of evaporative CO{sub 2} coolant circulating in microchannels within 400 μm thick silicon substrates. The current status of the VELO upgrade is described and latest results from operation of irradiated sensor assemblies are presented.

  15. OMEGA Upgrade preliminary design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Craxton, R.S.

    1989-10-01

    The OMEGA laser system at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics of the University of Rochester is the only major facility in the United States capable of conducting fully diagnosed, direct-drive, spherical implosion experiments. As such, it serves as the national Laser Users Facility, benefiting scientists throughout the country. The University's participation in the National Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program underwent review by a group of experts under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (the Happer Committee) in 1985. The Happer Committee recommended that the OMEGA laser be upgraded in energy to 30 kJ. To this end, Congress appropriated $4,000,000 for the preliminary design of the OMEGA Upgrade, spread across FY88 and FY89. This document describes the preliminary design of the OMEGA Upgrade. The proposed enhancements to the existing OMEGA facility will result in a 30-kHJ, 351-nm, 60-beam direct-drive system, with a versatile pulse-shaping facility and a 1%--2% uniformity of target drive. The Upgrade will allow scientists to explore the ignition-scaling regime, and to study target behavior that is hydrodynamically equivalent to that of targets appropriate for a laboratory microfusion facility (LMF). In addition, it will be possible to perform critical interaction experiments with large-scale-length uniformly irradiated plasmas

  16. Human factors in resuscitation teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norris, Elizabeth M; Lockey, Andrew S

    2012-04-01

    There is an increasing interest in human factors within the healthcare environment reflecting the understanding of their impact on safety. The aim of this paper is to explore how human factors might be taught on resuscitation courses, and improve course outcomes in terms of improved mortality and morbidity for patients. The delivery of human factors training is important and this review explores the work that has been delivered already and areas for future research and teaching. Medline was searched using MESH terms Resuscitation as a Major concept and Patient or Leadership as core terms. The abstracts were read and 25 full length articles reviewed. Critical incident reporting has shown four recurring problems: lack of organisation at an arrest, lack of equipment, non functioning equipment, and obstructions preventing good care. Of these, the first relates directly to the concept of human factors. Team dynamics for both team membership and leadership, management of stress, conflict and the role of debriefing are highlighted. Possible strategies for teaching them are discussed. Four strategies for improving human factors training are discussed: team dynamics (including team membership and leadership behaviour), the influence of stress, debriefing, and conflict within teams. This review illustrates how human factor training might be integrated further into life support training without jeopardising the core content and lengthening the courses. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Critical human-factors issues in nuclear-power regulation and a recommended comprehensive human-factors long-range plan. Executive summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hopkins, C.O.; Snyder, H.L.; Price, H.E.; Hornick, R.J.; Mackie, R.R.; Smillie, R.J.; Sugarman, R.C.

    1982-08-01

    This comprehensive long-range human factors plan for nuclear reactor regulation was developed by a Study Group of the Human Factors Society, Inc. This Study Group was selected by the Executive Council of the Society to provide a balanced, experienced human factors perspective to the applications of human factors scientific and engineering knowledge to nuclear power generation. The report is presented in three volumes. Volume 1 contains an Executive Summary of the 18-month effort and its conclusions. Volume 2 summarizes all known nuclear-related human factors activities, evaluates these activities wherever adequate information is available, and describes the recommended long-range (10-year) plan for human factors in regulation. Volume 3 elaborates upon each of the human factors issues and areas of recommended human factors involvement contained in the plan, and discusses the logic that led to the recommendations

  18. Completion of the brightness upgrade of the ALS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steier, C; Madur, A; Bailey, B; Berg, K; Biocca, A; Black, A; Casey, P; Colomb, D; Gunion, B; Li, N; Marks, S; Nishimura, H; Pappas, C; Petermann, K; Portmann, G; Prestemon, S; Rawlins, A; Robin, D; Rossi, S; Scarvie, T

    2014-01-01

    The Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Berkeley Lab remains one of the brightest sources for soft x-rays worldwide. A multiyear upgrade of the ALS is underway, which includes new and replacement x-ray beamlines, a replacement of many of the original insertion devices and many upgrades to the accelerator. The accelerator upgrade that affects the ALS performance most directly is the ALS brightness upgrade [1], which reduces the horizontal emittance from 6.3 to 2.0 nm (2.5 nm effective). Magnets for this upgrade were installed in late 2012 and early 2013 followed by user operation with the reduced emittance.

  19. UPGRADES

    CERN Multimedia

    D. Contardo and J. Spalding

    2012-01-01

      Good progress is being made on the projects that will be installed during LS1. CSC chamber production for ME4/2 is progressing at a rate of four chambers per month, with 25 built so far, and the new electronics for ME1/1 is undergoing a pre-production integration testing. For the RPC chambers, gap production is underway with first deliveries to the chamber assembly sites at CERN and Ghent. The third site at Mumbai will begin production next month. For the PMT replacement in the forward hadron calorimeters (HF), the 1728 PMTs are all characterised and ready to be installed. Testing of the electronics boards is going well. Preparations to replace the HPDs in the outer calorimeter (HO) with SiPMs are also on-track. All components are at CERN and burn-in of the new front-end electronics is proceeding. There are three major upgrade projects targeting the period from LS1 through LS2: a new pixel detector, upgraded photo-detectors and electronics for HCAL, and development of a new L1 Trigger. The new ...

  20. UPGRADES

    CERN Multimedia

    Didier Contardo

    2012-01-01

      The CMS Upgrade Programme is making good progress on the LS1 and Phase 1 projects, in the planning for Phase 2. The construction of the ME4/2 muon chambers to be installed during LS1 has started and the two first CSC production chambers have been fully qualified. The three muon groups have recently established a set of milestones towards the completion of their project, that will be integrated in the detailed planning and scheduling for the shutdown work established by Technical Coordination. The project to replace the photo-detectors in the HF and HO calorimeters is also well advanced and at the validation stage. The operation of an HF slice with new multi-anode PMTs and back-end electronics has already been demonstrated in 2012. For the Phase 1 data-taking, as discussed in the Chamonix workshop, it is likely that the LHC performance will exceed the nominal luminosity and pile-up before the second shutdown, still scheduled in 2018. The collaboration is therefore pursuing a strategy to upgrade ...

  1. UPGRADES

    CERN Multimedia

    D. Contardo and J. Spalding

    2013-01-01

    The three post-LS1 Phase 1 Upgrade projects (the L1-Trigger, Pixel Tracker, and HCAL) are all making excellent progress and are transitioning from the prototype to the execution phase. Meanwhile plans are developing for Phase 2, a major Upgrade programme targeting the third long shutdown, LS3. News on Phase 1 is included under the respective projects; we only provide a brief summary here. Phase 1 The plan for the L1 Trigger relies on the installation during the present shutdown of optical splitting for the Trigger input signals. This will allow the new Trigger system to be brought online and fully commissioned during beam operation in 2015, while CMS relies on the existing legacy Trigger for physics. Once fully commissioned the experiment can switch over to the new Trigger, which will provide greatly improved performance at high event pile-up, by 2016. System tests of the splitter system, and of the new architecture of the calorimeter trigger were very successful, and the work in LS1 is on-track. Prototype ...

  2. Control and data acquisition upgrades for NSTX-U

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davis, W.M., E-mail: bdavis@pppl.gov; Tchilinguirian, G.J., E-mail: gtchilin@pppl.gov; Carroll, T., E-mail: tcarroll@pppl.gov; Erickson, K.G., E-mail: kerickson@pppl.gov; Gerhardt, S.P., E-mail: sgerhardt@pppl.gov; Henderson, P., E-mail: phenderson@pppl.gov; Kampel, S.H., E-mail: skampel@pppl.gov; Sichta, P., E-mail: psichta@pppl.gov; Zimmer, G.N., E-mail: gzimmer@pppl.gov

    2016-11-15

    Highlights: • The NSTX-U upgrade is nearing completion, and various control and data acquisition upgrades are needed. • The Digital Coil Protection System is a major addition which provides hardware and software to protect the magnetic coils from the complex, increased, stresses added from the upgrade. • The increased computational requirements for the upgrade have largely followed Moore’s Law, and enhancements to the infrastructure and computer hardware should maintain or exceed the previous functionality. • Data requirements for Fast 2-D cameras have exceeded those of “conventional” time-varying signals. There has been a particular emphasis and increase in data from IR cameras. - Abstract: The extensive NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) Project includes major components which allow a doubling of the toroidal field strength to 1 T, of the Neutral Beam heating power to 12 MW, and the plasma current to 2 MA, and substantial structural enhancements to withstand the increased electromagnetic loads. The maximum pulse length will go from 1.5 to 5 s. The larger and more complex forces on the coils will be protected by a Digital Coil Protection System, which requires demanding real-time data input rates, calculations and responses. The amount of conventional digitized data for a given pulse is expected to increase from 2.5 to 5 GB per second of pulse. 2-D Fast Camera data is expected to go from 2.5 GB/pulse to 10, and another 2 GB/pulse is expected from new IR cameras. Our network capacity will be increased by a factor of 10, with 10 Gb/s fibers used for the major trunks. 32-core Linux systems will be used for several functions, including between-shot data processing, MDSplus data serving, between-shot EFIT analysis, real-time processing, and for a new capability, between-shot TRANSP. Improvements to the MDSplus events subsystem will be made through the use of both UDP and TCP/IP based methods and the addition of a dedicated “event server”.

  3. An improvement of the applicability of human factors guidelines for coping with human factors issues in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Y. H.; Lee, J. Y.

    2003-01-01

    Human factors have been well known as one of the key factors to the system effectiveness as well as the efficiency and safety of nuclear power plants(NPPs). Human factors engineering(HFE) are included in periodic safety review(PSR) on the existing NPPs and the formal safety assessment for the new ones. However, HFE for NPPs is still neither popular in practice nor concrete in methodology. Especially, the human factors guidelines, which are the most frequent form of human factors engineering in practice, reveal the limitations in their applications. We discuss the limitations and their casual factors found in human factors guidelines in order to lesson the workload of HFE practitioners and to improve the applicability of human factors guidelines. According to the purposes and the phases of HFE for NPPs, more selective items and specified criteria should be prepared carefully in the human factors guidelines for the each HFE applications in practice. These finding on the human factors guidelines can be transferred to the other HFE application field, such as military, aviation, telecommunication, HCI, and product safety

  4. Human factors in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swain, A.D.

    1981-01-01

    This report describes some of the human factors problems in nuclear power plants and the technology that can be employed to reduce those problems. Many of the changes to improve the human factors in existing plants are inexpensive, and the expected gain in human reliability is substantial. The human factors technology is well-established and there are practitioners in most countries that have nuclear power plants. (orig.) [de

  5. In-situ biogas upgrading in thermophilic granular UASB reactor: key factors affecting the hydrogen mass transfer rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassani, Ilaria; Kougias, Panagiotis G; Angelidaki, Irini

    2016-12-01

    Biological biogas upgrading coupling CO 2 with external H 2 to form biomethane opens new avenues for sustainable biofuel production. For developing this technology, efficient H 2 to liquid transfer is fundamental. This study proposes an innovative setup for in-situ biogas upgrading converting the CO 2 in the biogas into CH 4 , via hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. The setup consisted of a granular reactor connected to a separate chamber, where H 2 was injected. Different packing materials (rashig rings and alumina ceramic sponge) were tested to increase gas-liquid mass transfer. This aspect was optimized by liquid and gas recirculation and chamber configuration. It was shown that by distributing H 2 through a metallic diffuser followed by ceramic sponge in a separate chamber, having a volume of 25% of the reactor, and by applying a mild gas recirculation, CO 2 content in the biogas dropped from 42 to 10% and the final biogas was upgraded from 58 to 82% CH 4 content. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. The Jlab Upgrade - Nucleon Studies with CLAS12

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Volker Burkert

    2007-01-01

    An overview is presented on the program to study the nucleon structure at the 12 GeV Jlab Upgrade using the CLAS12 detector. The focus is on deeply virtual exclusive processes to access the generalized parton distributions, semi-inclusive processes to study transveresx momentum-dependent distributions functions, and inclusive spin structure functions and resonance transition form factors at high Q 2 and with high precision

  7. Physical protection upgrades in Ukraine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Djakov, A.

    1998-01-01

    The U.S. DOE is providing nuclear material safeguards assistance in both material control and accountability and in physical protection to several facilities in Ukraine. This paper summarizes the types of physical protection upgrades that have been or are presently being implemented at these facilities. These facilities include the Kiev Institute for Nuclear Research, Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, Sevastopol Institute of Nuclear Energy and Industry, and the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant. Typical upgrades include: hardening of storage areas; improvements in access control, intrusion detection, and CCTV assessment; central alarm station improvements; and implementation of new voice communication systems. Methods used to implement these upgrades and problems encountered are discussed. Training issues are also discussed

  8. Human factors in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pack, R.W.

    1978-01-01

    The Electric Power Research Institute has started research in human factors in nuclear power plants. One project, completed in March 1977, reviewed human factors problems in operating power plants and produced a report evaluating those problems. A second project developed computer programs for evaluating operator performance on training simulators. A third project is developing and evaluating control-room design approaches. A fourth project is reviewing human factors problems associated with power-plant maintainability and instrumentation and control technician activities. Human factors engineering is an interdisciplinary specialty concerned with influencing the design of equipment systems, facilities, and operational environments to promote safe, efficient, and reliable operator performance. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has undertaken four projects studying the application of human factors engineering principles to nuclear power plants. (author)

  9. Urban upgrading for violence prevention in South Africa: Does it ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    The Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) project, funded jointly by the German Development Bank and the City of Cape Town in South Africa, is a prime example of an evidence-based intervention for violence prevention that was designed to address all urban violence determining factors. The VPUU ...

  10. Research on Upgrade Path to Technology Innovation of Resource-based SMEs in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jie, Xu

    2017-08-01

    Complexity, diversity and coordination are features of technology innovation of resource-based SMEs in China. This paper studies on the key factors of macro-environment, cooperation among enterprises and enterprise interior, which influence the upgrading of technology innovation of resource-based SMEs in China. This paper constructs integrated system of technology innovation to analyse the upgrade path to technology innovation of resource-based SMEs in China, so that enterprises would improve their technology innovation and get a new way to accomplish sustainable innovated development.

  11. Silicon strip detectors for the ATLAS HL-LHC upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Gonzalez Sevilla, S; The ATLAS collaboration

    2011-01-01

    The LHC upgrade is foreseen to increase the ATLAS design luminosity by a factor ten, implying the need to build a new tracker suited to the harsh HL-LHC conditions in terms of particle rates and radiation doses. In order to cope with the increase in pile-up backgrounds at the higher luminosity, an all silicon detector is being designed. To successfully face the increased radiation dose, a new generation of extremely radiation hard silicon detectors is being designed. We give an overview of the ATLAS tracker upgrade project, in particular focusing on the crucial innermost silicon strip layers. Results from a wide range of irradiated silicon detectors for the strip region of the future ATLAS tracker are presented. Layout concepts for lightweight yet mechanically very rigid detector modules with high service integration are shown.

  12. Gas Permeation Processes in Biogas Upgrading: A Short Review

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kárászová, Magda; Sedláková, Zuzana; Izák, Pavel

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 69, č. 10 (2015), s. 1277-1283 ISSN 0366-6352 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LD14094; GA MŠk LH14006; GA ČR GA14-12695S Institutional support: RVO:67985858 Keywords : biogas upgrading * memranes * gas permeation Subject RIV: CI - Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Impact factor: 1.326, year: 2015

  13. Upgrading Probability via Fractions of Events

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frič Roman

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The influence of “Grundbegriffe” by A. N. Kolmogorov (published in 1933 on education in the area of probability and its impact on research in stochastics cannot be overestimated. We would like to point out three aspects of the classical probability theory “calling for” an upgrade: (i classical random events are black-and-white (Boolean; (ii classical random variables do not model quantum phenomena; (iii basic maps (probability measures and observables { dual maps to random variables have very different “mathematical nature”. Accordingly, we propose an upgraded probability theory based on Łukasiewicz operations (multivalued logic on events, elementary category theory, and covering the classical probability theory as a special case. The upgrade can be compared to replacing calculations with integers by calculations with rational (and real numbers. Namely, to avoid the three objections, we embed the classical (Boolean random events (represented by the f0; 1g-valued indicator functions of sets into upgraded random events (represented by measurable {0; 1}-valued functions, the minimal domain of probability containing “fractions” of classical random events, and we upgrade the notions of probability measure and random variable.

  14. System and process for upgrading hydrocarbons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bingham, Dennis N.; Klingler, Kerry M.; Smith, Joseph D.; Turner, Terry D.; Wilding, Bruce M.

    2015-08-25

    In one embodiment, a system for upgrading a hydrocarbon material may include a black wax upgrade subsystem and a molten salt gasification (MSG) subsystem. The black wax upgrade subsystem and the MSG subsystem may be located within a common pressure boundary, such as within a pressure vessel. Gaseous materials produced by the MSG subsystem may be used in the process carried out within the black wax upgrade subsystem. For example, hydrogen may pass through a gaseous transfer interface to interact with black wax feed material to hydrogenate such material during a cracking process. In one embodiment, the gaseous transfer interface may include one or more openings in a tube or conduit which is carrying the black wax material. A pressure differential may control the flow of hydrogen within the tube or conduit. Related methods are also disclosed.

  15. CANDU Digital Control Computer upgrade options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Jong, M.S.; De Grosbois, J.; Qian, T.

    1997-01-01

    This paper reviews the evolution of Digital Control Computers (DCC) in CANDU power plants to the present day. Much of this evolution has been to meeting changing control or display requirements as well as the replacement of obsolete, or old and less reliable technology with better equipment that is now available. The current work at AECL and Canadian utilities to investigate DCC upgrade options, alternatives, and strategies are examined. The dependence of a particular upgrade strategy on the overall plant refurbishment plans are also discussed. Presently, the upgrade options range from replacement of individual obsolete system components, to replacement of the entire DCC hardware without changing the software, to complete replacement of the DCCs with a functionally equivalent system using new control computer equipment and software. Key issues, constraints and objectives associated with these DCC upgrade options are highlighted. (author)

  16. Correlation Relationship of Performance Shaping Factors (PSFs) for Human Reliability Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bheka, M. Khumalo; Kim, Jonghyun [KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-10-15

    At TMI-2, operators permitted thousands of gallons of water to escape from the reactor plant before realizing that the coolant pumps were behaving abnormally. The coolant pumps were then turned off, which in turn led to the destruction of the reactor itself as cooling was completely lost within the core. Human also plays a role in many aspects of complex systems e.g. in design and manufacture of hardware, interface between human and system and also in maintaining such systems as well as for coping with unusual events that place the NPP system at a risk. This is why human reliability analysis (HRA) - an aspect of risk assessments which systematically identifies and analyzes the causes and consequences of human decisions and actions - is important in nuclear power plant operations. It either upgrades or degrades human performance; therefore it has an impact on the possibility of error. These PSFs can be used in various HRA methods to estimate Human Error Probabilities (HEPs). There are many current HRA methods who propose sets of PSFs for normal operation mode of NPP. Some of these PSFs in the sets have some degree of dependency and overlap. Overlapping PSFs introduce error in HEP evaluations due to the fact that some elements are counted more than once in data; this skews the relationship amongst PSF and masks the way that the elements interact to affect performance. This study uses a causal model that represents dependencies and relationships amongst PSFs for HEP evaluation during normal NPP operational states. The model is built taking into consideration the dependencies among PSFs and thus eliminating overlap. The use of an interdependent model of PSFs is expected to produce more accurate HEPs compared to other current methods. PSF sets produced in this study can be further used as nodes (variables) and directed arcs (causal influence between nodes) in HEP evaluation methods such as Bayesian belief (BN) networks. This study was done to estimate the relationships

  17. Specifications for human factors guiding documents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rhodes, W; Szlapetis, I; MacGregor, C [Rhodes and Associates Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada)

    1995-04-01

    This report specifies the content, function and appearance of three proposed human factors guiding documents to be used by the Atomic Energy Control board and its licensees. These three guiding documents, to be developed at a later date, are: (a) Human Factors Process Guide; (b) Human Factors Activities Guide; and (c) Human Factors Design Integration Guide. The specifications were developed by examining the best documents as identified in a previous contract with the AECB (Review of Human Factors Guidelines and Methods by W. Rhodes, I. Szlapetis et al. 1992), and a brief literature review. The best features and content were selected from existing documents and used to develop specifications for the guiding documents. The developer of the actual guides would use these specifications to produce comprehensive and consolidated documents at a later date. (author). 128 ref., 7 figs.

  18. Specifications for human factors guiding documents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhodes, W.; Szlapetis, I.; MacGregor, C.

    1995-04-01

    This report specifies the content, function and appearance of three proposed human factors guiding documents to be used by the Atomic Energy Control board and its licensees. These three guiding documents, to be developed at a later date, are: (a) Human Factors Process Guide; (b) Human Factors Activities Guide; and (c) Human Factors Design Integration Guide. The specifications were developed by examining the best documents as identified in a previous contract with the AECB (Review of Human Factors Guidelines and Methods by W. Rhodes, I. Szlapetis et al. 1992), and a brief literature review. The best features and content were selected from existing documents and used to develop specifications for the guiding documents. The developer of the actual guides would use these specifications to produce comprehensive and consolidated documents at a later date. (author). 128 ref., 7 figs

  19. PSI: Upgrading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    The accelerator complex at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen near Zurich (PSI - formed in 1988 by combining the Federal Institute for Reactor Research and the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research) is in the throes of a major and lengthy upgrade

  20. PSI: Upgrading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anon.

    1992-09-15

    The accelerator complex at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen near Zurich (PSI - formed in 1988 by combining the Federal Institute for Reactor Research and the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research) is in the throes of a major and lengthy upgrade.

  1. The contributions of human factors on human error in Malaysia aviation maintenance industries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Padil, H.; Said, M. N.; Azizan, A.

    2018-05-01

    Aviation maintenance is a multitasking activity in which individuals perform varied tasks under constant pressure to meet deadlines as well as challenging work conditions. These situational characteristics combined with human factors can lead to various types of human related errors. The primary objective of this research is to develop a structural relationship model that incorporates human factors, organizational factors, and their impact on human errors in aviation maintenance. Towards that end, a questionnaire was developed which was administered to Malaysian aviation maintenance professionals. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach was used in this study utilizing AMOS software. Results showed that there were a significant relationship of human factors on human errors and were tested in the model. Human factors had a partial effect on organizational factors while organizational factors had a direct and positive impact on human errors. It was also revealed that organizational factors contributed to human errors when coupled with human factors construct. This study has contributed to the advancement of knowledge on human factors effecting safety and has provided guidelines for improving human factors performance relating to aviation maintenance activities and could be used as a reference for improving safety performance in the Malaysian aviation maintenance companies.

  2. Biogas upgrading to biomethane. Proceedings; Biogasaufbereitung zu Biomethan. Tagungsband

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-12-05

    Within the 6th Hanauer Dialogue 'Biogas upgrading to biomethane' at 21st February, 2008, the following lectures were held: (a) Processing of biogas - an introduction (Michael Beil); (b) The climate protecting targets of the Federal Republic of Germany: Which role will play the upgrading of biogas, and which legal boundary conditions are created by the Federal Government? (Uwe Holzhammer); (c) Future strategy: CH{sub 4} grids (Juergen Schmid); (d) Biogas upgrading and biomethane utilization in Sweden (Anneli Petersson); (e) Biogas upgrading and utilization of bio methane in Switzerland (Arthur Wellinger); (f) Biogas upgrading by means of pressure swing adsorption (Alfons Schulte-Schulze Berndt); (g) Biogas upgrading by means of pressurized water washing (Ulf Richter); (h) Biogas upgrading for feeding in public grids. The case of biogas plant Bruck a.d. Leitha (Michael Harasek); (i) Biogas upgrading by means of chemical absorption according to the LP Cooab process (Jerome van Beek); (j) Practical experiences in unpressurized amine washing MT bio methane (Karsten Wuensche); (k) Biogas upgrading by means of organic physical washing with HAASE biogas amplifiers (Roland Kahn); (l) Upgrading using cryogenic technology; the GPP registered -system (Jeroen de Pater); (m) Micro Gas Distribution Systems: Alternatives to biogas upgrading and grid injection (Michael Beil, Bernd Krautkremer); (n) Feeding of exchange gas. The case of project Straelen and Kerpen (Frank Schaefer); (o) Feeding of biogas from the view of grid operators (Norbert Nordmeyer); BIOGASMAX: Biogas as Vehicle Fuel - Market Expansion to 2020 Air Quality (Michael Beil, Uwe Hoffstede); (p) Study: Feeding of biogas into the natural gas distribution system (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe).

  3. New operational spaces for the electron cyclotron resonance heating at ASDEX upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoehnle, Hendrik Sebastian

    2012-01-01

    In this thesis, new electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) scenarios were developed for an extension of the operational space at the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade in view of ITER compatibility. In the last years, the first wall material at ASDEX Upgrade was changed from graphite to tungsten, and the ECRH is needed to control the tungsten concentration in the plasma core. But, in ITER-like plasma discharges at ASDEX Upgrade, the usage of the ECRH in the typically used second harmonic extraordinary polarised mode (X2 mode) is limited. In these ITER-scenarios a small safety factor should be achieved, which implements an increase of the plasma current at ASDEX Upgrade. A higher plasma current and a high confinement lead to a raised density and for the ITER scenario to an electron density above the cutoff of the X2 mode at ASDEX Upgrade. Therefore, the X2 mode is reflected at the cutoff layer and cannot be used for central heating and the control of the tungsten concentration. One possibility to overcome this problem is to apply the third harmonic mode at reduced magnetic field. Here the cutoff is increased by 33% due to the dependence on the magnetic field. However, at the reachable plasma parameters at the reduced field the absorption of the X3 mode is incomplete (60-70 %) and the shine-trough power can destroy microwave sensitive components in ASDEX Upgrade. To solve this problem the magnetic field has to be optimized. A slightly increased magnetic field from 1.7 T to 1.8 T moves the second harmonic resonance in the region of confined plasma with high temperatures and density, so that this resonance can act as beam dump. The deposition in the plasma core is still central enough for the tungsten control ability of the ECRH. The benefit of the beam dump was verified in experiments with two different magnetic fields (1.7 T and 1.8 T). In case of the higher magnetic field, the stray radiation was reduced; simultaneously the electron temperature was increased. In addition

  4. The D0 detector upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bross, A.D.

    1995-02-01

    The Fermilab collider program is undergoing a major upgrade of both the accelerator complex and the two detectors. Operation of the Tevatron at luminosities upwards of ten time that currently provided will occur in early 1999 after the commissioning of the new Fermilab Main Injector. The D0 upgrade program has been established to deliver a detector that will meet the challenges of this environment. A new magnetic tracker consisting of a superconducting solenoid, a silicon vertex detector, a scintillating fiber central tracker, and a central preshower detector will replace the current central tracking and transition radiation chambers. We present the design and performance capabilities of these new systems and describe results from physics simulations that demonstrate the physics reach of the upgraded detector

  5. Public-Interest Benefit Evaluation of Partial- Upgrading Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Kent Fellows

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Approximately 60 per cent of Alberta’s oil sands production is non-upgraded bitumen which, after being mixed with a diluting agent (diluent to allow transport, is exported. A popular view within Alberta — and particularly among Albertan politicians — is that a much larger share of oil sands bitumen should be upgraded in the province. However, without public subsidies or government underwriting, it is uneconomic to build and operate new facilities in Alberta to fully upgrade the bitumen into synthetic crude oil. But there are new partial upgrading technologies being developed that, subject to successful testing at a larger (commercial pilot scale, can prove to be not only economic in Alberta, but also generate large social and economic benefits for the province. The advantages include a much smaller capital investment, a significant increase in the value of the product and market for the product and, even more importantly, a dramatic reduction in the need for large amounts of expensive diluent to transport the product to market. Indeed, the only diluent required will be that to move the bitumen from the production site to the partial upgrader and this can be continually recycled. The market for the synthetic crude oil produced by full upgrading is only getting tougher. Any Alberta bitumen fully upgraded here would compete closely with the rapidly expanding supply of light U.S. unconventional oil. Partial upgrading does not upgrade bitumen to a light crude, but to something resembling more of a medium or heavy crude, and at a lower cost per barrel than full upgrading. Unlike in the increasingly crowded light-crude market, the Alberta Royalty Review Advisory Panel recognized that currently there are gaps in several North American refineries that could be filled by this partially upgraded Alberta oil. A partial upgrader serving that less-competitive market not only appears to hold the potential for investors to make attractive returns in the

  6. Higher Prostate Weight Is Inversely Associated with Gleason Score Upgrading in Radical Prostatectomy Specimens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonardo Oliveira Reis

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Protective factors against Gleason upgrading and its impact on outcomes after surgery warrant better definition. Patients and Methods. Consecutive 343 patients were categorized at biopsy (BGS and prostatectomy (PGS as Gleason score, ≤6, 7, and ≥8; 94 patients (27.4% had PSA recurrence, mean followup 80.2 months (median 99. Independent predictors of Gleason upgrading (logistic regression and disease-free survival (DFS (Kaplan-Meier, log-rank were determined. Results. Gleason discordance was 45.7% (37.32% upgrading and 8.45% downgrading. Upgrading risk decreased by 2.4% for each 1 g of prostate weight increment, while it increased by 10.2% for every 1 ng/mL of PSA, 72.0% for every 0.1 unity of PSA density and was 21 times higher for those with BGS 7. Gleason upgrading showed increased clinical stage (P=0.019, higher tumor extent (P=0.009, extraprostatic extension (P=0.04, positive surgical margins (P<0.001, seminal vesicle invasion (P=0.003, less “insignificant” tumors (P<0.001, and also worse DFS, χ2=4.28, df=1, P=0.039. However, when setting the final Gleason score (BGS ≤6 to PGS 7 versus BGS 7 to PGS 7, avoiding allocation bias, DFS impact is not confirmed, χ2=0.40, df=1, P=0.530.Conclusions. Gleason upgrading is substantial and confers worse outcomes. Prostate weight is inversely related to upgrading and its protective effect warrants further evaluation.

  7. Risk Assessment on the Transition Program for Air Traffic Control Automation System Upgrade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Dong Bin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We analyzed the safety risks of the transition program for Air Traffic Control (ATC automation system upgrade by using the event tree analysis method in this paper. We decomposed the occurrence progress of the three transition phase and built the event trees corresponding to the three stages, and then we determined the probability of success of each factor and calculated probability of success of the air traffic control automation system upgrade transition. In the conclusion, we illustrate the transition program safety risk according to the results.

  8. TCV divertor upgrade for alternative magnetic configurations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Reimerdes

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The Swiss Plasma Center (SPC is planning a divertor upgrade for the TCV tokamak. The upgrade aims at extending the research of conventional and alternative divertor configurations to operational scenarios and divertor regimes of greater relevance for a fusion reactor. The main elements of the upgrade are the installation of an in-vessel structure to form a divertor chamber of variable closure and enhanced diagnostic capabilities, an increase of the pumping capability of the divertor chamber and the addition of new divertor poloidal field coils. The project follows a staged approach and is carried out in parallel with an upgrade of the TCV heating system. First calculations using the EMC3-Eirene code indicate that realistic baffles together with the planned heating upgrade will allow for a significantly higher compression of neutral particles in the divertor, which is a prerequisite to test the power dissipation potential of various divertor configurations.

  9. Upgrading Preschool Environment in a Swedish Municipality: Evaluation of an Implementation Process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altin, Carolina; Kvist Lindholm, Sofia; Wejdmark, Mats; Lättman-Masch, Robert; Boldemann, Cecilia

    2015-07-01

    Redesigning outdoor preschool environment may favorably affect multiple factors relevant to health and reach many children. Cross-sectional studies in various landscapes at different latitudes have explored the characteristics of preschool outdoor environment considering the play potential triggering combined physical activity and sun-protective behavior due to space, vegetation, and topography. Criteria were pinpointed to upgrade preschool outdoor environment for multiple health outcomes to be applied in local government in charge of public preschools. Purposeful land use policies and administrative management of outdoor land use may serve to monitor the quality of preschool outdoor environments (upgrading and planning). This study evaluates the process of implementing routines for upgrading outdoor preschool environments in a medium-sized municipality, Sweden, 2008-2011, using qualitative and quantitative analysis. Recorded written material (logs and protocols) related to the project was processed using thematic analysis. Quantitative data (m(2) flat/multileveled, overgrown/naked surface, and fraction of free visible sky) were analyzed to assess the impact of implementation (surface, topography, greenery integrated in play). The preschool outdoor environments were upgraded accordingly. The quality of implementation was assessed using the theory of policy streams approach. Though long-term impact remains to be confirmed the process seems to have changed work routines in the interior management for purposeful upgrading of preschool outdoor environments. The aptitude and applicability of inexpensive methods for assessing, selecting, and upgrading preschool land at various latitudes, climates, and outdoor play policies (including gender aspects and staff policies) should be further discussed, as well as the compilation of data for monitoring and evaluation. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

  10. Human Factors in Cabin Accident Investigations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chute, Rebecca D.; Rosekind, Mark R. (Technical Monitor)

    1996-01-01

    Human factors has become an integral part of the accident investigation protocol. However, much of the investigative process remains focussed on the flight deck, airframe, and power plant systems. As a consequence, little data has been collected regarding the human factors issues within and involving the cabin during an accident. Therefore, the possibility exists that contributing factors that lie within that domain may be overlooked. The FAA Office of Accident Investigation is sponsoring a two-day workshop on cabin safety accident investigation. This course, within the workshop, will be of two hours duration and will explore relevant areas of human factors research. Specifically, the three areas of discussion are: Information transfer and resource management, fatigue and other physical stressors, and the human/machine interface. Integration of these areas will be accomplished by providing a suggested checklist of specific cabin-related human factors questions for investigators to probe following an accident.

  11. Implementing human factors in clinical practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timmons, Stephen; Baxendale, Bryn; Buttery, Andrew; Miles, Giulia; Roe, Bridget; Browes, Simon

    2015-01-01

    Objectives To understand whether aviation-derived human factors training is acceptable and useful to healthcare professionals. To understand whether and how healthcare professionals have been able to implement human factors approaches to patient safety in their own area of clinical practice. Methods Qualitative, longitudinal study using semi-structured interviews and focus groups, of a multiprofessional group of UK NHS staff (from the emergency department and operating theatres) who have received aviation-derived human factors training. Results The human factors training was evaluated positively, and thought to be both acceptable and relevant to practice. However, the staff found it harder to implement what they had learned in their own clinical areas, and this was principally attributed to features of the informal organisational cultures. Conclusions In order to successfully apply human factors approaches in hospital, careful consideration needs to be given to the local context and informal culture of clinical practice. PMID:24631959

  12. Effectiveness of human factors simulator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moragas, F.

    2015-01-01

    En 2011, ANAV started the exploitation of the Human Factors Simulator installed in TECNATOM Training Center located in L'Hospital de L'Infant Tarragona. AVAN's Strategic Plan includes the Action Plan for the improvement of human behavior. The plan includes improving the efficiency of the efficiency of the human factors simulator. It is proposed to improve the efficiency into two different terms: winning effectiveness in modeling behaviors, and interweaving the activities in the simulator with the actual strategy of promoting Safety culture and human behaviour. (Author)

  13. Initial performance of upgraded Tevatron cryogenic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norris, B.L.

    1996-09-01

    Fermilab began operating a re-designed satellite refrigerator systems in November 1993. Upgrades were installed to operate the Tevatron at a magnet temperature of 3.5 K, approximately 1K lower than the original design. Refrigerator upgrades included new valve boxes, larger reciprocating expanders, the installation of cold vapor compressors, new sub-atmospheric instrumentation and an entirely new distributed controls system. Cryogenic system reliability data for Colliding Physics Run 1B is presented emphasizing a failure analysis for each aspect of the upgrade. Comparison to data for Colliding Physics Run 1A (previous to upgrade) is presented to show the impact of a major system overhaul. New operational problems and their solutions are presented in detail

  14. OVERVIEW OF A RECONFIGURABLE SIMULATOR FOR MAIN CONTROL ROOM UPGRADES IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ronald L. Boring

    2012-10-01

    This paper provides background on a reconfigurable control room simulator for nuclear power plants. The main control rooms in current nuclear power plants feature analog technology that is growing obsolete. The need to upgrade control rooms serves the practical need of maintainability as well as the opportunity to implement newer digital technologies with added functionality. There currently exists no dedicated research simulator for use in human factors design and evaluation activities for nuclear power plant modernization in the U.S. The new research simulator discussed in this paper provides a test bed in which operator performance on new control room concepts can be benchmarked against existing control rooms and in which new technologies can be validated for safety and usability prior to deployment.

  15. Analysis of Energy Industry Upgrading in Northeast China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiao-jing; Ji, Yu-liang; Guan, Bai-feng; Jing, Xin

    2018-02-01

    Promoting regional economic growth and realizing the transformation of the mode of economic growth are in industrial upgrading essence The product is a carrier that represents a series of links of production, management and marketing behind the enterprise, and is a comprehensive reflection of the knowledge and ability of a country or region. Based on the industrial spatial structure, this paper visualizes the industrial space in Northeast China from 2005 to 2015, analyzes the comparative advantages of the energy industry in Northeast China, and examines the status quo of the upgrade of the energy industry according to the industrial upgrading status. Based on the industrial spatial structure, Industry intensity in the industrial space, put forward the future direction of the energy industry upgrade and upgrade path.

  16. Developments towards the LHCb VELO upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cid Vidal, Xabier, E-mail: xabier.cid.vidal@cern.ch

    2016-09-21

    The Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon strip detector surrounding the interaction region of the LHCb experiment. The upgrade of the VELO is planned to be installed in 2019–2020, and the current detector will be replaced by a hybrid pixel system equipped with electronics capable of reading out at a rate of 40 MHz. The new detector is designed to withstand the radiation dose expected at an integrated luminosity of 50 fb{sup −1}. The detector will be composed of silicon pixel sensors, read out by the VeloPix ASIC that is being developed based on the TimePix/MediPix family. The prototype sensors for the VELO upgrade are being irradiated in five different facilities and the post-irradiation performance is being measured with testbeams, and in the lab. These proceedings present the VELO upgrade and briefly discuss the results of the sensor testing campaign. - Highlights: • The VELO is the detector surrounding the LHCb collision point. • After its upgrade, the VELO will be capable of reading out at a rate of 40 MHz. • The detector will be composed of Si pixel sensors, read out by the VeloPix ASIC. • The irradiated prototype sensors for the VELO upgrade are currently being tested.

  17. Human Health/Human Factors Considerations in Trans-Lunar Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, E. Cherice; Howard, Robert; Mendeck, Gavin

    2014-01-01

    The human factors insights of how they are incorporated into the vehicle are crucial towards designing and planning the internal designs necessary for future spacecraft and missions. The adjusted mission concept of supporting the Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission will drive some human factors changes on how the Orion will be used and will be reassessed so as to best contribute to missions success. Recognizing what the human factors and health functional needs are early in the design process and how to integrate them will improve this and future generations of space vehicles to achieve mission success and continue to minimize risks.

  18. Upgrade of the ALICE muon trigger electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupieux, P; Joly, B; Jouve, F; Manen, S; Vandaële, R

    2014-01-01

    The ALICE muon trigger is a large scale detector based on single gap bakelite RPCs. An upgrade of the electronics is needed in order to withstand the increase of luminosity after the LHC Long Shutdown-2 in 2018-2019. The detector will be read out at the minimum bias rate of 100 kHz in Pb–Pb collisions (including a safety factor of 2), two orders of magnitude above the present design. For the most exposed RPCs and in the present conditions of operation, the total integrated charge could be as high as 100 mC/cm 2 with rates up to 100 Hz/cm 2 , which is above the present limit for safe operation. In order to overcome these limitations, upgrade projects of the Front-End (FE) and Readout Electronics are scheduled. The readout upgrade at high rate with low dead time requires changing most of the present electronics. It involves a new design for the 234 Local cards receiving the LVDS signals from the FE electronics and the 16 Regional concentrator cards. The readout chain is completed by a single Common Readout Unit developed for most ALICE sub-detectors. The new architecture of the muon trigger readout will be briefly presented. The present FE electronics, designed for the streamer mode, must be replaced to prevent ageing of the RPCs in the future operating conditions. The new FE called FEERIC (for Front-End Electronics Rapid Integrated Circuit) will have to perform amplification of the analog input signals. This will allow for RPC operation in a low-gain avalanche mode, with a much smaller charge deposit (factor 3-5) in the detector as compared to the present conditions. The purpose is to discriminate RPC signals with a charge threshold around 100 fC, in both polarities, and with a time jitter below 1 ns. We will describe the FE card and FEERIC ASIC features and first prototype performance, report on test results obtained on a cosmic test bench and discuss ongoing developments

  19. RF upgrade program in LHC injectors and LHC machine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jensen, E.

    2012-01-01

    The main themes of the RF upgrade program are: the Linac4 project, the LLRF-upgrade and the study of a tuning-free wide-band system for PSB, the upgrade of the SPS 800 MHz amplifiers and beam controls and the upgrade of the transverse dampers of the LHC. Whilst LHC Splice Consolidation is certainly the top priority for LS1, some necessary RF consolidation and upgrade is necessary to assure the LHC performance for the next 3- year run period. This includes: 1) necessary maintenance and consolidation work that could not fit the shorter technical stops during the last years, 2) the upgrade of the SPS 200 MHz system from presently 4 to 6 cavities and possibly 3) the replacement of one LHC cavity module. On the longer term, the LHC luminosity upgrade requires crab cavities, for which some preparatory work in SPS Coldex must be scheduled during LS1. (author)

  20. OMEGA upgrade staging options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kelly, J.H.; Shoup, M.J.; Smith, D.L.

    1989-01-01

    The authors discuss how they are designing an upgrade to its 24-beam OMEGA laser system, OMEGA is a frequency tripled, all-rod system capable of producing 2 kJ at 0.8 ns on target. Important direct-drive-target-ignition physics could be investigated with an upgraded system capable of producing a shaped pulse consisting of a long (5ns) low-intensity, foot, smoothly transitioning into a short (0.5 ns), intense, compression pulse. The total pulse energy is 30 kJ, which, from target-irradiation uniformity considerations, must be distributed over 60 beams

  1. Upgrade of VR-1 training reactor I and C

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kropik, M.; Matejka, K.; Chab, V.

    2003-01-01

    The contribution describes the upgrade of the VR-1 training reactor I and C (Instrumentation and Control). The reactor was put into operation in the 1990, and its I and C seems to be obsolete now. The new I and C utilises the same digital technology as the old one. The upgrade has been done gradually during holidays in order not to disturb the reactor utilisation during teaching and training. The first stage consisted in the human-machine interface and the control room upgrade in 2001. A new operator's desk, displays, indicators and buttons were installed. Completely new software and communication interface to the present I and C were developed. During the second stage in 2002, new control rod drivers and safety circuits were installed. The rod motors were replaced and necessary mechanical changes on the control rod mechanism, induced by the utilisation of the new motor, were done. The new safety circuits utilise high quality relays with forced contacts to guarantee high reliability of their operation. The third stage, the control system upgrade is being carried out now. The new control system is based on an industrial PC mounted in a 19 inch crate. The operating system of the PC is the Microsoft Windows XP with the real time support RTX of the VentureCom Company. A large amount of work has been devoted to the software requirements to specify all dependencies, modes and permitted actions, safety measures, etc. The Department took an active part in the setting of software requirements and later in verification and validation of the software and the whole control system. Finally, a new protection system consisting of power measuring and power protection channels will be installed in 2004 or 2005. (author)

  2. Upgrading the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Oreglia, M; The ATLAS collaboration

    2013-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the most central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. The main upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC phase (phase 2) which is scheduled around 2022. The upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on- and off- detector electronics so that all calorimeter signals are directly digitized and sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. An ambitious upgrade development program is pursued studying different electronics options. Three different options are presently being investigated for the front-end electronic upgrade. Which one to use will be decided after extensive test beam studies. High speed optical links are used to read out all digitized data to the counting room. For the off-detector electronics a new back-end architecture is being developed, including the initial trigger processing and pipeline memories. A demonstrator prototype read-out for a slice of the ...

  3. Prioritizing and scheduling Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant safeguards upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edmunds, T.; Saleh, R.; Zevanove, S.

    1992-02-01

    As part of the Site Safeguards and Security Plan (SSSP), facilities are required to develop a Resource Plan (RP). The Resource Plan provides documentation and justification for the facility's planned upgrades, including the schedule, priority, and cost estimates for the safeguards and security upgrades. Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) management has identified and obtained funding approval for a number of safeguards and security upgrades, including line-item construction projects. These upgrade projects were selected to address a variety of concerns identified in the PORTS vulnerability assessments and other reviews performed in support of the SSSP process. However, budgeting and scheduling constraints do not make it possible to simultaneously begin implementation of all of the upgrade projects. A formal methodology and analysis are needed to explicitly address the trade-offs between competing safeguards objectives, and to prioritize and schedule the upgrade projects to ensure that the maximum benefit can be realized in the shortest possible time frame. The purpose of this report is to describe the methodology developed to support these upgrade project scheduling decisions. The report also presents the results obtained from applying the methodology to a set of the upgrade projects selected by PORTS S ampersand S management. Data for the analysis are based on discussions with personnel familiar with the PORTS safeguards and security needs, the requirements for implementing these upgrades, and upgrade funding limitations. The analysis results presented here assume continued highly enriched uranium (HEU) operations at PORTS. However, the methodology developed is readily adaptable for the evaluation of other operational scenarios and other resource allocation issues relevant to PORTS

  4. Silicon Sensors for the Upgrades of the CMS Pixel Detector

    CERN Document Server

    Centis Vignali, Matteo; Schleper, Peter

    2015-01-01

    The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is a general purpose detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC luminosity is constantly increased through upgrades of the accel- erator and its injection chain. Two major upgrades will take place in the next years. The rst upgrade involves the LHC injector chain and allows the collider to achieve a luminosity of about 2 10 34 cm-2 s-1 A further upgrade of the LHC foreseen for 2025 will boost its luminosity to 5 10 34 cm-2 s1. As a consequence of the increased luminosity, the detectors need to be upgraded. In particular, the CMS pixel detector will undergo two upgrades in the next years. The rst upgrade (phase I) consists in the substitution of the current pixel detector in winter 2016/2017. The upgraded pixel detector will implement new readout elec- tronics that allow ecient data taking up to a luminosity of 2 10 34 cm-2s-1,twice as much as the LHC design luminosity. The modules that will constitute the upgraded detector are being produced at dierent institutes. Ham...

  5. Upgrading of Intermediate Bio-Oil Produced by Catalytic Pyrolysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdullah, Zia [Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States); Chadwell, Brad [Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States); Taha, Rachid [Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States); Hindin, Barry [Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States); Ralston, Kevin [Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States)

    2015-06-30

    The objectives of this project were to (1) develop a process to upgrade catalytic pyrolysis bio-oil, (2) investigate new upgrading catalysts suited for upgrading catalytic pyrolysis bio-oil, (3) demonstrate upgrading system operation for more than 1,000 hours using a single catalyst charge, and (4) produce a final upgraded product that can be blended to 30 percent by weight with petroleum fuels or that is compatible with existing petroleum refining operations. This project has, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time enabled a commercially viable bio-oil hydrotreatment process to produce renewable blend stock for transportation fuels.

  6. WNP-2 core model upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Golightly, C.E.; Ravindranath, T.K.; Belblidia, L.A.; O'Farrell, D.; Andersen, P.S.

    2006-01-01

    The paper describes the core model upgrade of the WNP-2 training simulator and the reasons for the upgrade. The core model as well as the interface with the rest of the simulator are briefly described . The paper also describes the procedure that will be used by WNP-2 to update the simulator core data after future core reloads. Results from the fully integrated simulator are presented. (author)

  7. Upgrades to the ATLAS trigger system   

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00221618; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    In coming years the LHC is expected to undergo upgrades to increase both the energy of proton-proton collisions and the instantaneous luminosity. In order to cope with these more challenging LHC conditions, upgrades of the ATLAS trigger system will be required. This talk will focus on some of the key aspects of these upgrades. Firstly, the upgrade period between 2019-2021 will see an increase in instantaneous luminosity to $3\\times10^{34} \\rm{cm^{-2}s^{-1}}$. Upgrades to the Level 1 trigger system during this time will include improvements for both the muon and calorimeter triggers. These include the upgrade of the first-level Endcap Muon trigger, the calorimeter trigger electronics and the addition of new calorimeter feature extractor hardware, such as the Global Feature Extractor (gFEX). An overview will be given on the design and development status the aforementioned systems, along with the latest testing and validation results. By 2026, the High Luminosity LHC will be able to deliver 14 TeV collisions wit...

  8. The LHCb VELO Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    de Capua, Stefano

    2016-01-01

    The upgrade of the LHCb experiment, scheduled for LHC Run-3, will transform the experiment to a triggerless system reading out the full detector at 40 MHz event rate. All data reduction algorithms will be executed in a high-level software farm, enabling the detector to run at luminosities of 2×1033 cm−2 s −1 . The Vertex Locator (VELO) is the silicon vertex detector surrounding the interaction region. The current strip detector will be replaced with a hybrid pixel system equipped with electronics capable of reading out at 40 MHz. The upgraded VELO will allow for fast pattern recognition and track reconstruction in the software trigger. The silicon pixel sensors have 55×55 µm2 pitch, and are read out by the VeloPix ASIC. The VeloPix builds on the currently available Timepix3, modified to deliver a radiation hard design capable of an order of magnitude increase in output rate. The hottest regions will have pixel hit rates of 900 Mhits/s, yielding a total data rate more than 3 Tbit/s for the upgraded VELO...

  9. The D0 upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuts, P.M.

    1992-10-01

    The original D0 detector was proposed in 1983, with a focus on high P T physics using precision measurements of e's, μ's, jets, and missing E T . This detector, as of the summer of 1992, has started data taking at the Fermilab Collider. However, by 1995/6 the luminosity will reach 10 31 cm -2 sec -1 , and the minimum bunch spacing will drop to 396ns from the present 3.5μs (by the Main Injector era, luminosities will approach 10 32 cm -2 sec -1 and minimum bunch spacings may reach 132ns). These changes in the accelerator conditions force us to upgrade or replace a number of detector subsystems in order to meet these new demands. In addition, the upgrade offers us the opportunity to expand the physics horizons to include not only the all important high P T physics menu, but also the low P T physics that has become increasingly important. In this paper we describe the D0 detector upgrade

  10. Formaldehyde OMI operational retrieval upgrades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez Abad, G.; Chance, K.; Liu, X.

    2013-05-01

    Total column of formaldehyde (HCHO), a proxy for biogenic emissions, can be observed from satellites using the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. The operational HCHO retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the AURA satellite, part of NASA's A-train constellation of Earth Observing satellites, are described. The operational retrieval, based on a basic optical absorption spectroscopy (BOAS) algorithm, has been affected by the degradation of the instrument especially from 2008 onwards. The most significant problems are the unrealistic increasing high background concentrations of HCHO retrieved from OMI and the row anomaly. An upgrade for the original operational algorithm is therefore needed to ensure its trend quality and to account for these difficulties. The strategies implemented to deal with the instrumental degradation are presented here. Air mass factors (AMFs) in the current fitting window show significant wavelength dependence. Fitting uncertainties can potentially be improved by including shorter wavelengths as long as the AMFs wavelength dependence is taken into account. As part of these improvements a look-up table of wavelength-dependent AMFs have been calculated. Using this new table it is possible to retrieve the HCHO total column directly, weighting the HCHO cross sections with the wavelength-dependent AMFs. Additionally, the pixels affected by the row anomaly are now flagged in the level 2 data generated with the upgraded algorithm.

  11. LHCb PID Upgrade Technical Design Report

    CERN Document Server

    LHCb Collaboration

    2013-01-01

    The LHCb upgrade will take place in the second long shutdown of the LHC, currently scheduled to begin in 2018. The upgrade will enable the experiment to run at luminosities of $2 \\times 10^{33}cm^{-2}s^{-1}$ and will read out data at a rate of 40MHz into a exible software-based trigger. All sub-detectors of LHCb will be re-designed to comply with these new operating conditions. This Technical Design Report presents the upgrade plans of the Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) system, the calorimeter system and the muon system, which together provide the particle identication capabilities of the experiment.

  12. Instrumentation and control upgrade evaluation methodology: Final report. Volume 2: Workbook

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bliss, M.; Brown, E.; Florio, F.; Stofko, M.

    1996-07-01

    This workbook accompanies the methodology manual (EPRI TR-104963-V1) which describes how to develop an Upgrade Evaluation Report (UER). A UER is an evaluation that is performed by a nuclear power plant to decide the most cost-effective upgrade to perform (if any) for a previously identified Upgrade Candidate System. A UER defines the utility`s mission and objectives in regards to upgrade candidates, as well as the systems initial costs, benefits to each upgrade, and an initial upgrade schedule to cost-effectively implement system upgrades.

  13. Technical Barriers, Gaps, and Opportunities Related to Home Energy Upgrade Market Delivery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bianchi, M. V. A.

    2011-11-01

    This report outlines the technical barriers, gaps, and opportunities that arise in executing home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, as identified through research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program. The objective of this report is to outline the technical1 barriers, gaps, and opportunities that arise in executing home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, as identified through research conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building America program. This information will be used to provide guidance for new research necessary to enable the success of the approaches. Investigation for this report was conducted via publications related to home energy upgrade market delivery approaches, and a series of interviews with subject matter experts (contractors, consultants, program managers, manufacturers, trade organization representatives, and real estate agents). These experts specified technical barriers and gaps, and offered suggestions for how the technical community might address them. The potential benefits of home energy upgrades are many and varied: reduced energy use and costs; improved comfort, durability, and safety; increased property value; and job creation. Nevertheless, home energy upgrades do not comprise a large part of the overall home improvement market. Residential energy efficiency is the most complex climate intervention option to deliver because the market failures are many and transaction costs are high (Climate Change Capital 2009). The key reasons that energy efficiency investment is not being delivered are: (1) The opportunity is highly fragmented; and (2) The energy efficiency assets are nonstatus, low-visibility investments that are not properly valued. There are significant barriers to mobilizing the investment in home energy upgrades, including the 'hassle factor' (the time and effort required to identify and secure improvement works), access to financing, and the

  14. Human Factors Laboratory

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — Purpose: The purpose of the Human Factors Laboratory is to further the understanding of highway user needs so that those needs can be incorporated in roadway design,...

  15. Implementing human factors in clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timmons, Stephen; Baxendale, Bryn; Buttery, Andrew; Miles, Giulia; Roe, Bridget; Browes, Simon

    2015-05-01

    To understand whether aviation-derived human factors training is acceptable and useful to healthcare professionals. To understand whether and how healthcare professionals have been able to implement human factors approaches to patient safety in their own area of clinical practice. Qualitative, longitudinal study using semi-structured interviews and focus groups, of a multiprofessional group of UK NHS staff (from the emergency department and operating theatres) who have received aviation-derived human factors training. The human factors training was evaluated positively, and thought to be both acceptable and relevant to practice. However, the staff found it harder to implement what they had learned in their own clinical areas, and this was principally attributed to features of the informal organisational cultures. In order to successfully apply human factors approaches in hospital, careful consideration needs to be given to the local context and informal culture of clinical practice. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  16. Development of large size Micromegas detectors for the upgrade of the ATLAS experiments

    CERN Document Server

    Bianco, Michele

    2014-01-01

    The luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN f oresees a luminosity increase by a factor 3 compared to the LHC luminosity design value. To c ope with the corresponding rate increase, the Muon System of the ATLAS experiment at CER N needs to be upgraded. In the first station of the high rapidity region, micromegas det ectors have been chosen as the main tracking chambers but will, at the same time, also contribut e to the trigger. We describe the R&D; efforts that led to the construction of the first (1 × 2.4 m 2 ) large micromegas detectors at CERN and outline the next steps towards the construction of the 12 00 m 2 of micromegas detectors for the ATLAS upgrade. The technical solutions, adopted in the c onstruction of the chamber as well as results on the detector performance with cosmic rays are s hown.

  17. Human factors in nuclear power plant operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swain, A.D.

    1980-08-01

    This report describes some of the human factors problems in nuclear power plants and the technology that can be employed to reduce those problems. Many of the changes to improve the human factors in existing plants are inexpensive, and the expected gain in human reliability is substantial. The human factors technology is well-established and there are practitioners in most countries that have nuclear power plants

  18. Human factors methods in DOE nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bennett, C.T.; Banks, W.W.; Waters, R.J.

    1993-01-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) is in the process of developing a series of guidelines for the use of human factors standards, procedures, and methods to be used in nuclear facilities. This paper discusses the philosophy and process being used to develop a DOE human factors methods handbook to be used during the design cycle. The following sections will discuss: (1) basic justification for the project; (2) human factors design objectives and goals; and (3) role of human factors engineering (HFE) in the design cycle

  19. Integrating human factors into process hazard analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kariuki, S.G.; Loewe, K.

    2007-01-01

    A comprehensive process hazard analysis (PHA) needs to address human factors. This paper describes an approach that systematically identifies human error in process design and the human factors that influence its production and propagation. It is deductive in nature and therefore considers human error as a top event. The combinations of different factors that may lead to this top event are analysed. It is qualitative in nature and is used in combination with other PHA methods. The method has an advantage because it does not look at the operator error as the sole contributor to the human failure within a system but a combination of all underlying factors

  20. Draft revision of human factors guideline HF-010

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Hyun Chul; Lee, Yong Hee; Oh, In Seok; Lee, Jung Woon; Cha, Woo Chang; Lee, Dhong Ha

    2003-05-01

    The Application of Human Factors to the design of Man-Machine Interfaces System(MMIS) in the nuclear power plant is essential to the safety and productivity of the nuclear power plants, human factors standards and guidelines as well as human factors analysis methods and experiments are weightily used to the design application. A Korean engineering company has developed a human factors engineering guideline, so-call HF-010, and has used it for human factors design, however the revision of HF-010 is necessary owing to lack of the contents related to the advanced MMI(Man-Machine Interfaces). As the results of the reviews of HF-010, it is found out that the revision of Section 9. Computer Displays of HF-010 is urgent, thus the revision was drafted on the basis of integrated human factors design guidelines for VDT, human factors design guidelines for PMAS SPADES display, human factors design guidelines for PMAS alarm display, and human factors design guidelines for electronic displays developed by the surveillance and operation support project of KOICS. The draft revision of HF-010 Section 9 proposed in this report can be utilized for the human factors design of the advanced MMI, and the high practical usability of the draft can be kept up through the continuous revision according to the advancement of digital technology

  1. Introduction to human factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winters, J.M.

    1988-03-01

    Some background is given on the field of human factors. The nature of problems with current human/computer interfaces is discussed, some costs are identified, ideal attributes of graceful system interfaces are outlined, and some reasons are indicated why it's not easy to fix the problems

  2. Human factors influencing decision making

    OpenAIRE

    Jacobs, Patricia A.

    1998-01-01

    This report supplies references and comments on literature that identifies human factors influencing decision making, particularly military decision making. The literature has been classified as follows (the classes are not mutually exclusive): features of human information processing; decision making models which are not mathematical models but rather are descriptive; non- personality factors influencing decision making; national characteristics influencing decision makin...

  3. Operation status and upgrading of HIRFL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, J.Y.; Wang, Y.F.; Wei, B.W.

    2001-01-01

    The operation status and the undergoing upgrading at HIRFL machine are presented. The accelerated ion species with the machine have been expanding, including metallic ions and higher energy with the new ECR ion source. The upgrading of HIRFL as the pre-accelerator of CSR storage ring has been processing steadily. The new 14.5 GHz ECR ion source has been put in operation in early 1999. A full-superconducting ECR ion source of 18 GHz is under design. The manufacture of the new vacuum chamber for SFC is just finished and the installation is to be started. The construction of the new B1 buncher is nearly to be finished, and the off-line test and the installation will be started soon. Another two identical bunchers will be ordered after the test. The beam distribution system is under upgrading to make all experiment stations separate from the others and the time-sharing mode possible, and a new cancer-therapy station is also under construction. The other upgrading items include the yoke enlarging of SFC, beam diagnostics, computer control and beam distribution system

  4. Biogas as a renewable energy fuel – A review of biogas upgrading, utilisation and storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ullah Khan, Imran; Hafiz Dzarfan Othman, Mohd; Hashim, Haslenda; Matsuura, Takeshi; Ismail, A.F.; Rezaei-DashtArzhandi, M.; Wan Azelee, I.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • It is attempted to provide critical considerations on various biogas upgrading techniques. • Membrane is an environmentally and economically sound technique for purification. • Purified biogas in compressed form is a substitute of compressed natural gas for vehicles. • Charged mass and compressor input work are the most important factors for storage. - Abstract: Biogas upgrading is a widely studied and discussed topic and its utilisation as a natural gas substitute has gained a significant attention in recent years. The production of biomethane provides a versatile application in both heat and power generation and as a vehicular fuel. This paper systematically reviews the state of the art of biogas upgrading technologies with upgrading efficiency, methane (CH 4 ) loss, environmental effect, development and commercialisation, and challenges in terms of energy consumption and economic assessment. The market situation for biogas upgrading has changed rapidly in recent years, making the membrane separation gets significant market share with traditional biogas upgrading technologies. In addition, the potential utilisation of biogas, efficient conversion into bio-compressed natural gas (bio-CNG), and storage systems are investigated in depth. Two storing systems for bio-CNG at filling stations, namely buffer and cascade storage systems are used. The best storage system should be selected on the basis of the advantages of both systems. Also, the fuel economy and mass emissions for bio-CNG and CNG filled vehicles are studied. There is the same fuel economy and less carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission for bio-CNG. Based on the results of comparisons between the technical features of upgrading technologies, various specific requirements for biogas utilisation and the relevant investment, and operating and maintenance costs, future recommendations are made for biogas upgrading.

  5. Silicon Tracking Upgrade at CDF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruse, M.C.

    1998-04-01

    The Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) is scheduled to begin recording data from Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron in early 2000. The silicon tracking upgrade constitutes both the upgrade to the CDF silicon vertex detector (SVX II) and the new Intermediate Silicon Layers (ISL) located at radii just beyond the SVX II. Here we review the design and prototyping of all aspects of these detectors including mechanical design, data acquisition, and a trigger based on silicon tracking

  6. Events as spaces for upgrading : Automotive events in Shanghai

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    E. van Tuijl (Erwin); K. Dittrich (Koen)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractThis study contributes to the literature dealing with upgrading of the Chinese automotive industry by analysing the role of events in the upgrading process. By combining literature on temporary clusters with that of knowledge sourcing and upgrading, we investigate how firms use events

  7. Commissioning of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Bilki, Burak

    2017-01-01

    The final phase of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I upgrade was performed during the Extended Year End Technical Stop of 2016 and 2017. In the framework of the upgrade, the PMT boxes were reworked to implement two channel readout in order to exploit the benefits of the multi-anode PMTs in background tagging and signal recovery. The front-end electronics were also upgraded to QIE10-based electronics which implement larger dynamic range and a 6-bit TDC. Following this major upgrade, the Hadron Forward Calorimeters were commissioned for operation readiness in 2017. Here we describe the details and the components of the upgrade, and discuss the operational experience and results obtained during the upgrade and commissioning.

  8. Commissioning of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I Upgrade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bilki, B.; Onel, Y.

    2018-03-01

    The final phase of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I Upgrade was performed during the Extended Year End Technical Stop of 2016-2017. In the framework of the upgrade, the PMT boxes were reworked to implement two channel readout in order to exploit the benefits of the multi-anode PMTs in background tagging and signal recovery. The front-end electronics were also upgraded to QIE10-based electronics which implement larger dynamic range and a 6-bit TDC. Following this major upgrade, the Hadron Forward Calorimeters were commissioned for operation readiness in 2017. Here we describe the details and the components of the upgrade, and discuss the operational experience and results obtained during the upgrade and commissioning.

  9. Upgrading Planning and Executive Strategy for Reactor Protection System and Relative Equipment in Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang Zuyue

    2010-01-01

    Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (QNPP) is the first nuclear power plant in China which completed the reactor protection system (RPS) upgrading with new digital safety instrumentation and control (I and C) platform instead of original analog system. At the same time,the nuclear instrumentation system (NIS) was upgraded with the same digital I and C platform. For adapting QNPP's actual engineering situation,the upgrading planning was taken by comprehensively investigating current development and application of digital safety I and C platform in the worldwide scope and by reviewing plant's original systems operation history. The project executive strategy-QNPP's leading role with necessary overseas cooperation and internal technical supports as great as possible, was determined. Some significant factors might influence and restrict the RPS and relative equipment upgrading executive actions in an operating NPP were analyzed.Finally, the engineering feasibility was briefly assessed to recognize the anticipated issues and difficulties and to prepare the relative solutions in advance for the purpose of ensuring the RPS upgrading objectives completely realized. (authors)

  10. Bohunice V1 NPP upgrading programme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kerak, J.

    2001-01-01

    The paper describes whole process of Bohunice V1 NPP nuclear safety and operational reliability level increase which has been performed since units commissioning (1. unit in 1978, 2. unit in 1980), continued Small Reconstruction (1991 -1993) and finished Gradual Upgrading(1994 -2000). The main purpose is to last stage -Gradual upgrading of Bohunice V1 NPP. (author)

  11. Human factors in safety and business management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogt, Joachim; Leonhardt, Jorg; Koper, Birgit; Pennig, Stefan

    2010-02-01

    Human factors in safety is concerned with all those factors that influence people and their behaviour in safety-critical situations. In aviation these are, for example, environmental factors in the cockpit, organisational factors such as shift work, human characteristics such as ability and motivation of staff. Careful consideration of human factors is necessary to improve health and safety at work by optimising the interaction of humans with their technical and social (team, supervisor) work environment. This provides considerable benefits for business by increasing efficiency and by preventing incidents/accidents. The aim of this paper is to suggest management tools for this purpose. Management tools such as balanced scorecards (BSC) are widespread instruments and also well known in aviation organisations. Only a few aviation organisations utilise management tools for human factors although they are the most important conditions in the safety management systems of aviation organisations. One reason for this is that human factors are difficult to measure and therefore also difficult to manage. Studies in other domains, such as workplace health promotion, indicate that BSC-based tools are useful for human factor management. Their mission is to develop a set of indicators that are sensitive to organisational performance and help identify driving forces as well as bottlenecks. Another tool presented in this paper is the Human Resources Performance Model (HPM). HPM facilitates the integrative assessment of human factors programmes on the basis of a systematic performance analysis of the whole system. Cause-effect relationships between system elements are defined in process models in a first step and validated empirically in a second step. Thus, a specific representation of the performance processes is developed, which ranges from individual behaviour to system performance. HPM is more analytic than BSC-based tools because HPM also asks why a certain factor is

  12. LEP is upgraded

    CERN Multimedia

    1995-01-01

    A superconducting radio-frequency cavity is installed on the Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider. This upgrade, known as LEP-2, allowed the accelerator to reach new, higher energies and so investigate new areas of physics.

  13. Habitat Demonstration Unit Medical Operations Workstation Upgrades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trageser, Katherine H.

    2011-01-01

    This paper provides an overview of the design and fabrication associated with upgrades for the Medical Operations Workstation in the Habitat Demonstration Unit. The work spanned a ten week period. The upgrades will be used during the 2011 Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) field campaign. Upgrades include a deployable privacy curtain system, a deployable tray table, an easily accessible biological waste container, reorganization and labeling of the medical supplies, and installation of a retractable camera. All of the items were completed within the ten week period.

  14. Get a winning Oracle upgrade session using the quarterback approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, G.

    2002-01-01

    Upgrades, upgrades... too much customer down time. Find out how we shrunk our production upgrade schedule 40% from our estimate of 10 days 12 hours to 6 days 2 hours using the quarterback approach. So your upgrade is not that complex, come anyway. This approach is scalable to any size project and will be extremely valuable.

  15. Qinshan 300Mwe NPP full scope simulator upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qi Kelin; Li Qing; Liu Wei, Lai Shengyuan

    2006-01-01

    On April 28,2004, RINPO was awarded the project for Qinshan 300Mwe NPP full scope simulator upgrade, the SAT (site acceptance test) was completed on June 30 2005 and the simulator put into operator training again. Scope of upgrade includes: computer system (DGI server and workstations) all replaced by microcomputers; G2 I/O controllers all replaced by RTP EIOBC; Unix-based simulation support environment replaced by RINPO's PC-based simulation environment RINSIMTM, Instructor software replaced by RINPO's PC-based instructor software with function and diagram redesigned; DEH, Feed-water control and some other digital control systems redeveloped to follow NPP modifications; desk-top simulator with soft panel control room developed as byproduct; most of the models not changed but it is planned the reactor core and PPC model will be upgraded in near future. SAT of upgrade demonstrates that the performance of the simulator much improved after the upgrade. (author)

  16. Human factor problem in nuclear power generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshino, Kenji; Fujimoto, Junzo

    1999-01-01

    Since a nuclear power plant accident at Threemile Island in U.S.A. occurred in March, 1979, twenty years have passed. After the accident, the human factor problem became focussed in nuclear power, to succeed its research at present. For direct reason of human error, most of factors at individual level or work operation level are often listed at their center. Then, it is natural that studies on design of a machine or apparatus suitable for various human functions and abilities and on improvement of relationship between 'human being and machine' and 'human being and working environment' are important in future. Here was, as first, described on outlines of the human factor problem in a nuclear power plant developed at a chance of past important accident, and then was described on educational training for its countermeasure. At last, some concrete researching results obtained by human factor research were introduced. (G.K.)

  17. Coal upgrading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nunes, S. [IEA Clean Coal Centre, London (United Kingdom)

    2009-10-15

    This report examines current technologies and those likely to be used to produce cleaner coal and coal products, principally for use in power generation and metallurgical applications. Consideration is also given to coal production in the leading coal producing countries, both with developed and developing industries. A range of technologies are considered. These include the coal-based liquid fuel called coal water mixture (CWM) that may compete with diesel, the production of ultra-clean coal (UCC) and coal liquefaction which competes with oil and its products. Technologies for upgrading coal are considered, especially for low rank coals (LRC), since these have the potential to fill the gap generated by the increasing demand for coal that cannot be met by higher quality coals. Potential advantages and downsides of coal upgrading are outlined. Taking into account the environmental benefits of reduced pollution achieved through cleaner coal and reduced transport costs, as well as other positive aspects such as a predictable product leading to better boiler design, the advantages appear to be significant. The drying of low rank coals improves the energy productively released during combustion and may also be used as an adjunct or as part of other coal processing procedures. Coal washing technologies vary in different countries and the implications of this are outlined. Dry separation technologies, such as dry jigging and electrostatic separation, are also described. The demonstration of new technologies is key to their further development and demonstrations of various clean coal technologies are considered. A number of approaches to briquetting and pelletising are available and their use varies from country to country. Finally, developments in upgrading low rank coals are described in the leading coal producing countries. This is an area that is developing rapidly and in which there are significant corporate and state players. 81 refs., 32 figs., 3 tabs.

  18. The STAR beam energy scan phase II physics and upgrades

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Yang, C.; Adamczyk, L.; Adkins, J. K.; Agakishiev, G.; Bielčík, J.; Bielčíková, Jana; Chaloupka, P.; Federič, Pavol; Rusňák, Jan; Rusňáková, O.; Šimko, Miroslav; Šumbera, Michal; Vértési, Robert

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 967, č. 11 (2017), s. 800-803 ISSN 0375-9474 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LG15001; GA MŠk LM2015054 Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : STAR collaboration * BES-II * detector upgrade * QCD phase diagram * physics oppotrunity Subject RIV: BG - Nuclear, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Colliders OBOR OECD: Nuclear physics Impact factor: 1.916, year: 2016

  19. Research on disaster prevention by human factor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Bok Youn; Kang, Chang Hee; Kang, Sun Duck; Jo, Young Do [Korea Institute of Geology Mining and Materials, Taejon (Korea)

    1998-12-01

    Mining, by its very nature, requires workers and technology to function in an unpredictable environment that can not easily be engineered to accommodate human factors. Miners' physical and cognitive capabilities are sometimes stretched to the point that 'human error' in performance result. Mine safety researchers estimate that 50-85% of all mining injuries are due, in large part, to human error. Further research suggests that the primary causes of these errors in performance lie outside the individual and can be minimized by improvements in equipment design, work environments, work procedures and training. The human factors research is providing the science needed to determine which aspects of the mining environment can be made more worker-friendly and how miners can work more safely in environments that can not be improved. Underground mines have long been recognized as an innately hazardous and physically demanding work environment. Recently, mining is becoming a more complicated process as more sophisticated technologies are introduced. The more complicated or difficult the tasks to be performed, the more critical it is to have a systematic understanding of the humans, the technology, the environments, and how they interact. Human factors is a key component in solving most of today's mine safety and health problems. Human factors research primarily centered around solving problems in the following four areas: 1) How mining methods and equipment affect safety, 2) Evaluating the fit between miner's physical capabilities and the demands of their job, 3) Improving miner's ability to perceive and react to hazards, 4) Understanding how organizational and managerial variables influence safety. Human factor research was begun during the World war II. National Coal Board (British Coal) of Great Britain commenced ergonomics in 1969, and Bureau of Mine of United States started human factor researches in same year. Japan has very short history

  20. The science of human factors: separating fact from fiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russ, Alissa L; Fairbanks, Rollin J; Karsh, Ben-Tzion; Militello, Laura G; Saleem, Jason J; Wears, Robert L

    2013-10-01

    Interest in human factors has increased across healthcare communities and institutions as the value of human centred design in healthcare becomes increasingly clear. However, as human factors is becoming more prominent, there is growing evidence of confusion about human factors science, both anecdotally and in scientific literature. Some of the misconceptions about human factors may inadvertently create missed opportunities for healthcare improvement. The objective of this article is to describe the scientific discipline of human factors and provide common ground for partnerships between healthcare and human factors communities. The primary goal of human factors science is to promote efficiency, safety and effectiveness by improving the design of technologies, processes and work systems. As described in this article, human factors also provides insight on when training is likely (or unlikely) to be effective for improving patient safety. Finally, we outline human factors specialty areas that may be particularly relevant for improving healthcare delivery and provide examples to demonstrate their value. The human factors concepts presented in this article may foster interdisciplinary collaborations to yield new, sustainable solutions for healthcare quality and patient safety.

  1. Upgrade of of monitoring devices for radiation information

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jung Taek; Park, Won Man; Kim, Jung Soo; Lee, Bong Jae; Jae Yoo Kyung

    1999-01-01

    The Radiation Monitoring System (RMS) in Hanaro of KAERI and NPPs of Korea, supplied by victoreen, sometimes has been stopped to use slow 486 PC (Personal computer) and not to be enough memory in main processing computer, IOCA and IOCB, for signal processing and storing. It is very difficult for operator to operate and maintain RMS, because of using an unfamiliar operating system, SCO Unix, of main computer. And also, ScanRad (TM) program for processing and storing radiation signal has Y2K problems and is able to lose and not to display measuring signals. Therefore it needs to upgrade the computer system in RMS. This study is upgrading the main computer, IOCA, in RMS of Hanaro to Pentium PC, and changing operating System to Window NT-based system. Therefore it needs to upgrade the computer system in RMS. This study is upgrading the main computer, IOCA, in RMS of Hanaro to Pentium PC, and changing Operating System to Window NT-based system. Therefore a performance of the computer system in RMS has been upgraded for operator to be useful. This study is going two steps. First, the main computer, IOCA a part of the whole computer system has been upgraded to Pentium PC, and changed to Window NT-based system. Second, all of the computer system in Hanaro RMS is going to be upgraded. This study has got the following results: a RS-232C serial communication program: between the upgraded IOCA and LCU (Local Control Unit) -- a serial communication test configurating two LCU serial --a parallel communication test configurating two LCU parallel: GUI program to present a radioactive information -- overview schematic display page -- detail display pages -- alarm and event pages -- trend pages and group trend pages.

  2. Upgrade of of monitoring devices for radiation information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jung Taek; Park, Won Man; Kim, Jung Soo; Lee, Bong Jae; Jae Yoo Kyung

    1999-01-01

    The Radiation Monitoring System (RMS) in Hanaro of KAERI and NPPs of Korea, supplied by victoreen, sometimes has been stopped to use slow 486 PC (Personal computer) and not to be enough memory in main processing computer, IOCA and IOCB, for signal processing and storing. It is very difficult for operator to operate and maintain RMS, because of using an unfamiliar operating system, SCO Unix, of main computer. And also, ScanRad (TM) program for processing and storing radiation signal has Y2K problems and is able to lose and not to display measuring signals. Therefore it needs to upgrade the computer system in RMS. This study is upgrading the main computer, IOCA, in RMS of Hanaro to Pentium PC, and changing operating System to Window NT-based system. Therefore it needs to upgrade the computer system in RMS. This study is upgrading the main computer, IOCA, in RMS of Hanaro to Pentium PC, and changing Operating System to Window NT-based system. Therefore a performance of the computer system in RMS has been upgraded for operator to be useful. This study is going two steps. First, the main computer, IOCA a part of the whole computer system has been upgraded to Pentium PC, and changed to Window NT-based system. Second, all of the computer system in Hanaro RMS is going to be upgraded. This study has got the following results: a RS-232C serial communication program: between the upgraded IOCA and LCU (Local Control Unit) -- a serial communication test configurating two LCU serial --a parallel communication test configurating two LCU parallel: GUI program to present a radioactive information -- overview schematic display page -- detail display pages -- alarm and event pages -- trend pages and group trend pages

  3. The UKIRT Upgrades Programme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adamson, Andy; Davies, John; Robson, Ian

    Tim Hawarden presented this paper to the 30th anniversary workshop, just a month before his untimely death. The editors have done their best to convert his talk into this paper, and gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Nick Rees (a member of the Upgrades team, now at Diamond Light Source). Tim's discussion concerned the UKIRT Upgrades Project, which ran through the 1990s and transformed the telescope and made it truly competitive on the world stage for operation into the twenty-first century. The reference list at the end of the paper is comprehensive; some of these are referred to in the paper itself and some are included for completeness only.

  4. Reflections on a digital upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tadjalli, M.

    2013-07-01

    Upon receiving US NRC's approval in 2010, the first RPS/ESPS digital upgrade using TELEPERM® XS technology was successfully installed in Spring of 2011 at the first Unit of a three-unit station, followed by the 2nd Unit installation in spring of 2012. Both Units' systems have been operating flawlessly since installation. After about two years of operation, a reflection on digital upgrades and lessons learned, from a vendor perspective, provides valuable insight for the commercial nuclear power industry.

  5. Argonne's atlas control system upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munson, F.; Quock, D.; Chapin, B.; Figueroa, J.

    1999-01-01

    The ATLAS facility (Argonne Tandem-Linac Accelerator System) is located at the Argonne National Laboratory. The facility is a tool used in nuclear and atomic physics research, which focuses primarily on heavy-ion physics. The accelerator as well as its control system are evolutionary in nature, and consequently, continue to advance. In 1998 the most recent project to upgrade the ATLAS control system was completed. This paper briefly reviews the upgrade, and summarizes the configuration and features of the resulting control system

  6. Human factors in atomic power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawano, Ryutaro

    1997-01-01

    To ensure safety should have priority over all other things in atomic power plants. In Chernobyl accident, however, various human factors including the systems for bulb check after inspection and communication, troubles in the interface between hardwares such as warning speakers and instruments, and their operators, those in education and training for operators and those in the general management of the plant have been pointed out. Therefore, the principles and the practical measures from the aspect of human factors in atomic power plants were discussed here. The word, ''human factor'' was given a definition in terms of the direct cause and the intellectual system. An explanatory model for human factors, model SHEL constructed by The Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd., Inc. was presented; the four letter mean software(S), hardware(H), environment(E) and liveware(L). In the plants of the company, systemic measures for human error factors are taken now in all steps not only for design, operation and repairing but also the step for safety culture. Further, the level required for the safety against atomic power is higher in the company than those in other fields. Thus, the central principle in atomic power plants is changing from the previous views that technology is paid greater importance to a view regarding human as most importance. (M.N.)

  7. Completion of the ATLAS control system upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munson, F. H.

    1998-01-01

    In the fall of 1992 at the SNEAP(Symposium of North Eastern Accelerator Personnel) a project to up grade the ATLAS (Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System) control system was first reported. Not unlike the accelerator it services the control system will continue to evolve. However, the first of this year has marked the completion of this most recent upgrade project. Since the control system upgrade took place during a period when ATLAS was operating at a record number of hours, special techniques were necessary to enable the development of the new control system ''on line'' while still saving the needs of normal operations. This paper reviews the techniques used for upgrading the ATLAS control system while the system was in use. In addition a summary of the upgrade project and final configuration, as well as some of the features of the new control system is provided

  8. Human factors issues for interstellar spacecraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Marc M.; Brody, Adam R.

    1991-01-01

    Developments in research on space human factors are reviewed in the context of a self-sustaining interstellar spacecraft based on the notion of traveling space settlements. Assumptions about interstellar travel are set forth addressing costs, mission durations, and the need for multigenerational space colonies. The model of human motivation by Maslow (1970) is examined and directly related to the design of space habitat architecture. Human-factors technology issues encompass the human-machine interface, crew selection and training, and the development of spaceship infrastructure during transtellar flight. A scenario for feasible instellar travel is based on a speed of 0.5c, a timeframe of about 100 yr, and an expandable multigenerational crew of about 100 members. Crew training is identified as a critical human-factors issue requiring the development of perceptual and cognitive aids such as expert systems and virtual reality.

  9. Human Factors in Accidents Involving Remotely Piloted Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merlin, Peter William

    2013-01-01

    This presentation examines human factors that contribute to RPA mishaps and provides analysis of lessons learned. RPA accident data from U.S. military and government agencies were reviewed and analyzed to identify human factors issues. Common contributors to RPA mishaps fell into several major categories: cognitive factors (pilot workload), physiological factors (fatigue and stress), environmental factors (situational awareness), staffing factors (training and crew coordination), and design factors (human machine interface).

  10. Is your upgrade worth it? process mining can tell

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Genuchten, van M.J.I.M.; Mans, R.S.; Reijers, H.A.; Wismeijer, D.

    2014-01-01

    Software vendors typically release updates and upgrades of their software once or twice a year. Users are then faced with the question of whether the upgrade is worth the price and the trouble. The software industry doesn't provide much evidence that it's worthwhile to upgrade to new releases. The

  11. Is your upgrade worth it? Process mining can tell

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Genuchten, M.J.I.M.; Mans, R.S.; Reijers, H.A.; Wismeijer, D.

    2014-01-01

    Software vendors typically release updates and upgrades of their software once or twice a year. Users are then faced with the question of whether the upgrade is worth the price and the trouble. The software industry doesn't provide much evidence that it's worthwhile to upgrade to new releases. The

  12. Human and Organizational Factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eshiett, P.B.S.

    2016-01-01

    The Human and Organizational Factors Approach to Industrial Safety (HOFS) consists of identifying and putting in place conditions which encourage a positive contribution from operators (individually and in a team) with regards to industrial safety. The knowledge offered by the HOFS approach makes it possible better to understand what conditions human activity and to act on the design of occupational situations and the organization, in the aim of creating the conditions for safe work. Efforts made in this area can also lead to an improvement in results in terms of the quality of production or occupational safety (incidence and seriousness rates) (Daniellou, F., et al., 2011). Research on industrial accidents shows that they rarely happen as a result of a single event, but rather emerge from the accumulation of several, often seemingly trivial, malfunctions, misunderstandings, incorrect assumptions and other issues. The nuclear community has established rigorous international safety standards and concepts to ensure the protection of people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation (IAEA, 2014). A review of major human induced disasters in a number of countries and in different industries yields insights into several of the human and organizational factors involved in their occurrence. Some of these factors relate to failures in: • Design or technology; • Training; • Decision making; • Communication; • Preparation for the unexpected; • Understanding of organizational interdependencies

  13. Environmental upgrading of a landfill

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agostinetto, V.; Vendrame, G.

    1999-01-01

    This article refers to an experimental study concerning the vegetative upgrading of a closed-down landfill (once used for industrial waste disposal). The aim was to check the possibility of reconstructing or aiding the natural growth of a vegetation in keeping with the surrounding area, in a tried environment such as that of landfills. The original idea contained in the approved project - which meant to generically upgrade the territory by planting species belonging to the grassy layer, shrubs and trees - has, with time, undergone some changes. On the basis of both the knowledge acquired during management and of a more accurate analysis of the territory, the experiment was preferred to aim at finding out which were the species, both continental and Mediterranean, able to gradually adjust to the surrounding landscape, leaving to natural selection the task to decide which species were more suitable to the upgrading of closed-down landfills, and which planting technique was more effective [it

  14. Hydrogen assisted biological biogas upgrading

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bassani, Ilaria

    Wind and biomass are promoted worldwide as sustainable forms of energy. Anaerobic digestion of biomass produces biogas with ∼50−70% CH4 and 30−50% CO2. However, biogas with >90% CH4 content has higher heating value, can be injected into the natural gas grid or used as alternative to natural gas...... as vehicle fuel. Methods currently available for biogas upgrading mainly consists of physicochemical CO2 removal, requiring the use of chemical substances and energy input and, thus, increasing process costs. This PhD project proposes an alternative to existing biogas upgrading technologies, where H2......, produced by water electrolysis, using excess of electricity from wind mills, is coupled with the CO2 contained in the biogas to convert them to CH4. This process is defined as biological biogas upgrading and is carried out by hydrogenotrophic methanogenic archaea that couples CO2 with H2 to produce...

  15. Human Factors Throughout the Life Cycle: Lessons Learned from the Shuttle Program. [Human Factors in Ground Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanki, Barbara G.

    2011-01-01

    With the ending of the Space Shuttle Program, it is critical that we not forget the Human Factors lessons we have learned over the years. At every phase of the life cycle, from manufacturing, processing and integrating vehicle and payload, to launch, flight operations, mission control and landing, hundreds of teams have worked together to achieve mission success in one of the most complex, high-risk socio-technical enterprises ever designed. Just as there was great diversity in the types of operations performed at every stage, there was a myriad of human factors that could further complicate these human systems. A single mishap or close call could point to issues at the individual level (perceptual or workload limitations, training, fatigue, human error susceptibilities), the task level (design of tools, procedures and aspects of the workplace), as well as the organizational level (appropriate resources, safety policies, information access and communication channels). While we have often had to learn through human mistakes and technological failures, we have also begun to understand how to design human systems in which individuals can excel, where tasks and procedures are not only safe but efficient, and how organizations can foster a proactive approach to managing risk and supporting human enterprises. Panelists will talk about their experiences as they relate human factors to a particular phase of the shuttle life cycle. They will conclude with a framework for tying together human factors lessons-learned into system-level risk management strategies.

  16. Status of the Upgrade of the CERN PS Booster

    CERN Document Server

    Hanke, K; Angoletta, M; Bartmann, W; Bartolome, S; Benedetto, E; Bertone, C; Blas, A; Bonnal, P; Borburgh, J; Bozzini, D; Butterworth, A; Carli, C; Carlier, E; Cole, J; Dahlen, P; Delonca, M; Dobers, T; Findlay, A; Froeschl, R; Hansen, J; Hay, D; Jensen, S; Lacroix, J; Le Roux, P; Lopez Hernandez, L; Maglioni, C; Masi, A; Mason, G; Mathot, S; Mikulec, B; Muttoni, Y; Newborough, A; Nisbet, D; Olek, S; Paoluzzi, M; Perillo-Marcone, A; Pittet, S; Puccio, B; Raginel, V; Riffaud, B; Ruehl, I; Sarrió Martínez, A; Tan, J; Todd, B; Venturi, V; Weterings, W

    2013-01-01

    The CERN PS Booster (PSB) is presently undergoing an ambitious consolidation and upgrade program within the frame of the LHC Injectors Upgrade (LIU) project. This program comprises a new injection scheme for H- ions from CERN’s new Linac4, the replacement of the main RF systems and an energy upgrade of the PSB rings from 1.4 to 2 GeV which includes the replacement of the main magnet power supply as well as the upgrade of the extraction equipment. This paper describes the status and plans of this work program.

  17. The payloads of Advanced Virgo: current status and upgrades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naticchioni, L.; Virgo Collaboration

    2018-02-01

    The development and integration of new detector payloads has been an important part of the Advanced Virgo (AdV) project, the major upgrade of the Virgo interferometric detector of Gravitational Waves, aiming to increase the detector sensitivity by one order of magnitude. During the integration phase of the new AdV payloads with monolithic suspension of mirrors we experienced systematic suspension failures later identified as caused by dust contamination of the vacuum system. In order to not postpone the detector commissioning, making possible to join the LIGO O2 observation run, the Collaboration decided to proceed with the integration of the payloads relying on steel wire suspensions for all the mirrors. In this proceeding the status of the currently integrated payloads is reported, including their angular control characterization and the Q-factor measurements for test mass steel wire suspensions. The payload upgrade for the re-integration of monolithic suspensions after the O2 run is reported in the last section.

  18. Silicon Sensor Development for the CMS Tracker Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Auzinger, Georg; Elliott-Peisert, Anna

    The Large Hadron Collider at the European Council for Nuclear Research in Geneva is scheduled to undergo a major luminosity upgrade after its lifetime of ten years of operation around the year 2020, to maximize its scientific discovery potential. The total integrated luminosity will be increased by a factor of ten, which will dramatically change the conditions under which the four large detectors at the LHC will have to operate. The Compact Muon Solenoid, which has contributed to the recent discovery of a new, Higgs-like boson is one of them. Its innermost part -- the so-called tracker -- is a high-precision instrument that measures the created particles' trajectories by means of silicon detectors. With a total surface of more than 200 square-meters it is the largest device of its kind ever built. The increase in instantaneous luminosity in the upgraded LHC will lead to a dramatically increased track density at the interaction points of the colliding beams and thus also to a much more hostile radiation env...

  19. Development of human factors design review guidelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Suk; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Chul [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea)

    1997-10-01

    The objective of this study is to develop human factors engineering program review guidelines and alarm system review guidelines in order to resolve the two major technical issues: 25. Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model and 26. Review Criteria for Human Factors Aspects of Advanced Controls and Instrumentation, which are related to the development of human factors safety regulation guides being performed by KINS. For the development of human factors program review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG-0711 and added our comments by considering Korean regulatory situation and reviewing the reference documents of NUREG-0711. We also computerized the Korean version of NUREG-0711, additional comments, and selected portion of the reference documents for the developer of safety regulation guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG/CR-6105, which was published by NRC in 1994 as a guideline document for the human factors review of alarm systems. Then we will update the guidelines by reviewing the literature related to alarm design published after 1994. (author). 12 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.

  20. Commissioning of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Bilki, Burak

    2017-01-01

    The final phase of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I upgrade is being performed during the Extended Year End Technical Stop of 2016 â?? 2017. In the framework of the upgrade, the PMT boxes are being reworked to implement two channel readout in order to exploit the benefits of the multi-anode PMTs in background tagging and signal recovery. The front-end electronics is also being upgraded to QIE10-based electronics which will implement larger dynamic range and a 6-bit TDC to eliminate the background to have an effect on the trigger. Following this major upgrade, the Hadron Forward Calorimeters will be commissioned for operation readiness in 2017. Here we describe the details and the components of the upgrade, and discuss the operational experience and results obtained during the upgrade and commissioning.

  1. Upgrade of ductal carcinoma in situ on core biopsies to invasive disease at final surgery: a retrospective review across the Scottish Breast Screening Programme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sim, Y.T.; Litherland, J.; Lindsay, E.; Hendry, P.; Brauer, K.; Dobson, H.; Cordiner, C.; Gagliardi, T.; Smart, L.

    2015-01-01

    Aim: To identify factors affecting upgrade rates from B5a (non-invasive) preoperative core biopsies to invasive disease at surgery and ways to improve screening performance. Material and methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 1252 cases of B5a biopsies across all six Scottish Breast Screening Programmes (BSPs), ranging between 2004 and 2012. Final surgical histopathology was correlated with radiological and biopsy factors. Data were analysed using basic Microsoft Excel and standard Chi-squared test used for evaluating statistical significance. Results: B5a upgrade rates for the units ranged from 19.2% to 29.2%, with an average of 23.6%. Mean sizes of invasive tumours were small (3–11 mm). The upgrade rate was significantly higher for cases where the main mammographic abnormality was mass, distortion, or asymmetry, compared with micro-calcification alone (33.2% versus 21.7%, p = 0.0004). The upgrade rate was significantly lower with the use of large-volume vacuum-assisted biopsy (VAB) devices than 14 G core needles (19.9% versus 26%, p = 0.013); in stereotactic than ultrasound-guided biopsies (21.2% versus 36.1%, p < 0.001). Heterogeneity of data from different centres limited evaluation of other potential factors. Conclusion: Upgrade rates are lower for cases with micro-calcification as the sole mammographic feature with the use of VAB devices. Nevertheless, there is variation in practice across Scottish BSPs, including first-line biopsy technique and/or device; and it is of interest that a few centres maintain low upgrade rates despite not using VAB routinely for biopsy of micro-calcification. - Highlights: • Average B5a upgrade rate of 23.6% in our screening programme is comparable to published series. • Upgrade rate was lower in microcalcifications than non-calcific findings on mammography. • Upgrade rate was lower with use of vacuum-assisted biopsy devices than 14-gauge core needles

  2. Upgrading of radon's type near surface repository in Latvia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abramenkovs, A.

    2006-01-01

    In 1959, the Soviet government decided to construct the near surface radioactive wastes repository 'Radons' near the Baldone city. It was put in operation in 1962. The changes in the development of the repository were induced by the necessarily to upgrade it for disposal of radioactive wastes from the decommissioning of the Salaspils Research Reactor (SRR). The safety assessment of repository was performed during 2000-2001 under the PHARE project for necessary upgrades of repository. The outline design for new vaults and interim storage for long lived radioactive wastes was elaborated during 2003-2004 years. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for upgrade of Baldone repository was performed during 2004-2005 years. It was found, that additional efforts must be devoted for solution of social aspects o for successful operation and upgrade of repository. It was shown by EIA, that the local population has a negative opinion against the upgrade of repository in Latvia. The main recommendations for upgrades were connected with increasing the safety of repository, increasing of PR activities for education of society and developing of compensation mechanism for local municipality. (author)

  3. Human Factors in Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Patricia M.; Fiedler, Edna

    2010-01-01

    The exploration of space is one of the most fascinating domains to study from a human factors perspective. Like other complex work domains such as aviation (Pritchett and Kim, 2008), air traffic management (Durso and Manning, 2008), health care (Morrow, North, and Wickens, 2006), homeland security (Cooke and Winner, 2008), and vehicle control (Lee, 2006), space exploration is a large-scale sociotechnical work domain characterized by complexity, dynamism, uncertainty, and risk in real-time operational contexts (Perrow, 1999; Woods et ai, 1994). Nearly the entire gamut of human factors issues - for example, human-automation interaction (Sheridan and Parasuraman, 2006), telerobotics, display and control design (Smith, Bennett, and Stone, 2006), usability, anthropometry (Chaffin, 2008), biomechanics (Marras and Radwin, 2006), safety engineering, emergency operations, maintenance human factors, situation awareness (Tenney and Pew, 2006), crew resource management (Salas et aI., 2006), methods for cognitive work analysis (Bisantz and Roth, 2008) and the like -- are applicable to astronauts, mission control, operational medicine, Space Shuttle manufacturing and assembly operations, and space suit designers as they are in other work domains (e.g., Bloomberg, 2003; Bos et al, 2006; Brooks and Ince, 1992; Casler and Cook, 1999; Jones, 1994; McCurdy et ai, 2006; Neerincx et aI., 2006; Olofinboba and Dorneich, 2005; Patterson, Watts-Perotti and Woods, 1999; Patterson and Woods, 2001; Seagull et ai, 2007; Sierhuis, Clancey and Sims, 2002). The human exploration of space also has unique challenges of particular interest to human factors research and practice. This chapter provides an overview of those issues and reports on sorne of the latest research results as well as the latest challenges still facing the field.

  4. Optimization bitumen-based upgrading and refining schemes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Munteanu, M.; Chen, J. [National Centre for Upgrading Technology, Devon, AB (Canada); Natural Resources Canada, Devon, AB (Canada). CanmetENERGY

    2009-07-01

    This poster highlighted the results of a study in which the entire refining scheme for Canadian bitumen as feedstocks was modelled and simulated under different process configurations, operating conditions and product structures. The aim of the study was to optimize the economic benefits, product quality and energy use under a range of operational scenarios. Optimal refining schemes were proposed along with process conditions for existing refinery configurations and objectives. The goal was to provide guidelines and information for upgrading and refining process design and retrofitting. Critical steps were identified with regards to the upgrading process. It was concluded that the information obtained from this study would lead to significant improvement in process performance and operations, and in reducing the capital cost for building new upgraders and refineries. The simulation results provided valuable information for increasing the marketability of bitumen, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts associated with bitumen upgrading and refining. tabs., figs.

  5. Instrument hardware and software upgrades at IPNS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Worlton, Thomas; Hammonds, John; Mikkelson, D.; Mikkelson, Ruth; Porter, Rodney; Tao, Julian; Chatterjee, Alok

    2006-01-01

    IPNS is in the process of upgrading their time-of-flight neutron scattering instruments with improved hardware and software. The hardware upgrades include replacing old VAX Qbus and Multibus-based data acquisition systems with new systems based on VXI and VME. Hardware upgrades also include expanded detector banks and new detector electronics. Old VAX Fortran-based data acquisition and analysis software is being replaced with new software as part of the ISAW project. ISAW is written in Java for ease of development and portability, and is now used routinely for data visualization, reduction, and analysis on all upgraded instruments. ISAW provides the ability to process and visualize the data from thousands of detector pixels, each having thousands of time channels. These operations can be done interactively through a familiar graphical user interface or automatically through simple scripts. Scripts and operators provided by end users are automatically included in the ISAW menu structure, along with those distributed with ISAW, when the application is started

  6. Accidents and human factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishiwaki, Y.; Kawai, H.; Morishima, H.; Terano, T.; Sugeno, M.

    1984-01-01

    When the TMI accident occurred it was 4 a.m., an hour when the error potential of the operators would have been very high. The frequency of car and train accidents in Japan is also highest between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. The error potential may be classified into five phases corresponding to the electroencephalogramic pattern (EEG). At phase 0, when the delta wave appears, a person is unconscious and in deep sleep; at phase I, when the theta wave appears, he is very tired, sleepy and subnormal; at phase II, when the alpha wave appears, he is normal, relaxed and passive; at phase III, when the beta wave appears, he is normal, clear-minded and active; at phase IV, when the strong beta or epileptic wave appears, he is hypernormal, excited and incapable of normal judgement. Should an accident occur at phase II, the brain condition may jump to phase IV. At this phase the error or accident potential is maximum. The response of the human brain to different types of noises and signals may vary somewhat for different individuals and for different groups of people. Therefore, the possibility that such differences in brain functions may influence the mental structure would be worthy of consideration in human factors and in the design of man-machine systems. Human reliability and performance would be affected by many factors: medical, physiological and psychological, etc. The uncertainty involved in human factors may not necessarily be probabilistic, but fuzzy. Therefore, it would be important to develop a theory by which both non-probabilistic uncertainties, or fuzziness, of human factors and the probabilistic properties of machines can be treated consistently. From the mathematical point of view, probabilistic measure is considered a special case of fuzzy measure. Therefore, fuzzy set theory seems to be an effective tool for analysing man-machine systems. To minimize human error and the possibility of accidents, new safety systems should not only back up man and make up for his

  7. Human Modeling for Ground Processing Human Factors Engineering Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stambolian, Damon B.; Lawrence, Brad A.; Stelges, Katrine S.; Steady, Marie-Jeanne O.; Ridgwell, Lora C.; Mills, Robert E.; Henderson, Gena; Tran, Donald; Barth, Tim

    2011-01-01

    There have been many advancements and accomplishments over the last few years using human modeling for human factors engineering analysis for design of spacecraft. The key methods used for this are motion capture and computer generated human models. The focus of this paper is to explain the human modeling currently used at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and to explain the future plans for human modeling for future spacecraft designs

  8. Human Leptospirosis and risk factors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanelis Emilia Tabío Henry

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available The human leptospirosis is a zoonosis of world distribution, were risk factors exist that have favored the wild and domestic animal propagation and so man. A descpitive investigation was made with the objective of determining the behavior of risk factors in outpatients by human leptospirosis in “Camilo Cienfuegos“ University General Hospital from Sncti Spíritus In the comprised time period betwen december 1 st and 3 st , 2008.The sample of this study was conformed by 54 risk persons that keep inclusion criteria. Some variables were used:age, sex, risk factors and number of ill persons, according to the month. Some patients of masculine sex prevailed (61,9%, group of ages between 15-29 and 45-59 years (27,7%, patients treated since october to december (53,7%, the direct and indirect contact with animals (46,2 %. The risk factors cassually associated to human leptospirosis turned to be: the masculine sex, the contac with animals, the occupational exposition and the inmersion on sources of sweet water.

  9. Human factors of safety: a few landmarks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mosneron Dupin, F.

    1992-06-01

    This paper discusses factors to be taken into account, and methods to be used. It concludes that more realistic and positive conceptions of Human Factors should be developed, and that Human Factors should be addressed at the very beginning of any technical project

  10. A summary of the regional upgrader business plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carpenter, J.S.

    1991-01-01

    The stakeholders with potential interests in an Alberta regional upgrader for bitumen, heavy oil, or refinery residue were identified and a reasonably comprehensive business plan for such an upgrader was created and analyzed. Assuming a plant accepting 30,000 bbl/d of feedstock using known hydrocracking and hydroprocessing technologies, producing a synthetic crude oil of a quality good enough to substitute for Alberta light crude in existing refineries, the risks, financing arrangements, and base case economics were examined. According to reasonable price forecasts and a socio-economic benefit assessment, there are enough benefits in such an upgrader to make its construction attractive in the near term. However, conventional investment economics make it unlikely that such a project could be supported in Alberta's current business environment. Accordingly, the business plan was revised to reduce risks and increase profitability to equity holders. The plant capacity would be doubled, with a major oil company acquiring half the output for its own production at less than half the installed cost. The rest of the plant would be owned by government and by smaller producers who would gain access to the upgrader feedstock capacity. A collar mechanism is offered to reduce bitumen price risks without impairing upgrader economics. A number of niche opportunities are also identified within the regional upgrader concept that would further enhance the return through lower costs. 2 figs., 4 tabs

  11. Use of ultrasound in petroleum residue upgradation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sawarkar, A.N.; Pandit, A.B.; Samant, S.D.; Joshi, J.B. [Mumbai Univ., Mumbai (India). Inst. of Chemical Technology

    2009-06-15

    The importance of bottom-of-the barrel upgrading has increased in the current petroleum refining scenario because of the progressively heavier nature of crude oil. Heavy residues contain large concentrations of metals such as vanadium and nickel which foul catalysts and reduce the potential effect of residue fluidized catalytic cracking. This study showed that the cavitational energy induced by ultrasound be be successfully used to upgrade hydrocarbon mixtures. Conventional processes for the upgrading of residual feedstocks, such as thermal cracking and catalytic cracking, were carried out in the temperature range of 400-520 degrees C. Experiments were performed on 2 vacuum residues, Arabian mix vacuum residue (AMVR) and Bombay high vacuum residue (BHVR) and 1 Haldia asphalt (HA). These were subjected to acoustic cavitation for different reaction times from 15 to 120 minutes at ambient temperature and pressure. Two acoustic cavitation devices were compared, namely the ultrasonic bath and ultrasonic horn. In particular, this study compared the ability of these 2 devices to upgrade the petroleum residues to lighter, more value-added products. Different surfactants were used to examine the effect of ultrasound on upgrading the residue when emulsified in water. In order to better understand the reaction mechanism, a kinetic model was developed based on the constituents of the residue. The ultrasonic horn was found to be more effective in bringing about the upgrading than ultrasonic bath. The study also showed that the acoustic cavitation of the aqueous emulsified hydrocarbon mixture could reduce the asphaltenes content to a greater extent than the acoustic cavitation of non-emulsified hydrocarbon mixture. 20 refs., 11 tabs., 17 figs.

  12. Fitting partially upgraded oils into pipelines and refinery markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flaherty, G.

    2000-01-01

    The logistics of transporting partially upgraded crudes in feeder and trunk pipeline systems is discussed. Logistic alternatives are evaluated against economic drivers for partial upgrading, and the impact of crude transportation logistics on the quality of crude that reaches refinery gates is assessed. The potential advantages of partial upgrading in the field are reviewed (including reduction of diluent required to meet pipeline density and viscosity specifications, cost and availability of diluent, limitations in diluent transportation infrastructure, increased chemical stability, increased attractiveness to refineries, shortage of refinery coking capacity, higher market value). The pros and cons of various upgrading processes, and the implications of each for producers and refiners are explained. The advantages of moving to large common streams, as opposed to the concept of 'boutique' crudes, are stressed as the surest way for producers to realize the maximum value of partially upgraded crudes

  13. ACSNI study group on human factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-01-01

    Organisational failures are now recognised as being as important as mechanical failures or individual human errors in causing major accidents such as the capsize of the Herald of Free Enterprise or the Pipa Alpha disaster. The Human Factors Study Group of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations was set up to look at the part played by human factors in nuclear risk and its reduction. The third report of the Study Group considers the role played by organisational factors and management in promoting nuclear safety. Actions to review and promote a safety culture are suggested. Three main conclusions are drawn and several recommendations made. (UK)

  14. Upgrade of the Los Alamos Plutonium Facility control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pope, N.G.; Turner, W.J.; Brown, R.E.; Bibeau, R.A.; Davis, R.R.; Hogan, K.

    1996-01-01

    After 20 yrs service, the Los Alamos Plutonium Facility is undergoing an upgrade to its aging Facility Control System. The new system design includes a network of redundantly-paired programmable logic controllers that will interface with about 2200 field data points. The data communications network that has been designed includes a redundant, self-healing fiber optic data highway as well as a fiber optic ethernet. Commercially available human-machine interface software running on a UNIX-based system displays facility subsystem status operator X-terminals. Project design features, methods, costs, and schedule are discussed

  15. Functional Upgrading and Value Capture of Multinational Subsidiaries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Burger, Anže; Jindra, Björn; Marek, Philipp

    2018-01-01

    survey-based business function indicators with longitudinal accounting data for a representative sample of multinational subsidiaries located in six Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), we assess the impact of functional upgrading on foreign subsidiaries' value capture. The results provide......This paper investigates the relationship between the value capture of multinational subsidiaries and functional upgrading, which is defined as a diversification of employment from primary business functions to higher value adding activities such as ICT, R&D, marketing or logistics. By combining...... robust evidence that the breadth as well as the scope of functional upgrading induces an upward shift of subsidiaries' value added. The effect of functional upgrading is stronger in the earlier phases after entry of the foreign investor, while the long-term growth trend remains unaffected....

  16. Safety upgrades to the NRU research reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeAbreu, B.; Mark, J.M.; Mutterback, E.J.

    1998-01-01

    The NRU (National Research Universal) Reactor is a 135 MW thermal research facility located at Chalk River Laboratories, and is owned and operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. One of the largest and most versatile research reactors in the world, it serves as the R and D workhorse for Canada's CANDU business while at the same time filling the role as one of the world's major producers of medical radioisotopes. AECL plans to extend operation of the NRU reactor to approximately the year 2005 when a new replacement, the Irradiation Research Facility (IRF) will be available. To achieve this, AECL has undertaken a program of safety reassessment and upgrades to enhance the level of safety consistent with modem requirements. An engineering assessment/inspection of critical systems, equipment and components was completed and seven major safety upgrades are being designed and installed. These upgrades will significantly reduce the reactor's vulnerability to common mode failures and external hazards, with particular emphasis on seismic protection. The scheduled completion date for the project is 1999 December at a cost approximately twice the annual operating cost. All work on the NRU upgrade project is planned and integrated into the regular operating cycles of the reactor; no major outages are anticipated. This paper describes the safety upgrades and discusses the technical and managerial challenges involved in extending the operating life of the NRU reactor. (author)

  17. Human Factor in Therapeutic Relationship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramazan Akdogan

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available herapeutic relationship is a professional relationship that has been structured based on theoretical props. This relationship is a complicated, wide and unique relationship which develops between two people, where both sides' personality and attitudes inevitably interfere. Therapist-client relationship experienced through transference and counter transference, especially in psychodynamic approaches, is accepted as the main aspect of therapeutic process. However, the approaches without dynamic/deterministic tendency also take therapist-client relationship into account seriously and stress uniqueness of interaction between two people. Being a person and a human naturally sometimes may negatively influence the relationship between the therapist and client and result in a relationship going out of the theoretical frame at times. As effective components of a therapeutic process, the factors that stem from being human include the unique personalities of the therapist and the client, their values and their attitude either made consciously or subconsciously. Literature has shown that the human-related factors are too effective to be denied in therapeutic relationship process. Ethical and theoretical knowledge can be inefficient to prevent the negative effects of these factors in therapeutic process at which point a deep insight and supervision would have a critical role in continuing an acceptable therapeutic relationship. This review is focused on the reflection of some therapeutic factors resulting from being human and development of counter transference onto the therapeutic process.

  18. Development of human factors design review guidelines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Suk; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Chul

    1997-10-01

    The Objective of this study is to develop human factors engineering program review guidelines and alarm system review guidelines in order to resolve the two major technical issues: '25, Human factors engineering program review model' and '26, Review criteria for human actors aspects of advanced controls and instrumentation', which are related to the development of human factors safety regulation guides be ing performed by KINS. For the development of human factors program review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG-0711 and added our comments by considering Korean regulatory situation and reviewing the reference documents of NUREG-0711. We also computerized the Korean version of NUREG-0711, additional comments, and selected portion of the reference documents for the developer of safety regulation guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG/CR-6105, which was published by NRC in 1994 as a guideline document for the human factors review of alarm systems. Then we well update the guidelines by reviewing the literature related to alarm design published after 1994

  19. Human Research Program: Space Human Factors and Habitability Element

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Dane M.

    2007-01-01

    The three project areas of the Space Human Factors and Habitability Element work together to achieve a working and living environment that will keep crews healthy, safe, and productive throughout all missions -- from Earth orbit to Mars expeditions. The Advanced Environmental Health (AEH) Project develops and evaluates advanced habitability systems and establishes requirements and health standards for exploration missions. The Space Human Factors Engineering (SHFE) Project s goal is to ensure a safe and productive environment for humans in space. With missions using new technologies at an ever-increasing rate, it is imperative that these advances enhance crew performance without increasing stress or risk. The ultimate goal of Advanced Food Technology (AFT) Project is to develop and deliver technologies for human centered spacecraft that will support crews on missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

  20. Human Factors in Nuclear Reactor Accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mustafa, M.E.

    2016-01-01

    While many people would blame nature for the disaster of the “Fukushima Daiichi” accident, experts considered this accident to be also a human-induced disaster. This confirmed the importance of human errors which have been getting a growing interest in the nuclear field after the Three Mile Island accident. Personnel play an important role in design, operation, maintenance, planning, and management. The interface between machine and man is known as a human factor. In the present work, the human factors that have to be considered were discussed. The effect of the control room configuration and equipment design effect on the human behavior was also discussed. Precise reviewing of person’s qualifications and experience was focused. Insufficient training has been a major cause of human error in the nuclear field. The effective training issues were introduced. Avoiding complicated operational processes and non responsive management systems was stressed. Distinguishing between the procedures for normal and emergency operations was emphasised. It was stated that human error during maintenance and testing activities could cause a serious accident. This is because safety systems do not cover much more risk probabilities in the maintenance and testing activities like they do in the normal operation. In nuclear industry, the need for a classification and identification of human errors has been well recognised. As a result of this, human reliability must be assessed. These errors are analyzed by a probabilistic safety assessment which deals with errors in reading, listening and implementing procedures but not with cognitive errors. Much efforts must be accomplished to consider cognitive errors in the probabilistic safety assessment. The ways of collecting human factor data were surveyed. The methods for identifying safe designs, helping decision makers to predict how proposed or current policies will affect safety, and comprehensive understanding of the relationship

  1. Kongiganak Wind Turbine Replacement and System Upgrade Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boonstra, Patrick [Intelligent Energy Systems, Anchorage, AK (United States)

    2016-12-13

    The Native Village of Kongiganak, Alaska was awarded a grant to upgrade the braking systems on five wind turbines and upgrade the monitoring and data collection unit to insure that enough energy is available to power the utility. The project manager for this award is Intelligent Energy Systems, LLC located in Anchorage, Alaska. In addition to accomplishing these upgrades, it was the intent for a local wind tech crew to be trained in Kongiganak so that routine maintenance and future repairs will be made by local workers.

  2. Development of a Field Management Standard for Improving Human Factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yun, Young Su; Son, Il Moon; Son, Byung Chang; Kwak, Hyo Yean

    2009-07-01

    This project is to develop a management guideline for improving human performances as a part of the Human Factors Management System of Kori unit 1 which is managing all of human factors items such as man-machine system interfaces, work procedures, work environments, and human reliabilities in nuclear power plants. Human factors engineering includes an human factors suitability analysis and improvement of human works, an analysis of accidents by human error, an improvement of work environment, an establishment of human factors management rules and a development of human resources to manage and perform those things consistently. For assisting these human factors engineering tasks, we developed human factors management guidelines, checklists and work procedures to be used in staffing, qualification, training, and human information requirements and workload. We also provided a software tool for managing the above items. Additionally, contents and an item pool for a human factors qualifying examination and training programs were developed. A procedures improvement and a human factors V and V on the Kori unit 1 have been completed as a part of this project, too

  3. Human factoring administrative procedures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grider, D.A.; Sturdivant, M.H.

    1991-01-01

    In nonnuclear business, administrative procedures bring to mind such mundane topics as filing correspondence and scheduling vacation time. In the nuclear industry, on the other hand, administrative procedures play a vital role in assuring the safe operation of a facility. For some time now, industry focus has been on improving technical procedures. Significant efforts are under way to produce technical procedure requires that a validated technical, regulatory, and administrative basis be developed and that the technical process be established for each procedure. Producing usable technical procedures requires that procedure presentation be engineered to the same human factors principles used in control room design. The vital safety role of administrative procedures requires that they be just as sound, just a rigorously formulated, and documented as technical procedures. Procedure programs at the Tennessee Valley Authority and at Boston Edison's Pilgrim Station demonstrate that human factors engineering techniques can be applied effectively to technical procedures. With a few modifications, those same techniques can be used to produce more effective administrative procedures. Efforts are under way at the US Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Complex and at some utilities (Boston Edison, for instance) to apply human factors engineering to administrative procedures: The techniques being adapted include the following

  4. Warranty claim analysis considering human factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Shaomin

    2011-01-01

    Warranty claims are not always due to product failures. They can also be caused by two types of human factors. On the one hand, consumers might claim warranty due to misuse and/or failures caused by various human factors. Such claims might account for more than 10% of all reported claims. On the other hand, consumers might not be bothered to claim warranty for failed items that are still under warranty, or they may claim warranty after they have experienced several intermittent failures. These two types of human factors can affect warranty claim costs. However, research in this area has received rather little attention. In this paper, we propose three models to estimate the expected warranty cost when the two types of human factors are included. We consider two types of failures: intermittent and fatal failures, which might result in different claim patterns. Consumers might report claims after a fatal failure has occurred, and upon intermittent failures they might report claims after a number of failures have occurred. Numerical examples are given to validate the results derived.

  5. Advantages of viscodampers for NPPs upgrading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reinsch, K.H.; Schwahn, K.J.; Podrouzek, J.

    1993-01-01

    Viscodampers GERB are the ideal components for seismic upgrading of flexible pipework systems of the existing operating NPPs, of WWER-440 type, namely in primary reactor part. There are cheap, maintenance-free, simple and their installation minimizes the support forces to the structures. The quoted attests are enclosed in this paper. The references for application on Bohunice NPP upgrading are positive, and they are used in Mochovce and Temelin NPP as well

  6. Human factors in RBNK plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Demitrack, T.

    1995-01-01

    The Safety of RBMK nuclear power plants in the Russian Federation, The Ukraine and Lithuanian is a topic of concern to the European Union and other Western European countries. The European Commission, Sweden, Finland and Canada financed the project Safety Design Solutions and Operation of NPP with RBMK Reactors. The project examined nine issues and recommended safety improvements which will form the basis of future European Commission spending on these power plants. During its year of work, the project examined these issues: 1. Systems Engineering and progression of accidents 2. Protection System 3. Core Physics 4. External Events 5. Engineering Quality 6. Operating Experience 7. Human Factors 8. Regulatory Interface 9. Probabilistic Safety analysis Empresarios Agrupados, in collaboration with other western European firms, the Russian Federation and Lithuanian took part in two of these groups, Human Factors and Probabilistic Safety Analysis. This presentation gives a brief description of the most important aspects of human factors in RBMK plants, focusing on operations organization, training and education

  7. Human factors with nonhumans - Factors that affect computer-task performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Washburn, David A.

    1992-01-01

    There are two general strategies that may be employed for 'doing human factors research with nonhuman animals'. First, one may use the methods of traditional human factors investigations to examine the nonhuman animal-to-machine interface. Alternatively, one might use performance by nonhuman animals as a surrogate for or model of performance by a human operator. Each of these approaches is illustrated with data in the present review. Chronic ambient noise was found to have a significant but inconsequential effect on computer-task performance by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Additional data supported the generality of findings such as these to humans, showing that rhesus monkeys are appropriate models of human psychomotor performance. It is argued that ultimately the interface between comparative psychology and technology will depend on the coordinated use of both strategies of investigation.

  8. Academic Training - LHC luminosity upgrade: detector challenges

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2006-01-01

    ACADEMIC TRAINING LECTURE SERIES 13, 14, 15, March, from 11:00 to 12:00 - 16 March from 10:00 to 12:00 Main Auditorium, bldg. 500 on 14, 15 March, Council Room on 13, 16 March LHC luminosity upgrade: detector challenges A. De Roeck / CERN-PH, D. Bortoletto / Purdue Univ. USA, R. Wigmans / Texas, Tech Univ. USA, W. Riegler / CERN-PH, W. Smith / Wisconsin Univ. USA The upgrade of the LHC machine towards higher luminosity (1035 cm-2s-1) has been studied over the last few years. These studies have investigated scenarios to achieve the increase in peak luminosity by an order of magnitude, as well as the physics potential of such an upgrade and the impact of a machine upgrade on the LHC DETECTORS. This series of lectures will cover the following topics: Physics motivation and machine scenarios for an order of magnitude increase in the LHC peak luminosity (lecture 1) Detector challenges including overview of ideas for R&D programs by the LHC experiments: tracking and calorimetry, other new detector ...

  9. Upgrade of the CMS Global Muon Trigger

    CERN Document Server

    Lingemann, Joschka; Sakulin, Hannes; Jeitler, Manfred; Stahl, Achim

    2015-01-01

    The increase in center-of-mass energy and luminosity for Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider pose new challenges for the trigger systems of the experiments. To keep triggering with a similar performance as in Run 1, the CMS muon trigger is currently being upgraded. The new algorithms will provide higher resolution, especially for the muon transverse momentum and will make use of isolation criteria that combine calorimeter with muon information already in the level-1 trigger. The demands of the new algorithms can only be met by upgrading the level-1 trigger system to new powerful FPGAs with high bandwidth I/O. The processing boards will be based on the new microTCA standard. We report on the planned algorithms for the upgraded Global Muon Trigger (GMT) which combines information from the muon trigger sub-systems and assigns the isolation variable. The upgraded GMT will be implemented using a Master Processor 7 card, built by Imperial College, that features a large Xilinx Virtex 7 FPGA. Up to 72 optical links at...

  10. Applications of human factors engineering in the digital HMI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Bingjian

    2014-01-01

    In order to prevent and minimize human errors in the digital main control room, the principles of human factors engineering must be complied strictly in the design process of digital human-machine interface. This paper briefly describes the basic human factors engineering principles of designing main control room, introduces the main steps to implement the human factors engineering verification and validation of main control room, including HSI task support verification, human factors engineering design verification and integrated system validation. Meanwhile, according to the new digital human-machine interface characteristics, the development models of human error are analyzed. (author)

  11. Effectiveness of human factors simulator; Eficiencia del simulador de factores humanos

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moragas, F.

    2015-07-01

    En 2011, ANAV started the exploitation of the Human Factors Simulator installed in TECNATOM Training Center located in L'Hospital de L'Infant Tarragona. AVAN's Strategic Plan includes the Action Plan for the improvement of human behavior. The plan includes improving the efficiency of the efficiency of the human factors simulator. It is proposed to improve the efficiency into two different terms: winning effectiveness in modeling behaviors, and interweaving the activities in the simulator with the actual strategy of promoting Safety culture and human behaviour. (Author)

  12. Status of the ALICE TPC upgrade for high-rate operation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gasik, Piotr [TU Muenchen, Physik Department E12, Excellence Cluster ' ' Universe' ' , D-85748, Garching (Germany); Collaboration: ALICE-Collaboration

    2015-07-01

    A large Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is the main device for tracking and charged particle identification in the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. After the second long shutdown in 2018/2019, the LHC will deliver Pb beams colliding at an interaction rate of about 50 kHz, which is about a factor of 100 above the present readout rate of the TPC. This will result in a significant improvement on the sensitivity of rare probes that are considered key observables to characterise the hot and dense QCD matter created in such collisions. In order to make full use of this luminosity, a major upgrade of the TPC is required. It is foreseen to replace the existing MWPC-based readout chambers by Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors to overcome the rate limitations imposed by the present gated readout scheme. An extensive R and D program has been launched to reach the challenging requirements of the upcoming upgrade of the detector. In this presentation the most recent results are discussed concerning ion backflow suppression, gain stability, energy and dE/dx resolution and stability against discharges. The status of the upgrade of the online calibration and data reduction system, which includes advanced techniques for online corrections of space-charge distortions, as well as the development of a new readout electronics are reported.

  13. Industrial Clusters and Social Upgrading in Developing Countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pyke, Frank; Lund-Thomsen, Peter

    In this article, we explore the relationship between industrial clusters and social upgrading in developing countries. Our article focuses on the hitherto little-considered influence of the economic and regulatory environment on the social upgrading of a cluster and on its governance system....... In doing so, we develop an analytical framework that seeks to explain how the enabling environment and different actors in cluster governance can either facilitate and/or hinder the process of social upgrading in cluster settings in developing countries. Finally, the conclusion outlines our main findings...

  14. Upgrade of Instrumentation for Purdue Reactor PUR-1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Revankar, S.T.; Merritt, E.; Bean, R.

    2000-01-01

    The major objective of this program was to upgrade and replace instruments and equipment that significantly improve the performance, control and operational capability of the Purdue University nuclear reactor (PUR-1). Under this major objective two projects on instrument upgrade were implemented. The first one was to convert the vacuum tube control and safety amplifiers (CSA) to solid state electronics, and the other was to upgrade the electrical and electronic shielding. This report is the annual report and gives the efforts and progress achieved on these two projects from July 1999 to June 2000

  15. LHCb DAQ network upgrade tests

    CERN Document Server

    Pisani, Flavio

    2013-01-01

    My project concerned the evaluation of new technologies for the DAQ network upgrade of LHCb. The first part consisted in developing and Open Flow-based Clos network. This new technology is very interesting and powerful but, as shown by the results, it still needs further improvements. The second part consisted in testing and benchmarking 40GbE network equipment: Mellanox MT27500, Chelsio T580 and Huawei Cloud Engine 12804. An event-building simulation is currently been performed in order to check the feasibility of the DAQ network upgrade in LS2. The first results are promising.

  16. Status of the University of Missouri-Columbia Research Reactor upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKibben, J.C.; Edwards, C.B. Jr.; Meyer, W.A. Jr.; Kim, S.S.

    1990-01-01

    The University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) Research Reactor Facility staff is in the process of upgrading the operational and research capabilities of the reactor and associated facilities. The upgrades include an extended life aluminide fuel element, a power increase, improved instrumentation and control equipment, a cold neutron source, a building addition, and improved research instrumentation and equipment. These upgrades will greatly enhance the capabilities of the facility and the research programs. This paper discusses the parts of the upgrade and current status of implementation. (author)

  17. Status of the University of Missouri-Columbia Research Reactor upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McKibben, J C; Edwards, Jr, C B; Meyer, Jr, W A [MU Research Reactor, Columbia, MO (United States); Kim, S S [Idaho Nuclear Engineering Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    1990-05-01

    The University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) Research Reactor Facility staff is in the process of upgrading the operational and research capabilities of the reactor and associated facilities. The upgrades include an extended life aluminide fuel element, a power increase, improved instrumentation and control equipment, a cold neutron source, a building addition, and improved research instrumentation and equipment. These upgrades will greatly enhance the capabilities of the facility and the research programs. This paper discusses the parts of the upgrade and current status of implementation. (author)

  18. Project W-420 stack monitoring system upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    CARPENTER, K.E.

    1999-01-01

    This project will execute the design, procurement, construction, startup, and turnover activities for upgrades to the stack monitoring system on selected Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) ventilation systems. In this plan, the technical, schedule, and cost baselines are identified, and the roles and responsibilities of project participants are defined for managing the Stack Monitoring System Upgrades, Project W-420

  19. Fault tree analysis of Project S-4404, Upgrade Canyon Exhaust System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Browne, E.V.; Low, J.M.; Lux, C.R.

    1992-01-01

    Project S-4404, Upgrade Canyon Exhaust Systems, is a $177 million project with the purpose of upgrading the Exhaust Systems for both F and H Canyon Facilities. This upgrade will replace major portions of the F and H-Canyon exhaust systems, downstream of their respective sand filters with higher capacity and more reliable systems. Because of the high cost, DOE requested Program Control ampersand Integration (PC ampersand I) to examine specific deletions to the project. PC ampersand I requested Nuclear Processes Safety Research (NPSR) to perform an analysis to compare failure rates for the existing F ampersand H Canyon exhaust systems with the proposed exhaust system and specific proposed exhaust system alternatives. The objective of this work was to perform an analysis and compare failure rates for the existing F ampersand H Canyon exhaust systems with the proposed project exhaust system and proposed project alternatives. Based on fault tree analysis, two conclusions are made. First, D ampersand D activities can be eliminated from the project with no significant decrease to exhaust system safety. Deletion of D ampersand D activities would result in a cost savings of $29 million. Second, deletion of DOE Order 6430.1A requirements regarding DBAs would decrease exhaust system safety by a factor of 12

  20. Using the Human Systems Simulation Laboratory at Idaho National Laboratory for Safety Focused Research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joe, Jeffrey .C; Boring, Ronald L.

    2016-07-01

    Under the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have been using the Human Systems Simulation Laboratory (HSSL) to conduct critical safety focused Human Factors research and development (R&D) for the nuclear industry. The LWRS program has the overall objective to develop the scientific basis to extend existing nuclear power plant (NPP) operating life beyond the current 60-year licensing period and to ensure their long-term reliability, productivity, safety, and security. One focus area for LWRS is the NPP main control room (MCR), because many of the instrumentation and control (I&C) system technologies installed in the MCR, while highly reliable and safe, are now difficult to replace and are therefore limiting the operating life of the NPP. This paper describes how INL researchers use the HSSL to conduct Human Factors R&D on modernizing or upgrading these I&C systems in a step-wise manner, and how the HSSL has addressed a significant gap in how to upgrade systems and technologies that are built to last, and therefore require careful integration of analog and new advanced digital technologies.

  1. ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Readout Electronics Upgrade Program for the High Luminosity LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Cerqueira, A S; The ATLAS collaboration

    2013-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the hadronic calorimeter covering the most central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. The ATLAS upgrade program is divided in three phases: The Phase 0 occurs during 2013-2014 and prepares the LHC to reach peak luminosities of 1034 cm2s-1; Phase 1, foreseen for 2018-1019, prepares the LHC for peak luminosity up to 2-3 x 1034 cm2s-1, corresponding to 55 to 80 interactions per bunch-crossing with 25 ns bunch interval; and Phase 2 is foreseen for 2022-2023, whereafter the peak luminosity will reach 5-7 x 1034 cm2s-1 (HL-LHC). With luminosity leveling, the average luminosity will increase with a factor 10. The main TileCal upgrade is focused on the HL-LHC period. The upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on- and off-detector electronics so that all calorimeter signals are directly digitized and sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. All new electronics must be able to cope with the increased rad...

  2. Human Reliability Analysis for Design: Using Reliability Methods for Human Factors Issues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ronald Laurids Boring

    2010-11-01

    This paper reviews the application of human reliability analysis methods to human factors design issues. An application framework is sketched in which aspects of modeling typically found in human reliability analysis are used in a complementary fashion to the existing human factors phases of design and testing. The paper provides best achievable practices for design, testing, and modeling. Such best achievable practices may be used to evaluate and human system interface in the context of design safety certifications.

  3. Human Reliability Analysis for Design: Using Reliability Methods for Human Factors Issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boring, Ronald Laurids

    2010-01-01

    This paper reviews the application of human reliability analysis methods to human factors design issues. An application framework is sketched in which aspects of modeling typically found in human reliability analysis are used in a complementary fashion to the existing human factors phases of design and testing. The paper provides best achievable practices for design, testing, and modeling. Such best achievable practices may be used to evaluate and human system interface in the context of design safety certifications.

  4. US Nuclear Regulatory Commission human-factors program plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-08-01

    The purpose of the NRC Human Factors Program Plan is to ensure that proper consideration is given to human factors in the design, operation, and maintenance of nuclear facilities. This initial plan addresses nuclear power plants (NPP) and describes (1) the technical assistance and research activities planned to provide the technical bases for the resolution of the remaining human factors related tasks described in NUREG-0660, The NRC Action Plan Developed as a Result of the TMI-2 Accident, and NUREG-0737, Clarification of TMI Action Plan Requirements, and (2) the additional human factors efforts identified during implementation of the Action Plan that should receive NRC attention. The plan represents a systematic and comprehensive approach for addressing human factors concerns important to NPP safety in the FY-83 through FY-85 time frame

  5. Human factors in aviation

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Salas, Eduardo; Maurino, Daniel E

    2010-01-01

    .... HFA offers a comprehensive overview of the topic, taking readers from the general to the specific, first covering broad issues, then the more specific topics of pilot performance, human factors...

  6. Human factors methods for nuclear control room design. Volume 2. Human factors survey of control room design practices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seminara, J.L.; Parsons, S.O.

    1979-11-01

    An earlier review of the control rooms of operating nuclear power plants identified many design problems having potential for degrading operator performance. As a result, the formal application of human factors principles was found to be needed. This report demonstrates the use of human factors in the design of power plant control rooms. The approaches shown in the report can be applied to operating power plants, as well as to those in the design stage. This study documents human factors techniques required to provide a sustained concern for the man-machine interface from control room concept definition to system implementation

  7. The importance of residues 195-206 of human blood clotting factor VII in the interaction of factor VII with tissue factor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wildgoose, P.; Kisiel, W.; Kazim, A.L.

    1990-01-01

    Previous studies indicated that human and bovine factor VII exhibit 71% amino acid sequence identity. In the present study, competition binding experiments revealed that the interaction of human factor VII with cell-surface human tissue factor was not inhibited by 100-fold molar excess of bovine factor VII. This finding indicated that bovine and human factor VII are not structurally homologous in the region(s) where human factor VII interacts with human tissue factor. On this premise, the authors synthesized three peptides corresponding to regions of human factor VII that exhibited marked structural dissimilarity to bovine factor VII; these regions of dissimilarity included residues 195-206, 263-274, and 314-326. Peptide 195-206 inhibited the interaction of factor VII with cell-surface tissue factor and the activation of factor X by a complex of factor VIIa and tissue factor half-maximally at concentrations of 1-2 mM. A structurally rearranged form of peptide 195-206 containing an aspartimide residue inhibited these reactions half-maximally at concentrations of 250-300 μM. In contrast, neither peptide 263-274 nor peptide 314-326, at 2 mM concentration, significantly affected either factor VIIa interaction with tissue factor or factor VIIa-mediated activation of factor X. The data provide presumptive evidence that residues 195-206 of human factor VII are involved in the interaction of human factor VII with the extracellular domain of human tissue factor apoprotein

  8. Meeting Human Reliability Requirements through Human Factors Design, Testing, and Modeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    R. L. Boring

    2007-06-01

    In the design of novel systems, it is important for the human factors engineer to work in parallel with the human reliability analyst to arrive at the safest achievable design that meets design team safety goals and certification or regulatory requirements. This paper introduces the System Development Safety Triptych, a checklist of considerations for the interplay of human factors and human reliability through design, testing, and modeling in product development. This paper also explores three phases of safe system development, corresponding to the conception, design, and implementation of a system.

  9. Importance of human factors on nuclear installations safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caruso, G.J.

    1990-01-01

    Actually, installations safety and, in particular the nuclear installations infer a strong incidence in human factors related to the design and operation of such installations. In general, the experience aims to that the most important accidents have happened as result of the components' failures combination and human failures in the operation of safety systems. Human factors in the nuclear installations may be divided into two areas: economy and human reliability. Human factors treatments for the safety evaluation of the nuclear installations allow to diagnose the weak points of man-machine interaction. (Author) [es

  10. Design upgrade of the ISOLDE target unit for HIE-ISOLDE

    CERN Document Server

    Montano, J; Gottberg, A

    2013-01-01

    The High Intensity and Energy HIE-ISOLDE project is a major upgrade of the existing ISOLDE and REX-ISOLDE facilities with the objective of increasing the energy and the intensity of the delivered radioactive ion beams (RIB) {[}1]. In order to accommodate the future increase of primary beam intensity delivered by the new LINAC4 H- driver to the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB) {[}2] and from this to ISOLDE, a major study is being carried out to upgrade the existing designs of the ISOLDE target and its supporting infrastructure. In particular, the extraction optics plays an important role in the initial beam transport and the quality of the beam supplied to the mass separators. Important factors include the emittance of the beam and the beam profile to avoid beam losses. A new double electrode extraction system has been developed for simplifying and improving the interface between the target unit and the frontend (target coupling table). Numerical and experimental studies have been performed in order to define ...

  11. Operation of the Upgraded ATLAS Level-1 Central Trigger System

    CERN Document Server

    Glatzer, Julian Maximilian Volker; The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    The ATLAS Level-1 Central Trigger (L1CT) system is a central part of ATLAS data-taking and has undergone a major upgrade for Run 2 of the LHC, in order to cope with the expected increase of instantaneous luminosity of a factor of 2 with respect to Run 1. The upgraded hardware offers more flexibility in the trigger decisions due to the double amount of trigger inputs and usable trigger channels. It also provides an interface to the new topological trigger system. Operationally - particularly useful for commissioning, calibration and test runs - it allows concurrent running of up to 3 different sub-detector combinations. In this contribution, we give an overview of the operational software framework of the L1CT system with particular emphasis of the configuration, controls and monitoring aspects. The software framework allows a consistent configuration with respect to the ATLAS experiment and the LHC machine, upstream and downstream trigger processors, and the data acquisition. Trigger and dead-time rates are m...

  12. J-PARC accelerator and neutrino beamline upgrade programme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friend, M.

    2017-09-01

    The 30 GeV proton beam from the J-PARC Main Ring (MR) accelerator is used to produce a world-class conventional neutrino beam - the neutrino source for the J-PARC long-baseline neutrino programme, including the current T2K experiment and proposed future experiments. Planned upgrades to increase the beam power of the MR from the current ˜400 kW to the design power of 750 kW and beyond, to 1.3+ MW, are underway. These include hardware modifications, such as upgrades of the MR magnet power supplies, RF systems, and feedback systems, as well as a change of the MR beam betatron tune point. Upgrades to the neutrino beamline, such as to the proton beam monitoring, horns, and radioactive material handling, will also be required to accommodate the increased proton beam power. An overview of planned J-PARC MR and neutrino facility upgrades is given.

  13. EPRI training to support digital upgrades in nuclear plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torok, R.; Naser, J.

    2006-01-01

    In response to the growing challenges of obsolescence and rising maintenance costs, utilities are increasingly upgrading or replacing their existing instrumentation and control (I and C) systems and components. In most cases, this involves analog-to-digital or digital-to-newer-digital replacements. However, the use of digital technology often raises new technical and licensing issues, particularly for safety-related applications. Examples include: new failure modes and the potential for common-mode failure of redundant components; electromagnetic compatibility (EMC); potential human-system interface problems; and software verification, validation, and configuration management. Successful implementation, operation and maintenance of digital systems depend to a great extent on having processes in place that are tailored for digital technology. Nuclear plants are therefore updating their processes as they start the migration to digital I and C. For several years, EPRI has been developing guidelines to address the key technical issues and interfacing with the U.S. NRC to ensure the acceptability of the approaches developed. A framework for implementing digital upgrades now exists, but practical experience under the current regulatory environment is sparse. Significant uncertainty exists in regard to both technical and licensing issues. Many utilities still need to prepare their staff and processes to properly handle the new technology. In recent years, this need has been exacerbated by staff reductions, changing job assignments, and declining training budgets. EPRI has responded by developing a training program to help utilities efficiently bring design and licensing engineers up to speed on the latest issues and guidance affecting the implementation of digital upgrades in nuclear plants. This paper describes the key technical issues in the context of the EPRI training program. (authors)

  14. Upgrades and Real Time Ntm Control Application of the Ece Radiometer on Asdex Upgrade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hicks, N. K.; Suttrop, W.; Behler, K.; Giannone, L.; Manini, A.; Maraschek, M.; Raupp, G.; Reich, M.; Sips, A. C. C.; Stober, J.; Treutterer, W.; ASDEX Upgrade Team; Cirant, S.

    2009-04-01

    The 60-channel electron cyclotron emission (ECE) radiometer diagnostic on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak is presently being upgraded to include a 1 MHz sampling rate data acquisition system. This expanded capability allows electron temperature measurements up to 500 kHz (anti-aliasing filter cut-off) with spatial resolution ~1 cm, and will thus provide measurement of plasma phenomena on the MHD timescale, such as neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs). The upgraded and existing systems may be run in parallel for comparison, and some of the first plasma measurements using the two systems together are presented. A particular planned application of the upgraded radiometer is integration into a real-time NTM stabilization loop using targeted deposition of electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH). For this loop, it is necessary to determine the locations of the NTM and ECRH deposition using ECE measurements. As the magnetic island of the NTM repeatedly rotates through the ECE line of sight, electron temperature fluctuations at the NTM frequency are observed. The magnetic perturbation caused by the NTM is independently measured using Mirnov coils, and a correlation profile between these magnetic measurements and the ECE data is constructed. The phase difference between ECE oscillations on opposite sides of the island manifests as a zero-crossing of the correlation profile, which determines the NTM location in ECE channel space. To determine the location of ECRH power deposition, the power from a given gyrotron may be modulated at a particular frequency. Correlation analysis of this modulated signal and the ECE data identifies a particular ECE channel associated with the deposition of that gyrotron. Real time equilibrium reconstruction allows the ECE channels to be translated into flux surface and spatial coordinates for use in the feedback loop.

  15. Human Factors Interface with Systems Engineering for NASA Human Spaceflights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Douglas T.

    2009-01-01

    This paper summarizes the past and present successes of the Habitability and Human Factors Branch (HHFB) at NASA Johnson Space Center s Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) in including the Human-As-A-System (HAAS) model in many NASA programs and what steps to be taken to integrate the Human-Centered Design Philosophy (HCDP) into NASA s Systems Engineering (SE) process. The HAAS model stresses systems are ultimately designed for the humans; the humans should therefore be considered as a system within the systems. Therefore, the model places strong emphasis on human factors engineering. Since 1987, the HHFB has been engaging with many major NASA programs with much success. The HHFB helped create the NASA Standard 3000 (a human factors engineering practice guide) and the Human Systems Integration Requirements document. These efforts resulted in the HAAS model being included in many NASA programs. As an example, the HAAS model has been successfully introduced into the programmatic and systems engineering structures of the International Space Station Program (ISSP). Success in the ISSP caused other NASA programs to recognize the importance of the HAAS concept. Also due to this success, the HHFB helped update NASA s Systems Engineering Handbook in December 2007 to include HAAS as a recommended practice. Nonetheless, the HAAS model has yet to become an integral part of the NASA SE process. Besides continuing in integrating HAAS into current and future NASA programs, the HHFB will investigate incorporating the Human-Centered Design Philosophy (HCDP) into the NASA SE Handbook. The HCDP goes further than the HAAS model by emphasizing a holistic and iterative human-centered systems design concept.

  16. System upgrades to the DIII-D facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kellman, A.G.

    2007-01-01

    Major upgrades to the DIII-D facility have been performed that significantly enhance the capability of both the DIII-D device and the entire facility. The most significant of these include the rotation of a neutral beam line, installation of a new lower divertor, and a significant set of new and enhanced diagnostics. The upgrades and initial results are presented in this paper

  17. CMS pixel upgrade project

    CERN Document Server

    Kaestli, Hans-Christian

    2010-01-01

    The LHC machine at CERN finished its first year of pp collisions at a center of mass energy of 7~TeV. While the commissioning to exploit its full potential is still ongoing, there are plans to upgrade its components to reach instantaneous luminosities beyond the initial design value after 2016. A corresponding upgrade of the innermost part of the CMS detector, the pixel detector, is needed. A full replacement of the pixel detector is planned in 2016. It will not only address limitations of the present system at higher data rates, but will aggressively lower the amount of material inside the fiducial tracking volume which will lead to better tracking and b-tagging performance. This article gives an overview of the project and illuminates the motivations and expected improvements in the detector performance.

  18. CMS pixel upgrade project

    CERN Document Server

    INSPIRE-00575876

    2011-01-01

    The LHC machine at CERN finished its first year of pp collisions at a center of mass energy of 7 TeV. While the commissioning to exploit its full potential is still ongoing, there are plans to upgrade its components to reach instantaneous luminosities beyond the initial design value after 2016. A corresponding upgrade of the innermost part of the CMS detector, the pixel detector, is needed. A full replacement of the pixel detector is planned in 2016. It will not only address limitations of the present system at higher data rates, but will aggressively lower the amount of material inside the fiducial tracking volume which will lead to better tracking and b-tagging performance. This article gives an overview of the project and illuminates the motivations and expected improvements in the detector performance.

  19. How to implement all HL-LHC upgrades

    CERN Document Server

    Rossi, L; Ballarino, A; Brüning, O; Jensen, E; Redaelli, S; Tavian, L; Todesco, E

    2014-01-01

    The luminosity upgrade will require major changes in the LHC machine layout : about 1.2 km of the machine will undergo major renova tion or modification. In the paper we will review the list of main equipment foreseen to be replaced or to be added. We will review the upgrade plan that should start already in the Long Shutdown (LS) 2 (with the installation of the first dispersion suppressor 11T dipole – collimator unit , the superconducting link in Point 7 and the cryo-plant in Point 4), through to the major works in LS3, synchronized with an upgrade of the LHC detectors. Best estimates of the required duration of the various shutdowns will be discussed, and also the main risks and their mitigation.

  20. Expected performance of the upgrade ATLAS experiment for HL-LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, Peilian; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been successfully delivering proton-proton collision data at the unprecedented center of mass energy of 13 TeV. An upgrade is planned to increase the instantaneous luminosity delivered by the LHC in what is called the HL-LHC, aiming to deliver a total of up 3000/fb to 4000/fb of data per experiment. To cope with the expected data-taking conditions ATLAS is planning major upgrades of the detector. It is now a critical time for these upgrade projects and during the last year and a half, six Technical Design Reports (TDR) were produced by the ATLAS Collaboration. In these TDRs the physics motivation and benefits of such upgrades are discussed together with details on the upgrade project itself. In this contribution we review the expected performance of the upgraded ATLAS detector and the expected reach for physics measurements as well as the discovery potential for new physics that is expected by the end of the HL-LHC data-taking. The performance of object reconstruction under...

  1. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory upgrading approaches to existing facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engle, H.M. Jr.

    1985-01-01

    The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Plant Engineering Department instituted a seismic risk investigation and seismic upgrade program in 1970. This paper covers the upgrade of two buildings with dissimilar framing systems; Building No. 10, a World War II vintage heavy timber frame building, and Building No. 80, a steel frame structure constructed in 1954. The seismic upgrade task for both structures required that the buildings be kept in service during rehabilitation with a minimum of disruption to occupants. Rehabilitations were phased over two and three year periods with construction management and supervision performed by LBL Plant Engineering staff

  2. Human factors in the Canadian nuclear industry: future needs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrison, F.

    2008-01-01

    Currently the industry is facing refurbishment and new builds. At present most licensees in Canada do not have sufficient numbers of Human Factors staff. As a result, the activities of the CNSC are too often focused on providing guidance regarding the application of Human Factors, in addition to reviewing work submitted by the licensee. Greater efficiencies for both the licensee and the CNSC could be realized if licensee staff had greater Human Factors expertise. Strategies for developing Human Factors expertise should be explored through cooperative partnerships with universities, which could be encouraged to include Human Factors courses specific to nuclear. (author)

  3. Future of the CMS Muon System Upgrades and Aging

    CERN Document Server

    Pilot, Justin Robert

    2016-01-01

    The CMS detector currently includes three different muon detector types drift tubes (DT) in the central region, cathode strip chambers (CSC) in the forward regions, and resistive plate chambers (RPC) in both the forward and central regions. Several upgrade projects are planned to maintain high data-taking efficiency with the planned running conditions for the high-luminosity upgrade of the LHC. These upgrades are designed to ensure detector longevity and increase redundancy, while mitigating rate increases and retaining sensitivity to phyics processes. This involves changes to electronics and infrastructure of existing detectors, and adding new detectors in the forward region of the CMS experiment. Plans for each of the muon subsystems are described here in the context of the Phase-II upgrade schedule of the CMS experiment.

  4. A framework for human factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webb, R.D.G.

    As the complexity of industrial systems increases, the need for efficient integration of human beings into the systems that they design and operate grows more important. Human factors, or ergonomics, is concerned with the application of life science knowledge about human characteristics to maximise performance and well-being in any context. The most complex problem is to identify job demands in terms of different human dimensions and to apply established life science knowledge to determine optimum solutions. This requires the cooperation of many specialists

  5. OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE: UPGRADED MPC AND A SYSTEMS FOR THE RADIOCHEMICAL PLANT OF THE SIBERIAN CHEMICAL COMBINE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    RODRIGUEZ, C.; GOLOSKOKOV, I.; FISHBONE, L.; GOODEY, K.; LOOMIS, M.; CRAIN, B. JR.; LARSEN, R.

    2003-01-01

    The success of reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation through physical protection and material control/accounting systems depends upon the development of an effective design that includes consideration of the objectives of the systems and the resources available to implement the design. Included among the objectives of the design are facility characterization, definition of threat, and identification of targets. When considering resources, the designer must consider funds available, rapid low-cost elements, technology elements, human resources, and the availability of resources to sustain operation of the end system. The Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) is a multi-function nuclear facility located in the Tomsk region of Siberia, Russia. Beginning in 1996, SCC joined with the United States Department of Energy (US/DOE) Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC and A) Program to develop and implement MPC and A upgrades for the Radiochemical, Chemical Metallurgical, Conversion, Uranium Enrichment, and Reactor Plants of the SCC. At the Radiochemical Plant the MPC and A design and implementation process has been largely completed for the Plutonium Storage Facility and related areas of the Radiochemical Plant. Design and implementation of upgrades for the Radiochemical Plant include rapid physical protection upgrades such as bricking up of doors and windows, and installation of security-hardened doors. Rapid material control and accounting upgrades include installation of modern balances and bar code equipment. Comprehensive MPC and A upgrades include the installation of access controls to sensitive areas of the Plant, alarm communication and display (AC and D) systems to detect and annunciate alarm conditions, closed circuit (CCTV) systems to assess alarm conditions, central and secondary alarm station upgrades that enable security forces to assess and respond to alarm conditions, material control and accounting upgrades that include upgraded physical

  6. Upgrading the BEPC control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Liping; Wang Lizheng; Liu Shiyao

    1992-01-01

    The BEPC control system has been put into operation and operated normally since the end of 1987. Three years's experience shows this system can satisfy basically the operation requirements, also exhibits some disadvantages araised from the original centralized system architecture based on the VAX-VCC-CAMAC, such as slow response, bottle neck of VCC, less CPU power for control etc.. This paper describes the method and procedure for upgrading the BEPC control system which will be based on DEC net and DEC-WS, and thus intend to upgrade the control system architecture from the centralized to the distributed and improve the integral system performance. (author)

  7. Upgrade of reactor operation technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, Hideaki; Suzuki, Toshiaki; O-kawa, Toshikatsu

    2003-01-01

    To improve operational reliability and availability, the operation technology for a fast reactor was developed in the ''JOYO''. This report describes the upgrading of the simulator, plant operation management tools and fuel handling system for the MK-III core operation. The simulator was modified to the MK-III version to verify operation manuals, and to train operators in MK-III operation. The plant operation management tool was replaced on the operation experience to increase the reliability and efficiency of plant management works relating to plant operation and maintenance. To shorten the refueling period, the fuel handling system was upgraded to full automatic remote control. (author)

  8. The APS control system network upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sidorowicz, K. v.; Leibfritz, D.; McDowell, W. P.

    1999-01-01

    When it was installed,the Advanced Photon Source (APS) control system network was at the state-of-the-art. Different aspects of the system have been reported at previous meetings [1,2]. As loads on the controls network have increased due to newer and faster workstations and front-end computers, we have found performance of the system declining and have implemented an upgraded network. There have been dramatic advances in networking hardware in the last several years. The upgraded APS controls network replaces the original FDDI backbone and shared Ethernet hubs with redundant gigabit uplinks and fully switched 10/100 Ethernet switches with backplane fabrics in excess of 20 Gbits/s (Gbps). The central collapsed backbone FDDI concentrator has been replaced with a Gigabit Ethernet switch with greater than 30 Gbps backplane fabric. Full redundancy of the system has been maintained. This paper will discuss this upgrade and include performance data and performance comparisons with the original network

  9. ATLAS upgrades for the next decades

    CERN Document Server

    Hopkins, Walter; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    After the successful LHC operation at the center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV in 2010-2012, plans are actively advancing for a series of upgrades of the accelerator, culminating roughly ten years from now in the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, delivering of the order of five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity along with luminosity leveling. The final goal is to extend the dataset from about few hundred \\ifb\\ expected for LHC running to 3000 fb$^{-1}$ by around 2035 for ATLAS and CMS. In parallel, the experiments need to be keep lockstep with the accelerator to accommodate running beyond the nominal luminosity this decade. Current planning in ATLAS envisions significant upgrades to the detector during the consolidation of the LHC to reach full LHC energy and further upgrades. The challenge of coping with the HL-LHC instantaneous and integrated luminosity, along with the associated radiation levels, requires further major changes to the ATLAS detector. The designs are developing rapidly for...

  10. An upgrade practice of a double-rack source 60Co source irradiator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong Hui; Peng Wei; Liu Zhaomin

    2009-01-01

    An upgrade practice of a double-rack irradiator with the design capacity of 2.96 x10 16 Bq (800 kCi) was reported. The detailed contents and characteristics of this upgrade, a comparison on the facility performance before and after the upgrade, and the cost-benefit analysis were carried out. After upgrade, the facility performance increased over 50%, and brought much directly economical benefit and indirectly economical benefit. The upgrade was successful, and set up a demonstrational sample. (authors)

  11. Analogue to digital upgrade project-boiler feedwater control system for Bruce Power nuclear units 1 & 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Long, R.

    2012-01-01

    Bruce Power Nuclear Generating Station A, “Bruce A” is in the final stages of its Restart Project. This capital project will see a large scale rehabilitation of Units 1 and 2 resulting in addition of 1500MW of safe, reliable, clean electricity to the Ontario grid. Restart Project Scope 375, Boiler Feedwater Controls Upgrade was sanctioned to replace obsolete analog devices with a modern digital control system. This project replaced the existing Foxboro H Line analog controls which comprised of 81 individual control modules and support instrumentation. The replacement system was a Triconex Triple Modular Redundant PLC which interfaces with two redundant touch screen monitors. The upgraded digital system incorporates the following controls: 1. Boiler Level Control Loops 2. Dearator Level Control Loops 3. Dearator Pressure Control Loops 4. Boiler Feedwater Recirculation Flow Control Loops A number of technical challenges were addressed when installing a new digital system within the existing plant configuration. Interfaces to new, old and refurbished field devices must be understood as well as implications of connecting to the plant’s Digital Control Computers (DCC’s) and newly installed Steam Generators. The overall project involved many stakeholders to address various requirements from conceptual / design stage through procurement, construction, commissioning and return to service. In addition, the project highlighted the unique requirements found in Nuclear Industry with respect to Human Factors and Software Quality Assurance. (author)

  12. Development of human factors design review guidelines(II)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Suk; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Chul [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea)

    1998-06-01

    The objective of this study is to develop human factors engineering program review guidelines and alarm system review guidelines in order to resolve the two major technical issues: 25. Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model and 26. Review Criteria for Human Factors Aspects of Advanced Controls and Instrumentation, which are related to the development of human factors safety regulation guides being performed by KINS. For the development of human factors program review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG-0711 and added our comments by considering Korean regulatory situation and reviewing the reference documents of NUREG-0711. We also computerized the Korean version of NUREG-0711, additional comments, and selected portion of the reference documents for the developer of safety regulation guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG/CR-6105, which was published by NRC in 1994 as a guideline document for the human factors review of alarm systems. Then we will update the guidelines by reviewing the literature related to alarm design published after 1994. (author). 11 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.

  13. Upgrade of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

    CERN Document Server

    Wessels, M; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    The Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger (L1Calo) of the ATLAS experiment has been operating well since the start of LHC data taking, and played a major role in the Higgs boson discovery. To face the new challenges posed by the upcoming increases of the LHC proton beam energy and luminosity, a series of upgrades is planned for L1Calo. The initial upgrade phase in 2013-14 includes substantial improvements to the analogue and digital signal processing to allow more sophisticated digital filters for energy and timing measurement, as well as compensate for pile-up and baseline shifting effects. Two existing digital algorithm processor subsystems will receive substantial hardware and firmware upgrades to increase the real-time data path bandwidth, allowing topological information to be transmitted and processed at Level-1. An entirely new subsystem, the Level-1 Topological Processor, will receive real-time data from both the upgraded L1Calo and Level-1 Muon Trigger to perform trigger algorithms based on entire event topolo...

  14. The upgrade of the HAWC observatory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schoorlemmer, Harm [Max-Plank-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Collaboration: HAWC-Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) high-energy gamma-ray observatory has recently been completed near the Sierra Negra volcano in central Mexico. HAWC consists of 300 Water Cherenkov Detectors, each containing 200 tons of purified water, that cover a total surface area of 20,000 m{sup 2}. HAWC observes gamma rays in the 0.1-100 TeV range and has a sensitivity to TeV-scale gamma-ray sources an order of magnitude better than previous air-shower arrays. The HAWC trigger for the highest energy gamma rays reaches an effective area of 10{sup 5} m{sup 2} but many of them are poorly reconstructed because the shower core falls outside the array. An upgrade that increases the present fraction of well reconstructed showers above 10 TeV by a factor of 3-4 can be done with a sparse outrigger array of small water Cherenkov detectors that pinpoint the core position and by that improve the angular resolution of the reconstructed showers. Such an outrigger array would be of the order of 300 small water Cherenkov detectors of 2.5 m{sup 3} placed over an area four times larger than HAWC. The Max Planck Institute fuer Kernphysik in Heidelberg just joined the collaboration and will provide the FADC electronics for the readout of the outrigger tanks. Detailed simulations are being performed to optimize the performance of the upgrade.

  15. TMX-Upgrade vacuum-system design and analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simonen, T.C.; Chargin, A.K.; Drake, R.P.; Nexsen, W.E.; Pickles, W.L.; Poulsen, P.; Stack, T.P.; Wong, R.L.

    1981-10-01

    This paper describes the design and analysis of the TMX Upgrade Vacuum System. TMX Upgrade is a modification of the TMX tandem mirror device. It will employ thermal barriers to further improve plasma confinement. Thermal barriers are produced by microwave heating and neutral-beam pumping. They increase the feasibility of tandem-mirror reactors by reducing both the required magnetic field strengths and the neutral-beam injection voltages

  16. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Human Factors Program Plan. Revision 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-04-01

    This document is the Second Annual Revision to the NRC Human Factors Program Plan. The first edition was published in August 1983. Revision 1 was published in July of 1984. Purpose of the NRC Human Factors Program is to ensure that proper consideration is given to human factors in the design and operation of nuclear power plants. This document describes the plans of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation to address high priority human factors concerns of importance to reactor safety in FY 1986 and FY 1987. Revision 2 of the plan incorporates recent Commission decisions and policies bearing on the human factors aspects of reactor safety regulation. With a few exceptions, the principal changes from prior editions reflect a shift from developing new requirements to staff evaluation of industry progress in resolving human factors issues. The plan addresses seven major program elements: (1) Training, (2) Licensing Examinations, (3) Procedures, (4) Man-Machine Interface, (5) Staffing and Qualifications, (6) Management and Organization, and (7) Human Performance

  17. Human Factors Simulation in Construction Management Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaeger, M.; Adair, D.

    2010-01-01

    Successful construction management depends primarily on the representatives of the involved construction project parties. In addition to effective application of construction management tools and concepts, human factors impact significantly on the processes of any construction management endeavour. How can human factors in construction management…

  18. The CDF II eXtremely fast tracker upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abulencia, A.; Azzurri, P.; Cochran, E.; Dittmann, J.; Donati, S.; Efron, J.; Erbacher, R.; Errede, D.; Fedorko, I.; Flanagan, G.; Forrest, R.; /Illinois U., Urbana

    2006-09-01

    The CDF II Extremely Fast Tracker is the trigger track processor which reconstructs charged particle tracks in the transverse plane of the CDF II central outer tracking chamber. The system is now being upgraded to perform a three dimensional track reconstruction. A review of the upgrade is presented here.

  19. Instrumentation and control upgrade evaluation methodology. Volume 1: Manual. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bliss, M.; Brown, E.; Florio, F.; Stofko, M.

    1996-07-01

    This methodology manual describes how to develop an Upgrade Evaluation Report (UER) for an I and C system that has been identified as an upgrade candidate in the I and C Life Cycle Management Plan (LCMP). A UER can be developed by a nuclear power plant to determine the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of upgrading an aging or obsolete Instrumentation and Control (I and C) System. A separate UER is developed for each upgrade candidate system. A UER will determine if a given system requires an upgrade or if it is more cost-effective to maintain the present system. If an upgrade is unnecessary, the system will be reclassified as a retained system and a system maintenance plan will be developed for it. This manual is accompanied by a workbook (EPRI TR-104963-V2) which contains various worksheets, outlines, and generic interview questions that aid in the UER development process

  20. Human Factor on Gravelines Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duboc, Gerard

    1998-01-01

    In a first part, the documents describes the commitments by EDF nuclear power plan operations to demands made by the Safety Authority regarding actions in the field of human factors (concerns expressed by the Authority, in-depth analysis, positions on different points raised by the Authority). In a second part, it presents the various actions undertaken in the Gravelines nuclear power station regarding human factors: creation of an 'operator club' (mission and objectives, methods and means, first meetings, tracking file), development of risk analysis strategy, setting up of a human factor engineering mission and example of action in case of a significant event

  1. Overview of EPRI's human factors research program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Brien, J.F.; Parris, H.L.

    1981-01-01

    The human factors engineering program in the Nuclear Power Division, EPRI is dedicated to the resolution of man-machine interface problems specific to the nuclear power industry. Particularly emphasis is placed on the capabilities and limitations of the people who operate and maintain the system, the tasks they must perform, and what they need to accomplish those tasks. Six human factors R and D projects are being conducted at the present time. In addition, technical consultation is being furnished to a study area, operator aids, being funded by another program area outside the human factors program area. All of these activities are summarized

  2. Post-upgrade testing on a radiotherapy oncology information system with an embedded record and verify system following the IAEA Human Health Report No. 7 recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyathi, Thulani; Colyer, Christopher; Bhardwaj, Anup Kumar; Rijken, James; Morton, Jason

    2016-06-01

    Record and verify (R&V) systems have proven that their application in radiotherapy clinics leads to a significant reduction in mis-treatments of patients. The purpose of this technical note is to share our experience of acceptance testing, commissioning and setting up a quality assurance programme for the MOSAIQ® oncology information system and R&V system after upgrading from software version 2.41 to 2.6 in a multi-vendor, multi-site environment. Testing was guided primarily by the IAEA Human Report No. 7 recommendations, but complemented by other departmental workflow specific tests. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time successful implementation of the IAEA Human Health Report Series No. 7 recommendations have been reported in the literature. Copyright © 2016 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Microbial biocatalyst developments to upgrade fossil fuels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilbane, John J

    2006-06-01

    Steady increases in the average sulfur content of petroleum and stricter environmental regulations concerning the sulfur content have promoted studies of bioprocessing to upgrade fossil fuels. Bioprocesses can potentially provide a solution to the need for improved and expanded fuel upgrading worldwide, because bioprocesses for fuel upgrading do not require hydrogen and produce far less carbon dioxide than thermochemical processes. Recent advances have demonstrated that biodesulfurization is capable of removing sulfur from hydrotreated diesel to yield a product with an ultra-low sulfur concentration that meets current environmental regulations. However, the technology has not yet progressed beyond laboratory-scale testing, as more efficient biocatalysts are needed. Genetic studies to obtain improved biocatalysts for the selective removal of sulfur and nitrogen from petroleum provide the focus of current research efforts.

  4. SLHC, the High-Luminosity Upgrade (public event)

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2010-01-01

    In the morning of June 23rd a public event is organised in CERN's Council Chamber with the aim of providing the particle physics community with up-to-date information about the strategy for the LHC luminosity upgrade and to describe the current status of preparation work. The presentations will provide an overview of the various accelerator sub-projects, the LHC physics prospects and the upgrade plans of ATLAS and CMS. This event is organised in the framework of the SLHC-PP project, which receives funding from the European Commission for the preparatory phase of the LHC High Luminosity Upgrade project. Informing the public is among the objectives of this EU-funded project. A simultaneous transmission of this meeting will be broadcast, available at the following address: http://webcast.cern.ch/

  5. Tackling Chinese Upgrading through Experimentalism and Pragmatism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirkegaard, Julia Kirch

    2017-01-01

    This paper examines the development of China’s wind turbine industry, shedding light on the Chinese mode of disruptive industrial upgrading through policy pragmatism and fragmented, experimental governance. Based on a historical analysis of China’s wind turbine industry, the paper highlights three...... distinct phases, which are all marked by their own inbuilt and potentially self-disruptive impasses and associated crises. In turn, these impasses have forced the Chinese government into radical and flexible interventions, which have spurred on Chinese companies to creatively find new ways to develop...... and upgrade. The paper illustrates the transformation of Sino–foreign relations by China’s non-linear upgrading approach, particularly during the Chinese wind power industry’s quality crisis, and its development model. It also discusses the implications this examination of China’s approach has...

  6. The LHCb VELO upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dosil Suárez, Álvaro, E-mail: alvaro.dosil@usc.es

    2016-07-11

    The upgrade of the LHCb experiment, planned for 2019, will transform the experiment to a trigger-less system reading out the full detector at 40 MHz event rate. All data reduction algorithms will be executed in a high-level software farm. The upgraded detector will run at luminosities of 2×10{sup 33} cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} and probe physics beyond the Standard Model in the heavy flavour sector with unprecedented precision. The Vertex Locator (VELO) is the silicon vertex detector surrounding the interaction region. The current detector will be replaced with a hybrid pixel system equipped with electronics capable of reading out at 40 MHz. The detector comprises silicon pixel sensors with 55×55 μm{sup 2} pitch, read out by the VeloPix ASIC, based on the TimePix/MediPix family. The hottest region will have pixel hit rates of 900 Mhits/s yielding a total data rate more than 3 Tbit/s for the upgraded VELO. The detector modules are located in a separate vacuum, separated from the beam vacuum by a thin custom made foil. The detector halves are retracted when the beams are injected and closed at stable beams, positioning the first sensitive pixel at 5.1 mm from the beams. The material budget will be minimised by the use of evaporative CO{sub 2} coolant circulating in microchannels within 400 μm thick silicon substrates.

  7. Silicon sensors for the upgrades of the CMS pixel detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Centis Vignali, Matteo

    2015-12-01

    The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is a general purpose detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC luminosity is constantly increased through upgrades of the accelerator and its injection chain. Two major upgrades will take place in the next years. The first upgrade involves the LHC injector chain and allows the collider to achieve a luminosity of about 2.10 34 cm -2 s -1 . A further upgrade of the LHC foreseen for 2025 will boost its luminosity to 5.10 34 cm -2 s -1 . As a consequence of the increased luminosity, the detectors need to be upgraded. In particular, the CMS pixel detector will undergo two upgrades in the next years. The first upgrade (phase I) consists in the substitution of the current pixel detector in winter 2016/2017. The upgraded pixel detector will implement new readout electronics that allow efficient data taking up to a luminosity of 2.10 34 cm -2 s -1 , twice as much as the LHC design luminosity. The modules that will constitute the upgraded detector are being produced at different institutes. Hamburg (University and DESY) is responsible for the production of 350 pixel modules. The second upgrade (phase II) of the pixel detector is foreseen for 2025. The innermost pixel layer of the upgraded detector will accumulate a radiation damage corresponding to an equivalent fluence of Φ eq =2.10 16 cm -2 and a dose of ∼10 MGy after an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb -1 . Several groups are investigating sensor designs and configurations able to withstand such high doses and fluences. This work is divided into two parts related to important aspects of the upgrades of the CMS pixel detector. For the phase I upgrade, a setup has been developed to provide an absolute energy calibration of the pixel modules that will constitute the detector. The calibration is obtained using monochromatic X-rays. The same setup is used to test the buffering capabilities of the modules' readout chip. The maximum rate experienced by the modules produced in

  8. Human Factors in Financial Trading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leaver, Meghan; Reader, Tom W.

    2016-01-01

    Objective This study tests the reliability of a system (FINANS) to collect and analyze incident reports in the financial trading domain and is guided by a human factors taxonomy used to describe error in the trading domain. Background Research indicates the utility of applying human factors theory to understand error in finance, yet empirical research is lacking. We report on the development of the first system for capturing and analyzing human factors–related issues in operational trading incidents. Method In the first study, 20 incidents are analyzed by an expert user group against a referent standard to establish the reliability of FINANS. In the second study, 750 incidents are analyzed using distribution, mean, pathway, and associative analysis to describe the data. Results Kappa scores indicate that categories within FINANS can be reliably used to identify and extract data on human factors–related problems underlying trading incidents. Approximately 1% of trades (n = 750) lead to an incident. Slip/lapse (61%), situation awareness (51%), and teamwork (40%) were found to be the most common problems underlying incidents. For the most serious incidents, problems in situation awareness and teamwork were most common. Conclusion We show that (a) experts in the trading domain can reliably and accurately code human factors in incidents, (b) 1% of trades incur error, and (c) poor teamwork skills and situation awareness underpin the most critical incidents. Application This research provides data crucial for ameliorating risk within financial trading organizations, with implications for regulation and policy. PMID:27142394

  9. Organizational root causes for human factor accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dougherty, D.T.

    1997-01-01

    Accident prevention techniques and technologies have evolved significantly throughout this century from the earliest establishment of standards and procedures to the safety engineering improvements the fruits of which we enjoy today. Most of the recent prevention efforts focused on humans and defining human factor causes of accidents. This paper builds upon the remarkable successes of the past by looking beyond the human's action in accident causation to the organizational factors that put the human in the position to cause the accident. This organizational approach crosses all functions and all career fields

  10. Cooling system upgrading from 250 kW to 1 MW

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, T.V.; Johnson, A.G.; Ringle, J.C.

    1972-01-01

    The Oregon State TRIGA reactor (OSTR) power capability was upgraded from 250 KW to 1 MW in 1969; however, funds were not available for simultaneous upgrading of the cooling system. Since then, the OSTR has been selectively operating at full power with the original 250 KW cooling system. After funds were made available in 1971 the construction on the new heat exchanger building began. The new cooling system was installed, equipment was checked out, corrections were made, and acceptance tests were run. In addition, several days were required to clean up the primary system water, since increased water flow (350 gpm) swirled 4 year's collection of sediment off the reactor tank bottom and into the primary system. Three interesting items have been noticed, which are apparently a result of the cooling system upgrading: (1) the radiation levels above the reactor tank have been reduced by a factor of 2 to 3, (2) a low resonance vibration in the reactor core occurs at 1 MW. The vibration is attributed to a combination of increased water turbulence and subcooled (surface) nucleate boiling, and (3) direct radiation levels from the demineralizer tank have increased approximately 8-fold. This resulted in a relocation of the tank and the use of supplemental shielding. Increased operating time at higher average power levels, plus disturbance of; sediment on the bottom of the reactor tank are believed to be the main sources of the higher radiation levels

  11. NASA Space Flight Human-System Standard Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holubec, Keith; Connolly, Janis

    2010-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the history, and development of NASA-STD-3001, NASA Space Flight Human-System Standard Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health, and the related Human Integration Design Handbook. Currently being developed from NASA-STD-3000, this project standard currently in review will be available in two volumes, (i.e., Volume 1 -- VCrew Health and Volume 2 -- Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health) and the handbook will be both available as a pdf file and as a interactive website.

  12. Operational test report, integrated system test (ventilation upgrade)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    HARTY, W.M.

    1999-01-01

    Operational Final Test Report for Integrated Systems, Project W-030 (Phase 2 test, RECIRC and HIGH-HEAT Modes). Project W-030 provides a ventilation upgrade for the four Aging Waste Facility tanks, including upgraded vapor space cooling and filtered venting of tanks AY101, AY102, AZ101, AZ102

  13. Operational test report integrated system test (ventilation upgrade)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    HARTY, W.M.

    1999-10-05

    Operational Final Test Report for Integrated Systems, Project W-030 (Phase 2 test, RECIRC and HIGH-HEAT Modes). Project W-030 provides a ventilation upgrade for the four Aging Waste Facility tanks, including upgraded vapor space cooling and filtered venting of tanks AY101, Ay102, AZ101, AZ102.

  14. Space operations and the human factor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brody, Adam R.

    1993-10-01

    Although space flight does not put the public at high risk, billions of dollars in hardware are destroyed and the space program halted when an accident occurs. Researchers are therefore applying human-factors techniques similar to those used in the aircraft industry, albeit at a greatly reduced level, to the spacecraft environment. The intent is to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic failure. To increase safety and efficiency, space human factors researchers have simulated spacecraft docking and extravehicular activity rescue. Engineers have also studied EVA suit mobility and aids. Other basic human-factors issues that have been applied to the space environment include antropometry, biomechanics, and ergonomics. Workstation design, workload, and task analysis currently receive much attention, as do habitability and other aspects of confined environments. Much work also focuses on individual payloads, as each presents its own complexities.

  15. HAMMLAB 2000 for human factor's studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kvalem, J.

    1999-01-01

    The simulator-based Halden Man-Machine Laboratory (HAMMLAB) has, since its establishment in 1983, been the main vehicle for the human-machine systems research at the OECD Halden Reactor Project. The human factors programme relies upon HAMMLAB for performing experimental studies, but the laboratory is also utilised when evaluating computerised operator support systems, and for experimentation with advanced control room prototypes. The increased focus on experimentation as part of the research programme at the Halden Project, has led to a discussion whether today's laboratory will meet the demands of the future. A pre-project concluded with the need for a new laboratory, with extended simulation capabilities. Based upon these considerations, the HAMMLAB 2000 project was initiated with the goal of making HAMMLAB a global centre of excellence for the study of human-technology interaction in the management and control of industrial processes. This paper will focus on human factors studies to be performed in the new laboratory, and which requirements this will bring upon the laboratory infrastructure and simulation capabilities. The aim of the human factors research at the Halden Project is to provide knowledge which can be used by member organisations to enhance safety and efficiency in the operation of nuclear power plants by utilising research about the capabilities and limitations of the human operator in a control room environment. (author)

  16. Major upgrades of the high frequency B-dot probe diagnostic suite on ASDEX Upgrade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ochoukov Roman

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The high frequency B-dot (HFB probe diagnostic on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak has undergone a considerable upgrade during the 2016 opening of the torus. The probe coverage is now greatly expanded toroidally, as well as radially with the addition of probes on the high field side and the removable manipulator head. A new 2-channel fast digitizer now allows to examine and record radio frequency (RF wave emissions emanating from the plasma in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF. Possible studies that can be achieved now include: a study of core ICRF power absorption efficiency; a study of ion cyclotron emissions from the plasma generated by energetic ions; and study of ICRF wave/plasma turbulence interactions in the scrape-off layer region.

  17. Human factors quantification via boundary identification of flight performance margin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yang Changpeng

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available A systematic methodology including a computational pilot model and a pattern recognition method is presented to identify the boundary of the flight performance margin for quantifying the human factors. The pilot model is proposed to correlate a set of quantitative human factors which represent the attributes and characteristics of a group of pilots. Three information processing components which are influenced by human factors are modeled: information perception, decision making, and action execution. By treating the human factors as stochastic variables that follow appropriate probability density functions, the effects of human factors on flight performance can be investigated through Monte Carlo (MC simulation. Kernel density estimation algorithm is selected to find and rank the influential human factors. Subsequently, human factors are quantified through identifying the boundary of the flight performance margin by the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN classifier. Simulation-based analysis shows that flight performance can be dramatically improved with the quantitative human factors.

  18. Development of human factors design review guidelines(III)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Suk; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Chul [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-02-15

    The objective of this study is to develop human factors engineering program review guidelines and alarm system review guidelines in order to resolve the two major technical issues: '25, human factors engineering program review model' and '26, review criteria for human factors aspects of advanced controls and instrumentation', which are related to the development of human factors safety regulation guides being performed by KINS. For the development of human factors program review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG-0711 and added our comments by considering Korean regulatory situation and reviewing the reference documents NUREG--0711, additional comments, and selected portion of the reference documents for the developer of safety regulation guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG/CR-6105, which was published by NRC in 1994 as a guideline document for the human factors review of alarm system. Then we will update the guidelines by reviewing the literature related to alarm design published after 1994.

  19. Development of human factors design review guidelines(III)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Suk; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Chul

    1999-02-01

    The objective of this study is to develop human factors engineering program review guidelines and alarm system review guidelines in order to resolve the two major technical issues: '25, human factors engineering program review model' and '26, review criteria for human factors aspects of advanced controls and instrumentation', which are related to the development of human factors safety regulation guides being performed by KINS. For the development of human factors program review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG-0711 and added our comments by considering Korean regulatory situation and reviewing the reference documents NUREG--0711, additional comments, and selected portion of the reference documents for the developer of safety regulation guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG/CR-6105, which was published by NRC in 1994 as a guideline document for the human factors review of alarm system. Then we will update the guidelines by reviewing the literature related to alarm design published after 1994

  20. Development of human factors design review guidelines(II)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Suk; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Chul

    1998-06-01

    The objective of this study is to develop human factors engineering program review guidelines and alarm system review guidelines in order to resolve the two major technical issues: '25, human factors engineering program review model' and '26, review criteria for human factors aspects of advanced controls and instrumentation', which are related to the development of human factors safety regulation guides being performed by KINS. For the development of human factors program review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG-0711 and added our comments by considering Korean regulatory situation and reviewing the reference documents NUREG--0711, additional comments, and selected portion of the reference documents for the developer of safety regulation guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG/CR-6105, which was published by NRC in 1994 as a guideline document for the human factors review of alarm system. Then we will update the guidelines by reviewing the literature related to alarm design published after 1994

  1. Development of human factors design review guidelines(III)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Suk; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Chul [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-02-15

    The objective of this study is to develop human factors engineering program review guidelines and alarm system review guidelines in order to resolve the two major technical issues: '25, human factors engineering program review model' and '26, review criteria for human factors aspects of advanced controls and instrumentation', which are related to the development of human factors safety regulation guides being performed by KINS. For the development of human factors program review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG-0711 and added our comments by considering Korean regulatory situation and reviewing the reference documents NUREG--0711, additional comments, and selected portion of the reference documents for the developer of safety regulation guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guides in KINS to see the contents comparatively at a glance and use them easily. For the development of alarm system review guidelines, we made a Korean version of NUREG/CR-6105, which was published by NRC in 1994 as a guideline document for the human factors review of alarm system. Then we will update the guidelines by reviewing the literature related to alarm design published after 1994.

  2. Human factors review of power plant maintainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seminara, J.L.; Parsons, S.O.; Schmidt, W.J.; Gonzalez, W.R.; Dove, L.E.

    1980-10-01

    Human factors engineering is an interdisciplinary science and technology concerned with shaping the design of machines, facilities, and operational environments to promote safe, efficient, and reliable performance on the part of operators and maintainers of equipment systems. The human factors aspects of five nuclear power plants and four fossil fuel plants were evaluated using such methods as a checklist guided observation system, structured interviews with maintenance personnel, direct observations of maintenance tasks, reviews of procedures, and analyses of maintenance errors or accidents by means of the critical incident technique. The study revealed a wide variety of human factors problem areas, most of which are extensively photodocumented. The study recommends that a more systematic and formal approach be adopted to ensure that future power plants are human engineered to the needs of maintenance personnel

  3. Typical cost analysis of I and C System Upgrade for NPPs in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hyun, J. W.; Sung, C. H.; Chung, H. Y.

    2007-01-01

    About 450 nuclear power plants are operating in the world and almost half of these nuclear power plants are at least 20 years old. Most existing I and C(Instrumentation and Control) systems in nuclear power plants throughout the world were built with analog equipment and relays that were designed 30 to 50 years ago. And among these nuclear power plants many utilities are needed to modernize their I and C systems due to obsolescence and aging etc. Due to the upgrade characteristics of High cost and long term, in-depth feasibility study with systematic investment planning is needed for successful I and C modernization. Besides, in order to perform an efficient modernization project, cost effective analysis which is an essential factor for the Cost-benefit investment must be considered first. In this paper, a typical calculation has been made for evaluating the cost of each I and C upgrade for the target of Westinghouse plants in Korea and compared with the operating maintenance cost. This study is made in a part of economic analysis for research task, named 'Development of Reliability Evaluation system for Upgrading Nuclear Power Plant I and C systems', which performed during 2004 - 2007

  4. Efficient Ways to Upgrade Docker Containers in Cloud to Support Backward Compatibility : Various Upgrade Strategies to Measure Complexity

    OpenAIRE

    MADALA, SRAVYA

    2016-01-01

    If the present world scenario in telecommunication systems is considered thousands of systems are getting moved into the cloud because of its wide features. This thesis explains the efficient ways to upgrade Docker containers in a way to support backward compatibility. It mainly concerns about the high-availability of systems in the cloud environment during upgrades. Smaller changes can be implemented automatically to some extent. The minor changes can be handled by Apache Avro where schema i...

  5. Radioimmunoassay of human Hageman factor (factor XII)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, H.; Ratnoff, O.D.; Pensky, J.

    1976-01-01

    A specific, sensitive, and reproducible radioimmunoassay for human Hageman factor (HF, factor XII) has been developed with purified human HF and monospecific rabbit antibody. Precise measurements of HF antigen were possible for concentrations as low as 0.1 percent of that in normal pooled plasma. A good correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.82) existed between the titers of HF measured by clot-promoting assays and radioimmunoassays among 42 normal adults. Confirming earlier studies, HF antigen was absent in Hageman trait plasma, but other congenital deficient plasmas, including those of individuals with Fletcher trait and Fitzgerald trait, contained normal amounts of HF antigen. HF antigen was reduced in the plasmas of patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation or advanced liver cirrhosis, but it was normal in those of patients with chronic renal failure or patients under treatment with warfarin. HF antigen was detected by this assay in plasmas of primates, but not detectable in plasmas of 11 nonprimate mammalian and one avian species

  6. Catalytic upgrading of bio-oil produced from hydrothermal liquefaction of Nannochloropsis sp.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shakya, Rajdeep; Adhikari, Sushil; Mahadevan, Ravishankar; Hassan, El Barbary; Dempster, Thomas A

    2018-03-01

    Upgrading of bio-oil obtained from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of algae is necessary for it to be used as a fuel. In this study, bio-oil obtained from HTL of Nannochloropsis sp. was upgraded using five different catalysts (Ni/C, ZSM-5, Ni/ZSM-5, Ru/C and Pt/C) at 300 °C and 350 °C. The upgraded bio-oil yields were higher at 300 °C; however, higher quality upgraded bio-oils were obtained at 350 °C. Ni/C gave the maximum upgraded bio-oil yield (61 wt%) at 350 °C. However, noble metal catalysts (Ru/C and Pt/C) gave the better upgraded bio-oils in terms of acidity, heating values, and nitrogen values. The higher heating value of the upgraded bio-oils ranged from 40 to 44 MJ/kg, and the nitrogen content decreased from 5.37 to 1.29 wt%. Most of the upgraded bio-oils (35-40 wt%) were in the diesel range. The major components present in the gaseous products were CH 4 , CO, CO 2 and lower alkanes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Investigation of evaluation methods for human factors education effectiveness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshimura, Seiichi; Fujimoto, Junzo; Sasou Kunihide; Hasegawa, Naoko

    2004-01-01

    Education effectiveness in accordance with investment is required in the steam of electric power regulation alleviation. Therefore, evaluation methods for human factors education effectiveness which can observe human factors culture pervading process were investigated through research activities on education effectiveness in universities and actual in house education in industry companies. As a result, the contents of evaluation were found to be the change of feeling for human factors and some improving proposals in work places when considering the purpose of human factors education. And, questionnaire is found to be suitable for the style of evaluation. In addition, the timing of evaluation is desirable for both just after education and after some period in work places. Hereafter, data will be collected using these two kinds of questionnaires in human factors education courses in CRIEPI and some education courses in utilities. Thus, education effectiveness evaluation method which is suitable for human factors will be established. (author)

  8. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission human factors program plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-04-01

    The purpose of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Human Factors Program Plan is to ensure that proper consideration is given to human factors in the design and operation of nuclear facilities. This revised plan addresses human factors issues related to the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The three issues of concern are (1) the activities planned to provide the technical bases to resolve the remaining tasks related to human factors as described in NUREG-0660, The NRC Action Plan Developed as a Result of the TMI-2 Accident, and NUREG-0737, Clarification of TMI Action Plan Requirements; (2) the need to address the additional human factors efforts that were identified during implementation of the Action Plan; and (3) the actual fulfillment of those developmental activities specified in Revision 1 of this plan. The plan represents a systematic approach for addressing high priority human factors concerns important to NPP safety in FY 1986 through 1987

  9. Progress and plan of KSTAR plasma control system upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hahn, Sang-hee, E-mail: hahn76@nfri.re.kr [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Y.J. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Penaflor, B.G. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Bak, J.G.; Han, H.; Hong, J.S.; Jeon, Y.M.; Jeong, J.H.; Joung, M.; Juhn, J.W.; Kim, J.S.; Kim, H.S.; Lee, W.R.; Woo, M.H. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Eidietis, N.W.; Ferron, J.R.; Humphreys, D.A.; Hyatt, A.; Johnson, R.D.; Piglowski, D.A. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); and others

    2016-11-15

    Highlights: • Recent achievements of the KSTAR plasma control system are described. • Requirements and results of the testbed system for the future upgrade of the KSTAR plasma control system are presented. • An overview of the upgrade layout based is given. - Abstract: The plasma control system (PCS) has been one of essential systems in annual KSTAR plasma campaigns: starting from a single-process version in 2008, extensive upgrades are done through the previous 7 years in order to achieve major goals of KSTAR performance enhancement. Major implementations are explained in this paper. In consequences of successive upgrades, the present KSTAR PCS is able to achieve ∼48 s of 500 kA plasma pulses with full real-time shaping controls and real-time NB power controls. It has become a huge system capable of dealing with 8 separate categories of algorithms, 26 actuators directly controllable during the shot, and real-time data communication units consisting of +180 analog channels and +600 digital input/outputs through the reflective memory (RFM) network. The next upgrade of the KSTAR PCS is planned in 2015 before the campaign. An overview of the upgrade layout will be given for this paper. The real-time system box is planned to use the CERN MRG-Realtime OS, an ITER-compatible standard operating system. New hardware is developed for faster real-time streaming system for future installations of actuators/diagnostics.

  10. Upgrading and modernization of the high flux reactor Petten

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahlf, J.

    1992-01-01

    The High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten, The Netherlands, owned by the European Communities and operated by the Netherlands Energy Research Foundation, is a water-cooled and moderated, multipurpose research reactor of the closed-tank in-pool type, operated at 45 MW. Performance upgrading comprised two power increases from 20 MW via 30 MW to 45 MW, providing more and higher rated irradiation positions in the tank. With the replacement of the original reactor vessel the experimental capabilities of the reactor were improved. Better pool side facilities and the introduction of a large cross-section, double, beam tube were implemented. Additional major installation upgrading activities consisted of the replacement of the primary and the pool heat exchangers, replacement of the beryllium reflector elements, extension of the overpower protection systems and upgrading of the nuclear instrumentation as well as the guaranteed power supply. Control room upgrading is in progress. A full new safety analysis, as well as the introduction of a comprehensive Quality Assurance system, are summarized under software upgrading. Continuous modernization and upgrading also takes place of equipment for fuel and structural materials irradiations for fission reactors and future fusion machines. In parallel, all supporting services, as well as the management structure for large irradiation programmes, have been developed. Presently the reactor is operating at about 275 full power days per year with an average utilization of the irradiation positions of 70 to 80%. (orig.)

  11. Control system upgrades support better plant economics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Grosbois, J.; Hepburn, A.; Storey, H.; Basso, R.; Kumar, V.

    2002-01-01

    This paper (second in the series, see [1]) provides insight on how nuclear plants can achieve better efficiencies and reduced operations and maintenance (O and M) costs through focused control system upgrades. An understanding of this relationship is necessary to properly assess the economics of plant refurbishment decisions. Traditional economic feasibility assessment methods such as benefit cost analysis (BCA), internal rate of return (IRR), benefit cost ratios (B/C), or payback analysis are often performed without full consideration of project alternatives, quantified benefits, and life cycle costing. Consideration must be given to not only capital cost and project risk, but also to the potential economic benefits of new technology and added functionality offered by plant upgrades. Recent experience shows that if upgrades are focused on priority objectives, and are effectively implemented, they can deliver significant payback over the life of the plant, sometimes orders of magnitude higher than their initial capital cost. The following discussion explores some of the key issues and rationale behind upgrade decisions and their impact on improved plant efficiency and reduced O and M costs. A subsequent paper will explain how the justification for these improvements can be captured in an economic analysis and feasibility study to support strategic decision-making in a plant refurbishment context. (author)

  12. ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Upgrades for the High Luminosity LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Valderanis, Chrysostomos; The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Upgrades for the High Luminosity LHC The luminosity of the LHC will increase up to 2x10^34 cm-2s-1 after the long shutdown in 2019 (phase-1 upgrade) and up to 7x10^34 cm-2s-1 after the long shutdown in 2025 (phase-2 upgrade). In order to cope with the increased particle fluxes, upgrades are envisioned for the ATLAS muon spectrometer. At phase-1, the current innermost stations of the ATLAS muon endcap tracking system (the Small Wheels) will be upgraded with 2x4-layer modules of Micromega detectors, sandwiched by two 4 layer modules of small strip Thin Gap Chambers on either side. Each 4-layer module of the so-called New Small Wheels covers a surface area of approximately 2 to 3 m2 for a total active area of 1200 m2 each for the two technologies. On such large area detectors, the mechanical precision (30 \\mu m along the precision coordinate and 80 \\mu m along the beam) is a key point and must be controlled and monitored along the process of construction and integration. The design and re...

  13. Tissue factor-dependent activation of tritium-labeled factor IX and factor X in human plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison, S.A.; Jesty, J.

    1984-01-01

    A comparism was made of the tissue factor-dependent activation of tritium-labeled factor IX and factor X in a human plasma system and a study was made of the role of proteases known to stimulate factor VII activity. Plasma was defibrinated by heating and depleted of its factors IX and X by passing it through antibody columns. Addition of human brain thromboplastin, Ca2+, and purified 3H-labeled factor X to the plasma resulted, after a short lag, in burst-like activation of the factor X, measured as the release of radiolabeled activation peptide. The progress of activation was slowed by both heparin and a specific inhibitor of factor Xa but factor X activation could not be completely abolished by such inhibitors. In the case of 3H-factor IX activation, the rate also increased for approximately 3 min after addition of thromboplastin, but was not subsequently curtailed. A survey of proteases implicated as activators of factor VII in other settings showed that both factor Xa and factor IXa could accelerate the activation of factor IX. However, factor Xa was unique in obliterating activation when present at concentrations greater than approximately 1 nM. Heparin inhibited the tissue factor-dependent activation of factor IX almost completely, apparently through the effect of antithrombin on the feedback reactions of factors Xa and IXa on factor VII. These results suggest that a very tight, biphasic control of factor VII activity exists in human plasma, which is modulated mainly by factor Xa. At saturation of factor VIIa/tissue factor, factor IX activation was significantly more rapid than was previously found in bovine plasma under similar conditions. The activation of factor X at saturation was slightly more rapid than in bovine plasma, despite the presence of heparin

  14. Validation of human factor engineering integrated system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fang Zhou

    2013-01-01

    Apart from hundreds of thousands of human-machine interface resources, the control room of a nuclear power plant is a complex system integrated with many factors such as procedures, operators, environment, organization and management. In the design stage, these factors are considered by different organizations separately. However, whether above factors could corporate with each other well in operation and whether they have good human factors engineering (HFE) design to avoid human error, should be answered in validation of the HFE integrated system before delivery of the plant. This paper addresses the research and implementation of the ISV technology based on case study. After introduction of the background, process and methodology of ISV, the results of the test are discussed. At last, lessons learned from this research are summarized. (authors)

  15. Thes - Website for Thermal Shields Upgrade Management

    CERN Document Server

    Micula, Adina

    2013-01-01

    There are a total of 1695 thermal shields (TS) in the interconnections between the superconducting magnets. During LHC Long Shutdown 1 (LS1) all of these TS are being upgraded with a new fixation design. This procedure involves the transport of all the TS from LHC to a workshop on the surface where they are being modified and the subsequent transport of the upgraded TS back to the tunnel where they are laid on the cryostats and await the closure of the interconnection. These operations have to be carefully coordinated in order to ensure that there are always enough modified TS to satisfy the demand in the tunnel and respect the time constraint imposed by the schedule of LS1. As part of my summer project, I developed a database driven website whose aim is to enable the TS upgrade monitoring.

  16. Experiences in controlling the upgrading of TRIGA 2000 Bandung reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huda, K.; Wibowo, Y.W.; Suprawhardana, M.S.

    2001-01-01

    TRIGA 2000 Bandung Reactor was established in 1961 for research, education and isotope production purposes. The reactor reached its first criticality in October 1964 and operated at nominal power of 250 kW until 1971. In 1971 the reactor was upgraded to the power level of 1000 kW. In order to raise the capacity of isotope production, the reactor has been upgraded again to the power level of 2000 kW. During the modification of the reactor, the Center for Research and Development of Nuclear Techniques (CRDNT) was management of the reactor as it faced many problems, either technical or non-technical ones. This caused the upgrading activities to take a long time. At this time, the reactor upgrading has almost finished, and the nuclear commissioning is going on. Several aspects and problems associated with the upgrading process have been reviewed and the results are discussed in the present paper. (author)

  17. Upgraded coal interest group. Quarterly report, July 1, 1995--September 30, 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weber, W. [Electric Power Research Inst., Chattanooga, TN (United States); Lebowitz, H.E. [Fossil Fuel Sciences, Palo Alto, CA (United States)

    1995-12-31

    The objectives of the Upgraded Coal Interest Group (UCIG) are as follows: Review and update the status of various coal upgrading technologies and developments and critically assess the results. Perform engineering screening analyses on various coal upgrading approaches. Perform commercialization analyses that will promote the availability and use of upgraded coal products by quantifying the benefits of using them. Identify market opportunities for introduction of upgraded coals. Perform critical analyses on a variety of coals and technologies in areas important to users but not readily available. Perform critical experiments which will show the differences between technologies.

  18. Integrated oil production and upgrading using molten alkali metal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, John Howard

    2016-10-04

    A method that combines the oil retorting process (or other process needed to obtain/extract heavy oil or bitumen) with the process for upgrading these materials using sodium or other alkali metals. Specifically, the shale gas or other gases that are obtained from the retorting/extraction process may be introduced into the upgrading reactor and used to upgrade the oil feedstock. Also, the solid materials obtained from the reactor may be used as a fuel source, thereby providing the heat necessary for the retorting/extraction process. Other forms of integration are also disclosed.

  19. Structural seismic upgrading of NPPs in Czech and Slovak republics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    David, M [DAVID Consulting, Engineering and Design Office, Prague (Czech Republic)

    1997-03-01

    Several Nuclear Power Plants of the VVER type has been constructed during the past years in former Czechoslovak Republic. Some of them has been already put in operation and some of them are under construction. Nuclear Power Plants V1(2 units of VVER 440/230), V2(2 units of VVER 440/213) in Slovak and NPP Dukovany (4 units of VVER 440/213) in Czech republic are in operation. NPP Mochovce (4 units of VVER 440/213) in Slovak and NPP Temelin (4 units reduced now to 2 units VVER 1000) have been already almost completed, but still under construction. All above cited NPPs have not been either explicitly designed against earthquake or the design against earthquake or its input data must be upgraded to be compatible with present requirements. The upgrading of seismic input as well the seismic upgrading of all structures and technological equipments for so many NPPs has involved a lot of comprehensive work in Czech as well as in Slovak republics. The upgrading cannot be completed in a short time and as a rule the seismic upgrading has been usually performed in several steps, beginning with the most important arrangements against seismic hazard. The basic principles and requirements for seismic upgrading has been defined in accordance with the international and particularly with the IAEA recommendations. About the requirements for seismic upgrading of NPPs in Czech and Slovak republics will be reported in other contribution. This contribution is dealing with the problems of seismic upgrading of NNPs civil engineering structures. The aim of this contribution is to point out some specific problems connected firstly with very complicated concept of Versa structures and secondly with the difficult task to increase the structural capacity to the required seismic level. (J.P.N.)

  20. Structural seismic upgrading of NPPs in Czech and Slovak republics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    David, M.

    1997-01-01

    Several Nuclear Power Plants of the VVER type has been constructed during the past years in former Czechoslovak Republic. Some of them has been already put in operation and some of them are under construction. Nuclear Power Plants V1(2 units of VVER 440/230), V2(2 units of VVER 440/213) in Slovak and NPP Dukovany (4 units of VVER 440/213) in Czech republic are in operation. NPP Mochovce (4 units of VVER 440/213) in Slovak and NPP Temelin (4 units reduced now to 2 units VVER 1000) have been already almost completed, but still under construction. All above cited NPPs have not been either explicitly designed against earthquake or the design against earthquake or its input data must be upgraded to be compatible with present requirements. The upgrading of seismic input as well the seismic upgrading of all structures and technological equipments for so many NPPs has involved a lot of comprehensive work in Czech as well as in Slovak republics. The upgrading cannot be completed in a short time and as a rule the seismic upgrading has been usually performed in several steps, beginning with the most important arrangements against seismic hazard. The basic principles and requirements for seismic upgrading has been defined in accordance with the international and particularly with the IAEA recommendations. About the requirements for seismic upgrading of NPPs in Czech and Slovak republics will be reported in other contribution. This contribution is dealing with the problems of seismic upgrading of NNPs civil engineering structures. The aim of this contribution is to point out some specific problems connected firstly with very complicated concept of Versa structures and secondly with the difficult task to increase the structural capacity to the required seismic level. (J.P.N.)

  1. Installation and Commissioning of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Onel, Yasar

    2017-01-01

    The final phase of the CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeters Phase I upgrade was performed during the Extended Year End Technical Stop of 2016-2017. In the framework of the upgrade, the PMT boxes were reworked to implement two channel readout in order to exploit the benefits of the multi-anode PMTs in background tagging and signal recovery. The front-end electronics was also being upgraded to QIE10-based electronics which will implement larger dynamic range and a 6-bit TDC to provide additional handles to eliminate the background. Following this major upgrade, the Hadron Forward Calorimeters are being commissioned for operation readiness in 2017. Here we describe the details and the components of the upgrade, and discuss the operational experience and results obtained during the upgrade and commissioning.

  2. Human factors challenges for advanced process control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stubler, W.F.; O'Hara, J..M.

    1996-01-01

    New human-system interface technologies provide opportunities for improving operator and plant performance. However, if these technologies are not properly implemented, they may introduce new challenges to performance and safety. This paper reports the results from a survey of human factors considerations that arise in the implementation of advanced human-system interface technologies in process control and other complex systems. General trends were identified for several areas based on a review of technical literature and a combination of interviews and site visits with process control organizations. Human factors considerations are discussed for two of these areas, automation and controls

  3. Human factor analysis and preventive countermeasures in nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Ye

    2010-01-01

    Based on the human error analysis theory and the characteristics of maintenance in a nuclear power plant, human factors of maintenance in NPP are divided into three different areas: human, technology, and organization. Which is defined as individual factors, including psychological factors, physiological characteristics, health status, level of knowledge and interpersonal skills; The technical factors including technology, equipment, tools, working order, etc.; The organizational factors including management, information exchange, education, working environment, team building and leadership management,etc The analysis found that organizational factors can directly or indirectly affect the behavior of staff and technical factors, is the most basic human error factor. Based on this nuclear power plant to reduce human error and measures the response. (authors)

  4. Upgrade of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2072874

    2014-01-01

    The Level-1 calorimeter trigger (L1Calo) operated successfully during the first data taking phase of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Facing the new challenges posed by the upcoming increases of the LHC beam energy and luminosity, and from the experience of the previous running, a series of upgrades is planned for L1Calo. The initial upgrade phase in 2013-14 includes substantial improvements to the analogue and digital signal processing to cope with baseline shifts due to signal pile-up. Additionally a newly introduced system will receive real-time data from both the upgraded L1Calo and L1Muon trigger to perform trigger algorithms based on entire event topologies. During the second upgrade phase in 2018-19 major parts of L1Calo will be rebuilt in order to exploit a tenfold increase in the available calorimeter data granularity compared to that of the current system. The contribution gives an overview of the existing system and the lessons learned during the first period of LHC data taking. Based on these, the...

  5. Upgrade of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

    CERN Document Server

    Mueller, Felix; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    The Level-1 calorimeter trigger (L1Calo) operated successfully during the first data taking phase of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Based on the lessons learned , a series of upgrades is planned for L1Calo to face the new challenges posed by the upcoming increases of the LHC beam energy and luminosity. The initial upgrade phase in 2013-14 includes substantial improvements to the analogue and digital signal processing to cope with baseline shifts due to signal pile-up. Additionally a newly introduced system will receive real-time data from both the upgraded L1Calo and L1Muon trigger to perform trigger algorithms based on entire event topologies. During the second upgrade phase in 2018-19 major parts of L1Calo will be rebuilt in order to exploit a tenfold increase in the available calorimeter data granularity compared to that of the current system. In this contribution we present the lessons learned during the first period of LHC data taking. Based on these we discuss the expected performance improvements tog...

  6. The deuterium inventory in ASDEX Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayer, M.; Rohde, V.; Ramos, G; Vainonen-Ahlgren, E.; Likonen, J.; Herrmann, A.; Neu, R.

    2007-01-01

    The deuterium inventory in ASDEX Upgrade was determined by quantitative ion beam analysis techniques and SIMS for different discharge campaigns between the years 2002 and 2005. ASDEX Upgrade was a carbon dominated machine during this phase. Full poloidal sections of the lower and upper divertor tile surfaces, limiter tiles, gaps between divertor tiles, gaps between inner heat shield tiles and samples from remote areas below the roof baffle and in pump ducts were analysed, thus offering an exhaustive survey of all relevant areas in ASDEX Upgrade. Deuterium is mainly trapped on plasma-exposed surfaces of inner divertor tiles, where about 70% of the retained deuterium inventory is found. About 20% of the inventory is retained at or below the divertor roof baffle, and about 10% is observed in other areas, such as the outer divertor and in gaps between tiles. The long term deuterium retention is 3-4% of the total deuterium input. The obtained results are compared with gas balance measurements, and conclusions about tritium retention in ITER are made

  7. DAQ Architecture for the LHCb Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Guoming; Neufeld, Niko

    2014-01-01

    LHCb will have an upgrade of its detector in 2018. After the upgrade, the LHCb experiment will run at a high luminosity of 2 × 10 33 cm −2 s −1 . The upgraded detector will be read out at 40 MHz with a highly flexible software-based triggering strategy. The Data Acquisition (DAQ) system of LHCb reads out the data fragments from the Front-End Electronics and transports them to the High-Lever Trigger farm at an aggregate throughput of ∼ 32 Tbit/s. The DAQ system will be based on high speed network technologies such as InfiniBand and/or 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet. Independent of the network technology, there are different possible architectures for the DAQ system. In this paper, we present our studies on the DAQ architecture, where we analyze size, complexity and relative cost. We evaluate and compare several data-flow schemes for a network-based DAQ: push, pull and push with barrel-shifter traffic shaping. We also discuss the requirements and overall implications of the data-flow schemes on the DAQ system.

  8. Upgrade of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter

    CERN Document Server

    Reed, Robert; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the main hadronic calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. The bulk of its upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC operation (Phase 2 around 2023) where the peak luminosity will increase 5x compared to the design luminosity (10^{34} cm^{-2}s^{-1}) but with maintained energy (i.e. 7+7 TeV). The TileCal upgrade aims to replace the majority of the on- and off-detector electronics so that all calorimeter signals can be digitized and directly sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. This will reduce pile-up problems and allow more complex trigger algorithms. To achieve the required reliability, redundancy has been introduced at different levels. Three different options are presently being investigated for the front-end electronic upgrade. Extensive test beam studies will determine which option will be selected. 10 Gbps optical links are used to read out all digitized data to t...

  9. Upgrade of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter

    CERN Document Server

    Moreno, P; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the central hadronic calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at LHC. The TileCal readout consists of about 10000 channels. The bulk of its upgrade will occur for the High Luminosity LHC phase (Phase 2) where the peak luminosity will increase 5$\\times$ compared to the design luminosity ($10^{34} cm^{-2}s^{-1}$) but with maintained energy (i.e. 7+7 TeV). The TileCal upgrade aims at replacing the majority of the on- and off-detector electronics to the extent that all calorimeter signals will be digitized and sent to the off-detector electronics in the counting room. To achieve the required reliability, redundancy has been introduced at different levels. Three different options are presently being investigated for the front-end electronic upgrade. Extensive test beam studies will determine which option will be selected. 10 Gbps optical links are used to read out all digitized data to the counting room while 5 Gbps down-links are used for synchronization, c...

  10. The upgrade of the CMS hadron calorimeter with silicon photomultipliers

    CERN Document Server

    Strobbe, N

    2017-01-01

    The upgrade of the hadron calorimeter of the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is currently underway. The endcap sections will be upgraded in the winter of 2016–2017 and the barrel sections during the second LHC long shutdown in 2019. The existing photosensors will be replaced with about 16 000 new silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), resulting in the first large installation of SiPMs in a radiation environment. All associated front-end electronics will also be upgraded. This paper discusses the motivation for the upgrade and provides a description 17 of the new system, including the SiPMs with associated control electronics and the front-end readout cards.

  11. Computer codes used during upgrading activities at MINT TRIGA reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohammad Suhaimi Kassim; Adnan Bokhari; Mohd Idris Taib

    1999-01-01

    MINT TRIGA Reactor is a 1-MW swimming pool nuclear research reactor commissioned in 1982. In 1993, a project was initiated to upgrade the thermal power to 2 MW. The IAEA assistance was sought to assist the various activities relevant to an upgrading exercise. For neutronics calculations, the IAEA has provided expert assistance to introduce the WIMS code, TRIGAP, and EXTERMINATOR2. For thermal-hydraulics calculations, PARET and RELAP5 were introduced. Shielding codes include ANISN and MERCURE. However, in the middle of 1997, MINT has decided to change the scope of the project to safety upgrading of the MINT Reactor. This paper describes some of the activities carried out during the upgrading process. (author)

  12. Energy and particle control characteristics of the ASDEX Upgrade 'LYRA' divertor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaufmann, M.; Bosch, H.S.; Herrmann, A.

    1999-01-01

    In 1997 the new 'LYRA' divertor went into operation at ASDEX Upgrade and the neutral beam heating power was increased to 20 MW by installation of a second injector. This leads to the relatively high value of P/R of 12 MW/m. It has been shown that the ASDEX Upgrade LYRA divertor is capable of handling such high heating powers. Measurements presented in this paper reveal a reduction of the maximum heat flux in the LYRA divertor by more than a factor of two compared to the open Divertor I. This reduction is caused by radiative losses inside the divertor region. Carbon radiation cools the divertor plasma down to a few eV where hydrogen radiation losses become significant. They are increased due to an effective reflection of neutrals into the hot separatrix region. B2-Eirene modelling of the performed experiments supports the experimental findings and refines the understanding of loss processes in the divertor region. (author)

  13. Energy and particle control characteristics of the ASDEX Upgrade 'LYRA' divertor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaufmann, M.; Bosch, H.-S.; Herrmann, A.

    2001-01-01

    In 1997 the new 'LYRA' divertor went into operation at ASDEX Upgrade and the neutral beam heating power was increased to 20 MW by installation of a second injector. This leads to the relatively high value of P/R of 12 MW/m. It has been shown that the ASDEX Upgrade LYRA divertor is capable of handling such high heating powers. Measurements presented in this paper reveal a reduction of the maximum heat flux in the LYRA divertor by more than a factor of two compared to the open Divertor I. This reduction is caused by radiative losses inside the divertor region. Carbon radiation cools the divertor plasma down to a few eV where hydrogen radiation losses become significant. They are increased due to an effective reflection of neutrals into the hot separatrix region. B2-Eirene modelling of the performed experiments supports the experimental findings and refines the understanding of loss processes in the divertor region. (and others)

  14. Upgrade of the synchronous data management system of the EAST poloidal field power supply

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, Lili; Huang, Liansheng, E-mail: huangls@ipp.ac.cn; Fu, Peng; Gao, Ge; He, Shiying

    2016-11-15

    Highlights: • The upgraded synchronous data management system of EAST poloidal field power supply supports long-pulse data storage. • Slice storage mechanism on MDSplus has been adopted for quasi real-time data storage. • The state machine has been adopted for managing the system sequencer. • IEEE-1588 protocol via Ethernet for the synchronization of clock signal was detailed described. - Abstract: Poloidal field (PF) power supply is an important subsystem of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The upgrade of the PF control system of EAST is a great improvement over the original data management system which could not meet the requirements necessary for experiments on synchronization, modularity and sampling rate. In order to better analyze the power operation performance, the Synchronization Data Management System (SDMS) needs to be upgraded as well. This upgrade is based on distributed data acquisition and an MDSPLUS database. It consists of three data acquisition nodes synchronized by an reference clock from the EAST central timing system that also provides the start trigger of the EAST pulse. After being processed by a signal conditioning unit, experimental signals are digitized and written into the database in MDSPLUS format. Multi-channel, multi-tasking and continuous data storage have been achieved by using multi-threading technology on a Linux operation system. The SDMS has been used on the server in PF control system for the entire 2015 EAST campaign. The SDMS has had good performance during experiments and convenient human-machine interface to satisfy the requirements of all the experiments.

  15. Upgrade of the synchronous data management system of the EAST poloidal field power supply

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Lili; Huang, Liansheng; Fu, Peng; Gao, Ge; He, Shiying

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The upgraded synchronous data management system of EAST poloidal field power supply supports long-pulse data storage. • Slice storage mechanism on MDSplus has been adopted for quasi real-time data storage. • The state machine has been adopted for managing the system sequencer. • IEEE-1588 protocol via Ethernet for the synchronization of clock signal was detailed described. - Abstract: Poloidal field (PF) power supply is an important subsystem of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The upgrade of the PF control system of EAST is a great improvement over the original data management system which could not meet the requirements necessary for experiments on synchronization, modularity and sampling rate. In order to better analyze the power operation performance, the Synchronization Data Management System (SDMS) needs to be upgraded as well. This upgrade is based on distributed data acquisition and an MDSPLUS database. It consists of three data acquisition nodes synchronized by an reference clock from the EAST central timing system that also provides the start trigger of the EAST pulse. After being processed by a signal conditioning unit, experimental signals are digitized and written into the database in MDSPLUS format. Multi-channel, multi-tasking and continuous data storage have been achieved by using multi-threading technology on a Linux operation system. The SDMS has been used on the server in PF control system for the entire 2015 EAST campaign. The SDMS has had good performance during experiments and convenient human-machine interface to satisfy the requirements of all the experiments.

  16. Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance. Phase 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-11-01

    solution is war- more effe-ctive use of human resoUrecs , the neat step Ls to ane- uassol o efogte.S a hr sn tes te de. Af piot progfctram can...and Subtitle 5. Report Date November 1991 Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance - Phase One Progress Report 6. Perfarng Oon z’on Code i8. Perfo-rrng...Independence Avenue, SW 14. Sponsor,mg Agency Code Washington, DC 20591 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract "• This human factors research in aviation

  17. Human factors in waste management - potential and reality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, J.S.

    1996-01-01

    There is enormous potential for human factors contributions in the realm of waste management. The reality, however, is very different from the potential. This is particularly true for low-level and low-level mixed-waste management. The hazards are less severe; therefore, health and safety requirements (including human factors) are not as rigorous as for high-level waste. High-level waste management presents its own unique challenges and opportunities. Waste management is strongly driven by regulatory compliance. When regulations are flexible and open to interpretation and the environment is driven so strongly by regulatory compliance, standard practice is to drop open-quotes nice to haveclose quotes features, like a human factors program, to save money for complying with other requirements. The challenge is to convince decision makers that human factors can help make operations efficient and cost-effective, as well as improving safety and complying with regulations. A human factors program should not be viewed as competing with compliance efforts; in fact, it should complement them and provide additional cost-effective means of achieving compliance with other regulations. Achieving this synergy of human factors with ongoing waste management operations requires educating program and facility managers and other technical specialists about human factors and demonstrating its value open-quotes through the back doorclose quotes on existing efforts. This paper describes ongoing projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in support of their waste management groups. It includes lessons learned from hazard and risk analyses, safety analysis reports, job and task analyses, operating procedure development, personnel qualification/certification program development, and facility- and job-specific training program and course development

  18. Review of human factors guidelines and methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhodes, W.; Szlapetis, I.; Hay, T.; Weihrer, S.

    1995-04-01

    The review examines the use of human factors guidelines and methods in high technology applications, with emphasis on application to the nuclear industry. An extensive literature review was carried out identifying over 250 applicable documents, with 30 more documents identified during interviews with experts in human factors. Surveys were sent to 15 experts, of which 11 responded. The survey results indicated guidelines used and why these were favoured. Thirty-three of the most applicable guideline documents were described in detailed annotated bibliographies. A bibliographic list containing over 280 references was prepared. Thirty guideline documents were rated for their completeness, validity, applicability and practicality. The experts survey indicated the use of specific techniques. Ten human factors methods of analysis were described in general summaries, including procedures, applications, and specific techniques. Detailed descriptions of the techniques were prepared and each technique rated for applicability and practicality. Recommendations for further study of areas of importance to human factors in the nuclear field in Canada are given. (author). 8 tabs., 2 figs

  19. Review of human factors guidelines and methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rhodes, W; Szlapetis, I; Hay, T; Weihrer, S [Rhodes and Associates Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada)

    1995-04-01

    The review examines the use of human factors guidelines and methods in high technology applications, with emphasis on application to the nuclear industry. An extensive literature review was carried out identifying over 250 applicable documents, with 30 more documents identified during interviews with experts in human factors. Surveys were sent to 15 experts, of which 11 responded. The survey results indicated guidelines used and why these were favoured. Thirty-three of the most applicable guideline documents were described in detailed annotated bibliographies. A bibliographic list containing over 280 references was prepared. Thirty guideline documents were rated for their completeness, validity, applicability and practicality. The experts survey indicated the use of specific techniques. Ten human factors methods of analysis were described in general summaries, including procedures, applications, and specific techniques. Detailed descriptions of the techniques were prepared and each technique rated for applicability and practicality. Recommendations for further study of areas of importance to human factors in the nuclear field in Canada are given. (author). 8 tabs., 2 figs.

  20. Introduction to human factors engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Derfuss, Ch.

    2010-01-01

    Some of the main aspects of human factors engineering are discussed. The following topics are considered: Integration into the design process; Identification and application of human-centered design requirements; Design of error-tolerant systems; Iterative process consisting of evaluations and feedback loops; Participation of operators/users; Utilization of an interdisciplinary design/ evaluation team; Documentation of the complete HFE-process: traceability

  1. Human and organizational factors in nuclear safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garcia, A.; Barrientos, M.; Gil, B.

    2015-01-01

    Nuclear installations are socio technical systems where human and organizational factors, in both utilities and regulators, have a significant impact on safety. Three Mile Island (TMI) accident, original of several initiatives in the human factors field, nevertheless became a lost opportunity to timely acquire lessons related to the upper tiers of the system. Nowadays, Spanish nuclear installations have integrated in their processes specialists and activities in human and organizational factors, promoted by the licensees After many years of hard work, Spanish installations have achieved a better position to face new challenges, such as those posed by Fukushima. With this experience, only technology-centered action plan would not be acceptable, turning this accident in yet another lost opportunity. (Author)

  2. A new strips tracker for the upgraded ATLAS ITk detector

    CERN Document Server

    David, Claire; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    The inner detector of the present ATLAS detector has been designed and developed to function in the environment of the present Large Hadron Collider (LHC). At the next-generation tracking detector proposed for the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), the so-called ATLAS Phase-II Upgrade, the particle densities and radiation levels will be higher by as much as a factor of ten. The new detectors must be faster, they need to be more highly segmented, and covering more area. They also need to be more resistant to radiation, and they require much greater power delivery to the front-end systems. At the same time, they cannot introduce excess material which could undermine performance. For those reasons, the inner tracker of the ATLAS detector must be redesigned and rebuilt completely. The design of the ATLAS Upgrade inner tracker (ITk) has already been defined. It consists of several layers of silicon particle detectors. The innermost layers will be composed of silicon pixel sensors, and the outer layers will consist of s...

  3. A new readout control system for the LHCb upgrade at CERN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alessio, F; Jacobsson, R

    2012-01-01

    The LHCb experiment has proposed an upgrade towards a full 40 MHz readout system in order to run between five and ten times its initial design luminosity. The entire readout architecture will be upgraded in order to cope with higher sub-detector occupancies, higher rate and higher network load. In this paper, we describe the architecture, functionalities and a first hardware implementation of a new fast Readout Control system for the LHCb upgrade, which will be entirely based on FPGAs and bi-directional links. We also outline the real-time implementations of the new Readout Control system, together with solutions on how to handle the synchronous distribution of timing and synchronous information to the complex upgraded LHCb readout architecture. One section will also be dedicated to the control and usage of the newly developed CERN GBT chipset to transmit fast and slow control commands to the upgraded LHCb Front-End electronics. At the end, we outline the plans for the deployment of the system in the global LHCb upgrade readout architecture.

  4. Safety system upgrades to a research reactor: A regulatory perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamarre, G.B.; Martin, W.G.

    2003-01-01

    The NRU (National Research Universal) reactor, located at the Chalk River Laboratories of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), first achieved criticality November 3, 1957. AECL continues to operate NRU for research to support safety and reliability studies for CANDU reactors and as a major supplier of medical radioisotopes. Following a detailed systematic review and assessment of NRU's design and the condition of its primary systems, AECL formally notified the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) predecessor - the Atomic Energy Control Board - in 1992 of its intention to upgrade NRU's safety systems. AECL proposed seven major upgrades to provide improvements in shutdown capability, heat removal, confinement, and reactor monitoring, particularly during and after a seismic event. From a CNSC perspective, these upgrades were necessary to meet modern safety standards. From the start of the upgrades project, the CNSC provided regulatory oversight aimed at ensuring that AECL maintained a structured approach to the upgrades. The elements of the approach include, but are not limited to, the determination of project milestones and target dates; the formalization of the design process and project quality assurance requirements; the requirements for updated documentation, including safety reports, safety notes and commissioning reports; and the approval and authorization process. This paper details, from a regulatory perspective, the structured approach used in approving the design, construction, commissioning and subsequent operation of safety system upgrades for an existing and operating research reactor, including the many challenges faced when attempting to balance the requirements of the upgrades project with AECL's need to keep NRU operating to meet its important research and production objectives. (author)

  5. Mongolia - Vocational Education - Equipment Upgrades

    Data.gov (United States)

    Millennium Challenge Corporation — Evaluation design The impact evaluation sought to identify the causal impact of exposure to equipment upgrades on subsequent outcomes. Insofar as we were not able to...

  6. Enhanced E-bed bottoms upgrading using latest catalytic technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toshima, H.; Mayo, S.; Sedlacek, Z.; Hughes, T.; De Wind, M. [Albermarle Corp., Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2009-07-01

    The profitability of refineries depends on heavy oil upgrading in terms of price, conversion, yields and quality of the product. The Ebullated-bed process represents a solution for the effective primary upgrading of heavy oils. Since the 1970s, Albemarle has commercialized several E-bed catalysts to upgrade the bottoms in low sediment and high hydrogenation operations. Although an E-bed is used to maximize the conversion of vacuum residuum (VR), it is often limited by fouling caused by sediment in the product. In order to reduce sedimentation in the product, Albemarle developed an improved E-bed catalytic technology by characterizing the asphaltenes and sediments in order to better understand the oil chemistry and compatibility. The most recent development involves the patented catalyst-staging technology and the improved single catalyst application. Both achieve very low sediment or higher hydrodesulphurization (HDS) and Conradson carbon (CCR) removal for improved bottom upgrading. tabs., figs.

  7. Hybrid biogas upgrading in a two-stage thermophilic reactor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Corbellini, Viola; Kougias, Panagiotis; Treu, Laura

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study is to propose a hybrid biogas upgrading configuration composed of two-stage thermophilic reactors. Hydrogen is directly injected in the first stage reactor. The output gas from the first reactor (in-situ biogas upgrade) is subsequently transferred to a second upflow reactor...... (ex-situ upgrade), in which enriched hydrogenotrophic culture is responsible for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methane. The overall objective of the work was to perform an initial methane enrichment in the in-situ reactor, avoiding deterioration of the process due to elevated pH levels......, and subsequently, to complete the biogas upgrading process in the ex-situ chamber. The methane content in the first stage reactor reached on average 87% and the corresponding value in the second stage was 91%, with a maximum of 95%. A remarkable accumulation of volatile fatty acids was observed in the first...

  8. MAPS development for the ALICE ITS upgrade

    OpenAIRE

    Yang, P; Aglieri, G; Cavicchioli, C; Chalmet, P L; Chanlek, N; Collu, A; Gao, C; Hillemanns, H; Junique, A; Kofarago, M; Keil, M; Kugathasan, T; Kim, D; Kim, J; Lattuca, A

    2015-01-01

    Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) offer the possibility to build pixel detectors and tracking layers with high spatial resolution and low material budget in commercial CMOS processes. Significant progress has been made in the field of MAPS in recent years, and they are now considered for the upgrades of the LHC experiments. This contribution will focus on MAPS detectors developed for the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS) upgrade and manufactured in the TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS imaging senso...

  9. Status of the ATLAS control system upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munson, F.H.; Ferraretto, M.; Rutherford, B.

    1992-01-01

    Certain components of the ATLAS control system are two generations behind today's technology. It has been decided to upgrade the control system. in part, by replacing Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-11 computers with present-day VAX technology. Two primary goals have been defined for the upgraded control system. The first of these goals is to keep additional ''in-house'' written software to a minimum, while providing the portability necessary to ensure the continued use of existing software. In an attempt to achieve this goal, commercially-available software has been utilized to provide a foundation for the final control-system configuration. The second goal is to develop the new control system, while not interfering with accelerator operations. This paper describes some of the motivation for upgrading the ATLAS control system, the basic features of the new control system, and the present status of the system's development

  10. CO2 emissions savings produced by the construction of an upgraded freight rail corridor. Application to Extremadura

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coloma Miro, J.F.; Garcia Garcia, M.

    2016-07-01

    Human activity since the industrial revolution through the use of fossil fuels is changing the natural composition of the atmosphere increasing the so called Greenhouse Gases (GHG). Extremadura’s government decided to react actively towards the predicted climatic variations and for that the “Strategy for Climatic Change for Extremadura” (2009-2012) was approved, which marked the strategies to follow regarding the mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Among the strategies some concrete measures are included like developing annual inventories of GHG emissions and contributing to the development and demonstration of innovative approaches, technology methods and instruments. With this objective in mind, we develop this investigation where data and conclusions dealing with the savings of CO2 emissions are given through a comparison of the actual freight transport in the area of influence of the line Badajoz-Puertollano with various scenarios of exploitation for the new planned infrastructures. The savings of the emissions will be caused by: The lowering of the emission factors (kg CO2/t·km) in the upgraded railway line in respect to the actual one. The commissioning of the upgraded line will reduce the number of lorries circulating on roads, whose emission factors in unitary terms are far more superior to those ones which will be produced by the use of the new railways. The research concludes that the commissioning of the corridor will delete 863,000 transport operations on lorries for a five-year period, reducing the CO2 emissions in relation with the road: a 59% if the traction is diesel and an 82% if it is electric. (Author)

  11. Morphology of Design of Aerospace Systems with Inclusion of Human Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    1977-08-01

    Visual Indicators," Human Factors, 1971, 13(5), pp. 427-433. 22. Mayer, Sylvia R., "Trends in Human Factors Research for Military Information Systems...34The Standardi- zation of Human Factors Data," Human Factors, 1970, 12(1), pp. 55-62. 29. Plath , D.W., "Th’ Readability of Segmented and Con... Sylvia R., "Trends in Human Factors Research for Military Information Systems," Human Factors, 1970, 12(2), pp. 177-186. 35. Meister, David, Dennis 3

  12. An investigation on factors influencing on human resources productivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masoumeh Seifi Divkolaii

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Human resources development is one of the most important components of any organization and detecting important factors influencing on human resources management plays essential role on the success of the firms. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation to determine different factors influencing productivity of human resources of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB in province of Mazandaran, Iran. The study uses analytical hierarchy process (AHP to rank 17 important factors and determines that personal characteristics were the most important factors followed by management related factors and environmental factors. In terms of personal characteristics, job satisfaction plays essential role on human resources development. In terms of managerial factors, paying attention on continuous job improvement by receiving appropriate training is the most important factor followed by welfare facilities for employees and using a system of reward/punishment in organization. Finally, in terms of environmental factors, occupational safety is number one priority followed by organizational rules and regulations.

  13. Seismic assessment and upgrading of Paks nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamas, K.

    2001-01-01

    A comprehensive programme for seismic assessment and upgrading is currently in progress at Hungary's Paks NPP. The re-evaluation of the site seismic hazard had been already completed. The technology of safe shut down and heat removal is established and the systems and structures relevant for seismic safety are identified. A seismic instrumentation is installed. The pre-earthquake preparedness and post-earthquake actions are elaborated. The methods for seismic capacity assessment are selected. The seismic capacity evaluation and the design of upgrading measures are currently in progress. The easy to perform upgrading covering the most urgent measures had been already performed. (author)

  14. Phase 1 upgrade of the CMS forward hadronic calorimeter

    CERN Document Server

    Noonan, Daniel Christopher

    2017-01-01

    The CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is upgrading the photo- detection and readout system of the forward hadronic calorimeter. The phase 1 upgrade of the CMS forward calorimeter requires the replacement of the current photomultiplier tubes, as well as the installation of a new front-end readout system. The new photomultiplier tubes contain a thinner window as well as multi-anode readout. The front-end electronics will use the QIE10 ASIC which combines signal digitization with timing information. The major components of the upgrade as well as the current status are described in this paper.

  15. Tracking detectors for the sLHC, the LHC upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Sadrozinski, Hartmut F W

    2005-01-01

    The plans for an upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to the Super-LHC (sLHC) are reviewed with special consideration of the environment for the inner tracking system. A straw-man detector upgrade for ATLAS is presented, which is motivated by the varying radiation levels as a function of radius, and choices for detector geometries and technologies are proposed, based on the environmental constraints. A few promising technologies for detectors are discussed, both for sensors and for the associated front-end electronics. On-going research in silicon detectors and in ASIC technologies will be crucial for the success of the upgrade.

  16. Constructing an I and C Upgrade Architecture for Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suh, Yong Suk; Hur, Seop; Kim, Dong Hoon; Sung, Chan Ho; Kang, Hyun Tai; Lee, Jae Ki; Cho, Chang Hwan

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents three architectures of the KSNP I and C upgrade. The architectures are constructed with an adoption of PLCs and DCS technology and 3-phase upgrade strategy. The 3-phase upgrade strategy is established to ensure the safety of the upgrade. Based on the architecture, the cabinet configuration is being constructed. From the configuration, it is expected to figure out how to optimize the layout of the cabinets. It is required to study the performance and safety design requirements of the upgrade further

  17. Analysis of integrated plant upgrading/life extension programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCutchan, D.A.; Massie, H.W. Jr.; McFetridge, R.H.

    1988-01-01

    A present-worth generating cost model has been developed and used to evaluate the economic value of integrated plant upgrading life extension project in nuclear power plants. This paper shows that integrated plant upgrading programs can be developed in which a mix of near-term availability, power rating, and heat rate improvements can be obtained in combination with life extension. All significant benefits and costs are evaluated from the viewpoint of the utility, as measured in discounted revenue requirement differentials between alternative plans which are equivalent in system generating capacity. The near-term upgrading benefits are shown to enhance the benefit picture substantially. In some cases the net benefit is positive, even if the actual life extension proves to be less than expected

  18. EBR-II argon cooling system restricted fuel handling I and C upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Start, S.E.; Carlson, R.B.; Gehrman, R.L.

    1995-01-01

    The instrumentation and control of the Argon Cooling System (ACS) restricted fuel handling control system at Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) is being upgraded from a system comprised of many discrete components and controllers to a computerized system with a graphical user interface (GUI). This paper describes the aspects of the upgrade including reasons for the upgrade, the old control system, upgrade goals, design decisions, philosophies and rationale, and the new control system hardware and software

  19. Safety analysis report upgrade program at the Plutonium Facility, Los Alamos National Laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pan, P.Y.

    1993-01-01

    Plutonium research and development activities have resided at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) since 1943. The function of the Plutonium Facility (PF-4) has been to perform basic special nuclear materials research and development and to support national defense and energy programs. The original Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) for PF-4 was approved by DOE in 1978. This FSAR analyzed design-basis and bounding accidents. In 1986, DOE/AL published DOE/AL Order 5481.1B, ''Safety Analysis and Review System'', as a requirement for preparation and review of safety analyses. To meet the new DOE requirements, the Facilities Management Group of the Nuclear Material Technology Division submitted a draft FSAR to DOE for approval in April 1991. This draft FSAR analyzed the new configurations and used a limited-scope probabilistic risk analysis for accident analysis. During the DOE review of the draft FSAR, DOE Order 5480.23 ''Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports'', was promulgated and was later officially released in April 1992. The new order significantly expands the scope, preparation, and maintenance efforts beyond those required in DOE/AL Order 5481.1B by requiring: description of institutional and human-factor safety programs; clear definitions of all facility-specific safety commitments; more comprehensive and detailed hazard assessment; use of new safety analysis methods; and annual updates of FSARs. This paper describes the safety analysis report (SAR) upgrade program at the Plutonium Facility in LANL. The SAR upgrade program is established to meet the requirements in DOE Order 5480.23. Described in this paper are the SAR background, authorization basis for operations, hazard classification, and technical program elements

  20. Regulatory perspectives on human factors validation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrison, F.; Staples, L.

    2001-01-01

    Validation is an important avenue for controlling the genesis of human error, and thus managing loss, in a human-machine system. Since there are many ways in which error may intrude upon system operation, it is necessary to consider the performance-shaping factors that could introduce error and compromise system effectiveness. Validation works to this end by examining, through objective testing and measurement, the newly developed system, procedure or staffing level, in order to identify and eliminate those factors which may negatively influence human performance. It is essential that validation be done in a high-fidelity setting, in an objective and systematic manner, using appropriate measures, if meaningful results are to be obtained, In addition, inclusion of validation work in any design process can be seen as contributing to a good safety culture, since such activity allows licensees to eliminate elements which may negatively impact on human behaviour. (author)

  1. Human factors survey of advanced instrumentation and controls

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carter, R.J.

    1989-01-01

    A survey oriented towards identifying the human factors issues in regard to the use of advanced instrumentation and controls (I ampersand C) in the nuclear industry was conducted. A number of United States (US) and Canadian nuclear vendors and utilities were participants in the survey. Human factors items, subsumed under the categories of computer-generated displays (CGD), controls, organizational support, training, and related topics, were discussed. The survey found the industry to be concerned about the human factors issues related to the implementation of advanced I ampersand C. Fifteen potential human factors problems were identified. They include: the need for an advanced I ampersand C guideline equivalent to NUREG-0700; a role change in the control room from operator to supervisor; information overload; adequacy of existing training technology for advanced I ampersand C; and operator acceptance and trust. 11 refs., 1 tab

  2. Take control of upgrading to Snow Leopard

    CERN Document Server

    Kissell, Joe

    2009-01-01

    Installing a major new version of Mac OS X should be exciting and fun, but without proper guidance you may find it nerve-wracking or even risk losing valuable files. Fortunately, many thousands of people have upgraded Mac OS X calmly and successfully with Joe Kissell's previous best-selling Take Control of Upgrading... titles. Joe's friendly, expert steps-developed over innumerable test installations-help you to avoid trouble, understand what's going on when you install Snow Leopard, and easily recover from problem

  3. Front-end electronics for the upgraded GMRT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raut, Anil N; Bhalerao, Vilas; Kumar, A Praveen

    2013-01-01

    This paper first describes briefly the existing front-end receiver in use at the GMRT observatory and then details the ongoing development of next generation receiver systems for the upgraded GMRT. It covers the design of the new, two stage, room temperature, low noise amplifiers with better noise performance and matching, and improved dynamic range that are being implemented for the 130–260 MHz, 250–500 MHz and 550–900 MHz bands of the upgraded GMRT front-end systems.

  4. Mining Upgrades to Reduce Pollution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Settlement with Southern Coal Corporation and 26 affiliates requires the companies to comprehensively upgrade their coal mining and processing operations to prevent polluted wastewater from threatening rivers and streams and communities across Appalachia.

  5. The North West Sturgeon Upgrader: Good Money after Bad?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F.L. Ted Morton

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The North West Upgrader (NWU project illustrates the risks of government-led efforts to diversify Alberta’s economy. What began as a low-risk, low-cost project to encourage domestic bitumen upgrading has morphed into a multi-billion dollar boondoggle with high risks for Alberta taxpayers. Originally, the Government of Alberta (GOA intended to collect bitumen from producers in lieu of royalties and sell it to provincial upgraders, adding value to the commodity and creating jobs and revenues in Alberta. The private sector was to build and finance the new upgraders, as well as assume the market risks of low margins. The 2008 financial collapse effectively killed that plan. With just one prospect (NWU remaining, the Stelmach government decided to be more than the middleman. The GOA committed to retain ownership of the bitumen up to the point of sale, pay NWU a toll for the processing, and then sell the upgraded product. Under a new “take or pay” arrangement, the GOA assumed liabilities estimated at $19 billion over the 30-year contract with NWU, as well as the market risk of having to sell the upgraded product at below costs. As four different premiers and six different energy ministers cycled through Edmonton, construction costs soared to over $8 billion. The original $6.5 billion cap on the GOA’s liability for construction costs disappeared, and the GOA—and by extension, Alberta taxpayers— are now on the hook for $26 billion in processing payments — the equivalent of $63 per barrel. Falling oil prices are further undermining the prospects for the investment to break even. Written from a rare insider’s perspective, this paper analyzes the lack of effective government oversight and due diligence surrounding the North West Upgrade. Rather than being an exception, NWU fits the larger and longer pattern of failed “forced-growth” diversification initiatives in Alberta and other provinces. Alberta politicians should think long and

  6. Imaging motional Stark effect measurements at ASDEX Upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ford, O. P.; Burckhart, A.; McDermott, R.; Pütterich, T.; Wolf, R. C. [Max-Planck Institut für Plasmaphysik, Greifswald/Garching (Germany)

    2016-11-15

    This paper presents an overview of results from the Imaging Motional Stark Effect (IMSE) diagnostic obtained during its first measurement campaign at ASDEX Upgrade since installation as a permanent diagnostic. A brief overview of the IMSE technique is given, followed by measurements of a standard H-mode discharge, which are compared to equilibrium reconstructions showing good agreement where expected. The development of special discharges for the calibration of pitch angle is reported and safety factor profile changes during sawteeth crashes are shown, which can be resolved to a few percent due to the high sensitivity at good time resolution of the new IMSE system.

  7. Seismic analysis, evaluation and upgrade design for a DOE exhaust stack building

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malik, L.E.; Maryak, M.E.

    1991-01-01

    An exhaust stack building of a nuclear reactor facility with complex structural configuration has been analyzed and evaluated and retrofitted for seismic forces. The building was built in the 1950's and had not been designed to resist seismic forces. A rigorous analysis and evaluation program was implemented to minimize costly retrofits required to upgrade the building to resist high seismic forces. Seismic evaluations were performed for the building in its as-is configuration, and as modified for several upgrade schemes. Soil-structure-interaction, basemat flexibility and the influence of the nearby reactor building were considered in rigorous seismic analyses. These analyses and evaluations enabled limited upgrades to qualify the stack building for the seismic forces. Some of the major conclusions of this study are: (1) a phased approach of seismic analyses, utilizing simplified models to evaluate practicable upgrade schemes, and, then incorporating the most suitable scheme in a rigorous model to obtain design forces for upgrades, is an efficient and cost-effective approach for seismic qualification of nuclear facilities to higher seismic criteria; and, (2) finalizing the upgrade of a major nuclear facility is an iterative process, which continues throughout the construction of the upgrades

  8. A human factors needs assessment and planning study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Price, H.E.; Van Cott, H.P.

    1982-06-01

    A study was done to assess the need for human factors research, development, and regulatory action in the Atomic Energy Control Board. Further study or development in nine human factors areas is proposed. The urgency, schedule, and resources judged to be necessary for the proposed efforts are estimated. Special emphasis is placed on the need for task analysis information, for the evaluation of control room and maintenance human engineering, and for the development of an improved human error reporting system

  9. The CMS Tracker upgrade for HL-LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Ahuja, Sudha

    2017-01-01

    The LHC machine is planning an upgrade program which will smoothly bring the luminosity to about 5 $\\times$ $10^{34} $cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ in 2028, to possibly reach an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb$^{-1}$ by the end of 2037. This High Luminosity LHC scenario, HL-LHC, will require a preparation program of the LHC detectors known as Phase-2 upgrade. The current CMS Outer Tracker, already running beyond design specifications, and CMS Phase1 Pixel Detector will not be able to survive HL-LHC radiation conditions and CMS will need completely new devices, in order to fully exploit the high-demanding operating conditions and the delivered luminosity. The new Outer Tracker should have also trigger capabilities. To achieve such goals, R$\\&$D activities are ongoing to explore options both for the Outer Tracker, and for the pixel Inner Tracker. Solutions are being developed that would allow including tracking information at Level-1. The design choices for the Tracker upgrades are discussed along with some highlights...

  10. Control system for Fermilab's low temperature upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norris, B.L.

    1996-09-01

    Fermilab recently upgraded the Tevatron Cryogenic Systems to allow for lower temperature operation. This Lower Temperature Upgrade grew out of a desire to increase the Colliding Beam Physics energy from 900 GeV to 1000 GeV. A key element in achieving this goal is the new cryogenic control system designed at Fermilab and installed in 24 satellite refrigerators and 8 compressor buildings. The cryogenic improvements and addition hardware like cold compressors exceeded the capability of the original distributed controls package. The new distributed controls package uses a Multibus II platform and Intel's 80386 microprocessor. Token Ring is used as the link to the systems 6 primary crate locations with Arcnet used as the connection to the systems numerous I/O crates. I/0 capabilities are double the capabilities of the original system. Software has also been upgraded with the introduction of more flexible control loop strategies and Finite State Machines used for automatic sequential control, like quench recovery or cold compressor pump down

  11. Interactive learning for upgrading and growth: Case of Indonesian fishery firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erman Aminullah

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper intends to reveal the interactive learning for upgrading and growth in Indonesian fishery firms. The main question is how learning and innovation have occurred in Indonesian fishery firms. The study was conducted in two categories of fishery firms: fish processing and aquaculture (shrimp. The interfirm interactions contain knowledge flows and feedback in local production network involving local suppliers and foreign buyers. The study found that the model of interactive learning for upgrading and growth work as a coupling of three loops: the upgrading capability, the growth formation, and limiting elements. The upgrading capability is subject to growth formation, which is determined by limiting elements.  The limiting elements will control the quantity and quality of materials supply that affect inter-firm interaction. The model suggests that the dynamics of upgrading and growth through interactive leraning will continue in a stable manner by easing the constraints of limiting elements through: combating illegal fishing, encouraging interaction with universities, shifting to higher added value products, institutional support for global trading,  preventing shrimp disease, providing infrastructure, business facilities, and regulation information.   Key words: upgrading, growth, limiting elements, knowledge flows, production network, global market.

  12. Upgrading Atucha 1 nuclear power plant. Regulatory perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caruso, G.

    1998-01-01

    Atucha 1 nuclear power plant has unique design and its commercial operation started in 1974. The upgrading decisions, the basis for an upgrading program and its status of implementation are presented. Regulatory decisions derived from the performance-based approach have the advantage that they enable balancing of the overall plant risk and identifying at different plant levels the areas where improvements are necessary. (author)

  13. Equipment and performance upgrade of compact nuclear simulator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Jae Chang; Kwon, Kee Choon; Cha, Hyung Ho; Park, Won Man; Song, Soon Ja; Seh, Kyung Won; Joo, Young Chang

    1998-12-01

    In this project, the techniques to upgrade obsolescent nuclear power plant simulation were developed: the simulation code operated in Macro-VAX II has been transplanted to the HP workstation: commercial equipment PLC was adopted for the interface system: the protection logic was developed in the prototype level: and the display system was strengthened. These techniques can be directly used to upgrade other obsolescent simulators

  14. B-physics studies for HL-LHC ATLAS upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Jakoubek, Tomas; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    Simulation studies were made to estimate ATLAS HL-LHC upgrade performance for B-physics. In particular, the decay of $B_s^0 \\to J/\\psi\\phi$ is studied in order to measures the $CP$ violating mixing phase and the width difference between the $B_s^0$ eigenstates. The increased sensitivity is related mainly to the improved decay time resolution obtained with the upgraded ITk inner tracking detector.

  15. Equipment and performance upgrade of compact nuclear simulator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Jae Chang; Kwon, Kee Choon; Cha, Hyung Ho; Park, Won Man; Song, Soon Ja; Seh, Kyung Won; Joo, Young Chang

    1998-12-01

    In this project, the techniques to upgrade obsolescent nuclear power plant simulation were developed: the simulation code operated in Macro-VAX II has been transplanted to the HP workstation: commercial equipment PLC was adopted for the interface system: the protection logic was developed in the prototype level: and the display system was strengthened. These techniques can be directly used to upgrade other obsolescent simulators.

  16. Shielding assessment of the ETRR-1 Reactor Under power upgrading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ahmad, E E [Reactor Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt)

    1997-12-31

    The assessment of existing shielding of the ETRR-1 reactor in case of power upgrading is presented and discussed. It was carried out using both the present EK-10 type fuel elements and some other types of fuel elements with different enrichments. The shielding requirements for the ETRR-1 when power is upgraded are also discussed. The optimization curves between the upgraded reactor power and the shield thickness are presented. The calculation have been made using the ANISN code with the DLC-75 data library. The results showed that the present shield necessitates an additional layer of steel with thickness of 10.20 and 25 cm. When its power is upgraded to 3, 6 and 10 MWt in order to cutoff all neutron energy groups to be adequately safe under normal operating conditions. 4 figs.

  17. Human factors programs for high-level radioactive waste handling systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pond, D.J.

    1992-04-01

    Human Factors is the discipline concerned with the acquisition of knowledge about human capabilities and limitations, and the application of such knowledge to the design of systems. This paper discusses the range of human factors issues relevant to high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) management systems and, based on examples from other organizations, presents mechanisms through which to assure application of such expertise in the safe, efficient, and effective management and disposal of high-level waste. Additionally, specific attention is directed toward consideration of who might be classified as a human factors specialist, why human factors expertise is critical to the success of the HLRW management system, and determining when human factors specialists should become involved in the design and development process

  18. Human factors programs for high-level radioactive waste handling systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pond, D.J.

    1992-01-01

    Human Factors is the discipline concerned with the acquisition of knowledge about human capabilities and limitations, and the application of such knowledge to the design of systems. This paper discusses the range of human factors issues relevant to high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) management systems and, based on examples form other organizations, presents mechanisms through which to assure application of such expertise in the safe, efficient, and effective management and disposal of high-level waste. Additionally, specific attention is directed toward consideration of who might be classified as a human factors specialist, why human factors expertise is critical to the success of the HLRW management system, and determining when human factors specialists should become involved in the design and development process

  19. Design and implementation experience of seismic upgrades at Kozloduy and Paks NPPs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borov, V; Trichkov, V; Alexandrov, A; Jordanov, M [EQE-Bulgaria, Sofia (Bulgaria)

    1995-07-01

    Series of upgrades have been designed and implemented by EQE-Bulgaria at Kozloduy NPP and as a subcontractor of EQE-International - at Paks NPP. Wide variety of facilities have been upgraded, including Electrical Equipment, Control and Instrumentation Equipment, Technological Equipment, Brick Walls and Building Structures. Different design approaches and concepts have been applied in compliance with the specific technological and structural conditions. The effect of the excitation intensity as well as the presence of specific floor response spectra over the upgrading concept and cost is discussed. Specific problems of supporting heavy technological equipment are noted. A practical approach for seismic upgrading of Brick Walls, as well as a tendency for unification of the engineering design is shown. The first completely upgraded Building Structure at Kozloduy NPP is the structure of the Electrical Control Building to the Diesel Generator of the River-bank Pump Station. Specific problems of the implementation of the final upgrading design of the Diesel Generator Building are outlined. (author)

  20. Design and implementation experience of seismic upgrades at Kozloduy and Paks NPPs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borov, V.; Trichkov, V.; Alexandrov, A.; Jordanov, M.

    1995-01-01

    Series of upgrades have been designed and implemented by EQE-Bulgaria at Kozloduy NPP and as a subcontractor of EQE-International - at Paks NPP. Wide variety of facilities have been upgraded, including Electrical Equipment, Control and Instrumentation Equipment, Technological Equipment, Brick Walls and Building Structures. Different design approaches and concepts have been applied in compliance with the specific technological and structural conditions. The effect of the excitation intensity as well as the presence of specific floor response spectra over the upgrading concept and cost is discussed. Specific problems of supporting heavy technological equipment are noted. A practical approach for seismic upgrading of Brick Walls, as well as a tendency for unification of the engineering design is shown. The first completely upgraded Building Structure at Kozloduy NPP is the structure of the Electrical Control Building to the Diesel Generator of the River-bank Pump Station. Specific problems of the implementation of the final upgrading design of the Diesel Generator Building are outlined. (author)

  1. Towards novel biogas upgrading processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Privalova, E.

    2013-06-01

    Biogas production has considerable development possibilities not only in Finland but all over the world since it it the easiest way of creating value out of various waste fractions and represents an alternative source of renewable energy. Development of efficient biogas upgrading technology has become an important issue since it improves the quality of biogas and for example facilitating its injection into the natural gas pipelines. Moreover, such upgrading contributes to resolving the issue of increasing CO{sub 2} emissions and addresses the increasing climate change concerns. Together with traditional CO{sub 2} capturing technologies a new class of recently emerged sorbents such as ionic liquids is claimed as promising media for gas separations. In this thesis, an extensive comparison of the performance of different solvents in terms of CO{sub 2} capture has been performed. The focus of the present study was on aqueous amine solutions and their mixtures, traditional ionic liquids, 'switchable' ionic liquids and poly(ionic liquid)s in order to reveal the best option for biogas upgrading. The CO{sub 2} capturing efficiency for the most promising solvents achieved values around 50-60 L CO{sub 2}/L absorbent. These values are superior to currently widely applied water wash biogas upgrading system. Regeneration of the solvent mixtures appeared to be challenging since the loss of initial efficiency upon CO{sub 2} release was in excess of 20-40 vol %, especially in the case of aqueous amine solutions. In contrast, some of the ionic liquids displayed reversible behavior. Thus, for selected 'switchable' ionic and poly(ionic liquid)s the CO{sub 2} absorption/regeneration cycles were performed 3-4 times without any notable efficiency decrease. The viscosity issue, typical for ionic liquids upon CO{sub 2} saturation, was addressed and the information obtained was evaluated and related to the ionic interactions. The occurrence of volatile organic compounds

  2. Upgrade of ductal carcinoma in situ on core biopsies to invasive disease at final surgery: a retrospective review across the Scottish Breast Screening Programme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Y T; Litherland, J; Lindsay, E; Hendry, P; Brauer, K; Dobson, H; Cordiner, C; Gagliardi, T; Smart, L

    2015-05-01

    To identify factors affecting upgrade rates from B5a (non-invasive) preoperative core biopsies to invasive disease at surgery and ways to improve screening performance. This was a retrospective analysis of 1252 cases of B5a biopsies across all six Scottish Breast Screening Programmes (BSPs), ranging between 2004 and 2012. Final surgical histopathology was correlated with radiological and biopsy factors. Data were analysed using basic Microsoft Excel and standard Chi-squared test used for evaluating statistical significance. B5a upgrade rates for the units ranged from 19.2% to 29.2%, with an average of 23.6%. Mean sizes of invasive tumours were small (3-11 mm). The upgrade rate was significantly higher for cases where the main mammographic abnormality was mass, distortion, or asymmetry, compared with micro-calcification alone (33.2% versus 21.7%, p = 0.0004). The upgrade rate was significantly lower with the use of large-volume vacuum-assisted biopsy (VAB) devices than 14 G core needles (19.9% versus 26%, p = 0.013); in stereotactic than ultrasound-guided biopsies (21.2% versus 36.1%, p Scottish BSPs, including first-line biopsy technique and/or device; and it is of interest that a few centres maintain low upgrade rates despite not using VAB routinely for biopsy of micro-calcification. Copyright © 2015 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. The LANSCE RICE control system upgrade.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oothoudt, Michael; Schaller, S. (Stuart); Bjorklund, E. A. (Eric A.); Burns, M. J. (Mary J.); Carr, G. (Gary); Carr, G. (Gary); Faucett, John Allen,; Hayden, D. J. (David J.); Lusk, M. D. (Matthew D.); Merl, R. B. (Robert B.); Potter, J. M. (Jerry M.); Reynolds, J. A. (Jerome A.); Romero, D. B. (Dolores B.); Shelley, F. E. (Fred E.)

    2003-01-01

    The LANSCE (Los Alamos Neutron Science Center) control system upgrade program continues with the impending replacement of the RICE (Remote Instrumentation and Control Equipment) subsystem. The RICE subsystem upgrade is a challenge because of its technology (late 1960s), number of channels (>10,000), and unique characteristics (all-modules data takes, timed/flavored data takes). The plan is to replace at least the non-timed data and the command portions of the subsystem with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). We discuss motivations, technological challenges, proof-of-principle, and planning. The boundary condition, as usual, is that we must implement these major changes on a running accelerator.

  4. The LANSCE RICE control system upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oothoudt, Michael; Schaller, S.; Bjorklund, E.A.; Burns, M.J.; Carr, G.; Faucett, John Allen; Hayden, D.J.; Lusk, M.D.; Merl, R.B.; Potter, J.M.; Reynolds, J.A.; Romero, D.B.; Shelley, F.E.

    2003-01-01

    The LANSCE (Los Alamos Neutron Science Center) control system upgrade program continues with the impending replacement of the RICE (Remote Instrumentation and Control Equipment) subsystem. The RICE subsystem upgrade is a challenge because of its technology (late 1960s), number of channels (>10,000), and unique characteristics (all-modules data takes, timed/flavored data takes). The plan is to replace at least the non-timed data and the command portions of the subsystem with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). We discuss motivations, technological challenges, proof-of-principle, and planning. The boundary condition, as usual, is that we must implement these major changes on a running accelerator.

  5. CMS Calorimeter Trigger Phase I upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klabbers, P; Gorski, T; Bachtis, M; Dasu, S; Fobes, R; Grothe, M; Ross, I; Smith, W H; Compton, K; Farmahini-Farahani, A; Gregerson, A; Seemuth, D; Schulte, M

    2012-01-01

    We present a design for the Phase-1 upgrade of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) calorimeter trigger system composed of FPGAs and Multi-GBit/sec links that adhere to the μTCA crate Telecom standard. The upgrade calorimeter trigger will implement algorithms that create collections of isolated and non-isolated electromagnetic objects, isolated and non-isolated tau objects and jet objects. The algorithms are organized in several steps with progressive data reduction. These include a particle cluster finder that reconstructs overlapping clusters of 2x2 calorimeter towers and applies electron identification, a cluster overlap filter, particle isolation determination, jet reconstruction, particle separation and sorting.

  6. Integrating Data and Networks: Human Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, R. S.

    2012-12-01

    The development of technical linkages and interoperability between scientific networks is a necessary but not sufficient step towards integrated use and application of networked data and information for scientific and societal benefit. A range of "human factors" must also be addressed to ensure the long-term integration, sustainability, and utility of both the interoperable networks themselves and the scientific data and information to which they provide access. These human factors encompass the behavior of both individual humans and human institutions, and include system governance, a common framework for intellectual property rights and data sharing, consensus on terminology, metadata, and quality control processes, agreement on key system metrics and milestones, the compatibility of "business models" in the short and long term, harmonization of incentives for cooperation, and minimization of disincentives. Experience with several national and international initiatives and research programs such as the International Polar Year, the Group on Earth Observations, the NASA Earth Observing Data and Information System, the U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure, the Global Earthquake Model, and the United Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure provide a range of lessons regarding these human factors. Ongoing changes in science, technology, institutions, relationships, and even culture are creating both opportunities and challenges for expanded interoperability of scientific networks and significant improvement in data integration to advance science and the use of scientific data and information to achieve benefits for society as a whole.

  7. Pakistan upgrades PARR-1 and converts to LEU

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1990-01-01

    The Pakistan Research Reactor, PARR-1, is a 5MW swimming pool type reactor originally designed to use MTR type fuel elements fabricated from uranium enriched to more than 90%. After about 24 years of satisfactory operation it is now planned to convert the reactor to use low enriched (20%) uranium fuel. The opportunity will also be taken to upgrade the reactor power to about 9MW. This power upgrading will meet the demand for higher neutron fluxes for experimental and radioisotope production as well as compensating for the neutron flux penalty arising from conversion from high enriched to low enriched fuel. During the process of conversion and upgrading it is also proposed to renovate existing services and associated systems and to add certain new safety related engineering. (author)

  8. Human factor engineering applied to nuclear power plant design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manrique, A.; Valdivia, J.C.

    2007-01-01

    Advantages of implementing adequate Human Factor Engineering techniques in the design of nuclear reactors have become not only a fact recognized by the majority of engineers and operators but also an explicit requirement regulated and mandatory for the new designs of the so called advanced reactors. The first step for this is preparing a plan to incorporate all the Human Factor Engineering principles and developing an integral design of the Instrumentation and Control and Man-machine interface systems. Such a plan should state: -) Activities to be performed, and -) Creation of a Human Factor Engineering team adequately qualified. The Human Factor Engineering team is an integral part of the design team and is strongly linked to the engineering organizations but simultaneously has independence to act and is free to evaluate designs and propose changes in order to enhance human behavior. TECNATOM S.A. (a Spanish company) has been a part of the Design and Human Factor Engineering Team and has collaborated in the design of an advanced Nuclear Power Plant, developing methodologies and further implementing those methodologies in the design of the plant systems through the development of the plant systems operational analysis and of the man-machine interface design. The methodologies developed are made up of the following plans: -) Human Factor Engineering implementation in the Man-Machine Interface design; -) Plant System Functional Requirement Analysis; -) Allocation of Functions to man/machine; -) Task Analysis; -) Human-System Interface design; -) Control Room Verification and -) Validation

  9. Research of human factor in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nopp, I.

    1983-01-01

    The question is discussed of the study of the human factor with regard to the reliability of nuclear power plant operation. The reliability of the human factor is the result of the functional fitness, motivation, working conditions and working regime of personnel. (J.B.)

  10. A regulatory perspective on human factors in nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whitfield, D.

    1987-01-01

    This paper sets out the approaches being taken by the United Kingdom Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) to monitoring the application of human factors principles and practice in the UK industry. The role of NII is outlined, the development of human factors concerns is reviewed, the assessment of the Sizewell 'B' safety case is presented as a particular example, and pertinent future developments in the human factors discipline are proposed. (author)

  11. Algal Lipid Extraction and Upgrading to Hydrocarbons Technology Pathway

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davis, R.; Biddy, M.; Jones, S.

    2013-03-01

    This technology pathway case investigates the cultivation of algal biomass followed by further lipid extraction and upgrading to hydrocarbon biofuels. Technical barriers and key research needs have been assessed in order for the algal lipid extraction and upgrading pathway to be competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline-, diesel-, and jet-range hydrocarbon blendstocks.

  12. 76 FR 35130 - Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-16

    ...: Control Room Management/Human Factors AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration... the Control Room Management/Human Factors regulations in order to realize the safety benefits sooner... FR 5536). By this amendment to the Control Room Management/Human Factors (CRM) rule, an operator must...

  13. Characterisation and catalytic upgrading of tars from coal-tyre hydropyrolysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mastral, A.M.; Murillo, R.; Callen, M.S.; Garcia, T. [Instituto de Carboquimica, Zaragoza (Spain)

    1999-07-01

    Tars from coal-tyre hydropyrolysis obtained in a swept fixed bed reactor were upgraded with catalysts. Upgraded oils were characterized, and naphtha, kerosene, gas oil, heavy gas oil and vacuum residue percentages were quantified. 7 refs., 3 tabs.

  14. Human factors in resuscitation: Lessons learned from simulator studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hunziker S

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Medical algorithms, technical skills, and repeated training are the classical cornerstones for successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR. Increasing evidence suggests that human factors, including team interaction, communication, and leadership, also influence the performance of CPR. Guidelines, however, do not yet include these human factors, partly because of the difficulties of their measurement in real-life cardiac arrest. Recently, clinical studies of cardiac arrest scenarios with high-fidelity video-assisted simulations have provided opportunities to better delineate the influence of human factors on resuscitation team performance. This review focuses on evidence from simulator studies that focus on human factors and their influence on the performance of resuscitation teams. Similar to studies in real patients, simulated cardiac arrest scenarios revealed many unnecessary interruptions of CPR as well as significant delays in defibrillation. These studies also showed that human factors play a major role in these shortcomings and that the medical performance depends on the quality of leadership and team-structuring. Moreover, simulated video-taped medical emergencies revealed that a substantial part of information transfer during communication is erroneous. Understanding the impact of human factors on the performance of a complex medical intervention like resuscitation requires detailed, second-by-second, analysis of factors involving the patient, resuscitative equipment such as the defibrillator, and all team members. Thus, high-fidelity simulator studies provide an important research method in this challenging field.

  15. Sustainable Governance for the Opened Electric Vehicle Charging and Upgraded Facilities Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tian Wu

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Since the China State Grid opened the market for infrastructure construction of electric charging stations and allowed Tesla, Potevio, BAIC BJEV and other enterprises to provide their own charging stations and other infrastructure construction, the development of electric vehicles has been greatly affected. How to maintain a sustainable governance in the opened electric vehicle charging and upgraded facilities market is an important policy issues. This paper presents a monopolistic competition model for the differentiated products market and addresses several issues related to Cournot equilibrium to illustrate why the expected free market actually operates in a monopolistic competition market structure. The analytic solution of the model shows that whether the extent of firm entry is insufficient, excessive or optimum is determined by consumers’ time preference, level of production differentiation and features of cost structure, including fixed cost and marginal cost. The sensitivity analysis has been performed among the above factors and tracked some other factors which would determine the effect of the new policy issues. The main policy suggestion is that the government should optimize entry regulations and lay down the criterion of charging interface standards for charging stations to avoid the electric vehicle charging and upgraded facilities marketization process of a one-size-fits-all solution and form a monopolistic competition market.

  16. An evaluation of the policy and techno-economic factors affecting the potential for biogas upgrading for transport fuel use in the UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patterson, Tim; Esteves, Sandra; Dinsdale, Richard; Guwy, Alan

    2011-01-01

    Gaseous biofuels including biomethane, which has been shown to be more environmentally beneficial than liquid biofuels, should contribute to meeting the challenging UK targets set for the supplying of biofuels to the road transport fuel market. Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations the financial incentives for the supply of biofuels have been volatile, e.g. 2008/2009 saw Renewable Transport Fuel Certificate values fall to zero. Any shortfall from the maximum value has significant implications for all biofuels. It is demonstrated that biomethane can be produced at a cost which is competitive with liquid biofuels and fossil fuels within the UK. Technologies such as water scrubbing, pressure swing adsorption and physical and chemical absorption are available to upgrade biogas generated by anaerobic digestion of organic wastes to transport fuel quality, and technologies such as membrane separation and cryogenic distillation are being modified for such an application. The manufacture and sale of biomethane as a transport fuel is also financially competitive with Combined Heat and Power. One limiting factor may be the additional cost of purchasing and maintaining biomethane fuelled vehicles. Support in this area could lead to the rapid expansion of biomethane transport fuel infrastructure and bring significant long term environmental and economic advantages. - Research highlights: → A technical summary of commercially available biogas upgrading technologies is made. → An assessment of energetic, environmental and economic performance is included. → Proposed financial subsidies for biomethane transport fuel are investigated. → Biomethane can be financially competitive with liquid biofuels. → The enhanced environmental performance of biomethane should be reflected by the level of subsidy.

  17. Upgrading Undergraduate Biology Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musante, Susan

    2011-01-01

    On many campuses throughout the country, undergraduate biology education is in serious need of an upgrade. During the past few decades, the body of biological knowledge has grown exponentially, and as a research endeavor, the practice of biology has evolved. Education research has also made great strides, revealing many new insights into how…

  18. ATLAS Pixel Detector Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Flick, T; The ATLAS collaboration

    2009-01-01

    The first upgrade for higher luminosity at LHC for the ATLAS pixel detector is the insertion of a forth layer, the IBL. The talk gives an overview about what the IBL is and how it will be set up, as well as to give a status of the research and develoment work.

  19. Human Factors Regulatory Research Program Plan, FY 1989--FY 1992

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coffman, F.; Persensky, J.; Ryan, T.; Ramey-Smith, A.; Goodman, C.; Serig, D.; Trager, E; Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC; Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC; Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC

    1989-10-01

    This report describes the currently ongoing (FY 1989) and planned (FY 1989-1992) Human Factors Regulatory Research Program in the NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES). Examples of the influence of human factors on nuclear safety are presented, and the role of personnel is discussed. Current regulatory issues associated with human factors in the nuclear system and the purpose of the research plan are provided. The report describes the research process applied to the human factors research issues and the program activities: Personnel Performance Measurement, Personnel Subsystem, Human-System Interface. Organization and Management, and Reliability Assessment. The research being conducted within each activity is summarized along with the objectives, background information, and expected regulatory products. Budget and personnel forecasts are provided along with a summary of contractors performing some of the ongoing research. Appendices contain a chronology of human factors research at NRC, a description of the research approach, an update on human factors programs and initiatives in RES and other NRC offices, and the integration among these programs. 46 refs., 5 tabs

  20. Human genetic factors in tuberculosis: an update.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Tong, Hoang; Velavan, Thirumalaisamy P; Thye, Thorsten; Meyer, Christian G

    2017-09-01

    Tuberculosis (TB) is a major threat to human health, especially in many developing countries. Human genetic variability has been recognised to be of great relevance in host responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and in regulating both the establishment and the progression of the disease. An increasing number of candidate gene and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have focused on human genetic factors contributing to susceptibility or resistance to TB. To update previous reviews on human genetic factors in TB we searched the MEDLINE database and PubMed for articles from 1 January 2014 through 31 March 2017 and reviewed the role of human genetic variability in TB. Search terms applied in various combinations were 'tuberculosis', 'human genetics', 'candidate gene studies', 'genome-wide association studies' and 'Mycobacterium tuberculosis'. Articles in English retrieved and relevant references cited in these articles were reviewed. Abstracts and reports from meetings were also included. This review provides a recent summary of associations of polymorphisms of human genes with susceptibility/resistance to TB. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Laparoscopic simulation for all: two affordable, upgradable, and easy-to-build laparoscopic trainers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Matthew D; Norris, Joseph M; Kishikova, Lyudmila; Smith, David P

    2013-01-01

    Laparoscopic surgery has established itself as the approach of choice for a multitude of operations in general, urological, and gynecological surgery. A number of factors make performing laparoscopic surgery technically demanding, and as such it is crucial that surgical trainees hone their skills safely on trainers before operating on patients. These can be highly expensive. Here, we describe a novel and upgradable approach to constructing an affordable laparoscopic trainer. A pattern was produced to build an upgradable laparoscopic trainer for less than $100. The basic model was constructed from an opaque plastic crate with plywood base, 2 trocars, and 2 pairs of disposable laparoscopic instruments. A laptop, a light emitting diode (LED), and a fixed webcam were utilized to visualize the box interior. An enhanced version was also created, as an optional upgrade to the basic model, featuring a neoprene-trocar interface and a simulated mobile laparoscope. The described setup allowed trainees to gain familiarity with laparoscopic techniques, beginning with simple manipulation and then progressing through to more relevant procedures. Novices began by moving easy-to-grasp objects between containers and then attempting more challenging manipulations such as stacking sugar cubes, excising simulated lesions, threading circular mints onto cotton, and ligating fastened drinking straws. These techniques have introduced the necessity of careful instrument placement and have increased trainees' dexterity with laparoscopy. Here, we have outlined an upgradable and affordable alternative laparoscopic trainer that has given many trainees crucial experience with laparoscopic techniques, allowing them to safely improve their manual skill and confidence. Copyright © 2013 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Human Factors and Medical Devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dick Sawyer

    1998-01-01

    Medical device hardware- and software-driven user interfaces should be designed to minimize the likelihood of use-related errors and their consequences. The role of design-induced errors in medical device incidents is attracting widespread attention. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is fully cognizant that human factors engineering is critical to the design of safe medical devices, and user interface design is receiving substantial attention by the agency. Companies are paying more attention to the impact of device design, including user instructions, upon the performance of those health professionals and lay users who operate medical devices. Concurrently, the FDA is monitoring human factors issues in its site inspections, premarket device approvals, and postmarket incident evaluations. Overall, the outlook for improved designs and safer device operation is bright

  3. Bioelectrochemical removal of carbon dioxide (CO2): an innovative method for biogas upgrading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Heng; Wang, Kaijun; Holmes, Dawn E

    2014-12-01

    Innovative methods for biogas upgrading based on biological/in-situ concepts have started to arouse considerable interest. Bioelectrochemical removal of CO2 for biogas upgrading was proposed here and demonstrated in both batch and continuous experiments. The in-situ biogas upgrading system seemed to perform better than the ex-situ one, but CO2 content was kept below 10% in both systems. The in-situ system's performance was further enhanced under continuous operation. Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and alkali production with CO2 absorption could be major contributors to biogas upgrading. Molecular studies showed that all the biocathodes associated with biogas upgrading were dominated by sequences most similar to the same hydrogenotrophic methanogen species, Methanobacterium petrolearium (97-99% sequence identity). Conclusively, bioelectrochemical removal of CO2 showed great potential for biogas upgrading. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. NSTX-U Control System Upgrades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Erickson, K.G.; Gates, D.A.; Gerhardt, S.P.; Lawson, J.E.; Mozulay, R.; Sichta, P.; Tchilinguirian, G.J.

    2014-01-01

    The National Spherical Tokamak Experiment (NSTX) is undergoing a wealth of upgrades (NSTX-U). These upgrades, especially including an elongated pulse length, require broad changes to the control system that has served NSTX well. A new fiber serial Front Panel Data Port input and output (I/O) stream will supersede the aging copper parallel version. Driver support for the new I/O and cyber security concerns require updating the operating system from Redhat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) v4 to RedHawk (based on RHEL) v6. While the basic control system continues to use the General Atomics Plasma Control System (GA PCS), the effort to forward port the entire software package to run under 64-bit Linux instead of 32-bit Linux included PCS modifications subsequently shared with GA and other PCS users. Software updates focused on three key areas: (1) code modernization through coding standards (C99/C11), (2) code portability and maintainability through use of the GA PCS code generator, and (3) support of 64-bit platforms. Central to the control system upgrade is the use of a complete real time (RT) Linux platform provided by Concurrent Computer Corporation, consisting of a computer (iHawk), an operating system and drivers (RedHawk), and RT tools (NightStar). Strong vendor support coupled with an extensive RT toolset influenced this decision. The new real-time Linux platform, I/O, and software engineering will foster enhanced capability and performance for NSTX-U plasma control

  5. MAST Upgrade – Construction Status

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Milnes, Joe, E-mail: Joe.Milnes@ccfe.ac.uk; Ayed, Nizar Ben; Dhalla, Fahim; Fishpool, Geoff; Hill, John; Katramados, Ioannis; Martin, Richard; Naylor, Graham; O’Gorman, Tom; Scannell, Rory

    2015-10-15

    Highlights: • Outlines unique capability of MAST-U, including divertor and diagnostic capability. • Describes progress made in the manufacture and assembly of key MAST-U components. • Highlights the design challenges that have been overcome. • Lists the key lessons learned thus far in the project. - Abstract: The Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) is the centre piece of the UK fusion research programme. In 2010, a MAST Upgrade programme was initiated with three primary objectives, to contribute to: (1) testing reactor concepts (in particular exhaust solutions via a flexible divertor allowing Super-X and other extended leg configurations); (2) adding to the knowledge base for ITER (by addressing important plasma physics questions and developing predictive models to help optimise ITER performance of ITER) and (3) exploring the feasibility of using a spherical tokamak as the basis for a fusion Component Test Facility. With the project mid-way through its construction phase, progress will be reported on a number of the critical subsystems. This will include manufacture and assembly of the coils, armour and support structures that make up the new divertors, construction of the new set coils that make up the centre column, installation of the new power supplies for powering the divertor coils and enhanced TF coil set, progress in delivering the upgraded diagnostic capability, the modification and upgrading of the NBI heating systems and the complete overhaul of the machine control infrastructure, including a new control room with full remote participation facilities.

  6. NSTX-U Control System Upgrades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erickson, K.G., E-mail: kerickso@pppl.gov; Gates, D.A.; Gerhardt, S.P.; Lawson, J.E.; Mozulay, R.; Sichta, P.; Tchilinguirian, G.J.

    2014-06-15

    The National Spherical Tokamak Experiment (NSTX) is undergoing a wealth of upgrades (NSTX-U). These upgrades, especially including an elongated pulse length, require broad changes to the control system that has served NSTX well. A new fiber serial Front Panel Data Port input and output (I/O) stream will supersede the aging copper parallel version. Driver support for the new I/O and cyber security concerns require updating the operating system from Redhat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) v4 to RedHawk (based on RHEL) v6. While the basic control system continues to use the General Atomics Plasma Control System (GA PCS), the effort to forward port the entire software package to run under 64-bit Linux instead of 32-bit Linux included PCS modifications subsequently shared with GA and other PCS users. Software updates focused on three key areas: (1) code modernization through coding standards (C99/C11), (2) code portability and maintainability through use of the GA PCS code generator, and (3) support of 64-bit platforms. Central to the control system upgrade is the use of a complete real time (RT) Linux platform provided by Concurrent Computer Corporation, consisting of a computer (iHawk), an operating system and drivers (RedHawk), and RT tools (NightStar). Strong vendor support coupled with an extensive RT toolset influenced this decision. The new real-time Linux platform, I/O, and software engineering will foster enhanced capability and performance for NSTX-U plasma control.

  7. Colorado River Sewer System Joint Venture to Upgrade Wastewater System

    Science.gov (United States)

    SAN FRANCISCO -Today, the Colorado River Sewer System Joint Venture, located in Parker, Ariz. entered into an agreement with the EPA to upgrade their wastewater treatment system to meet stringent water quality standards. The cost of the upgrade is ap

  8. Upgraded cavities for the positron accumulator ring of the APS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Y.W.; Jiang, X.; Mangra, D.

    1997-01-01

    Upgraded versions of cavities for the APS positron accumulator ring (PAR) have been built and are being tested. Two cavities are in the PAR: a fundamental 9.8-MHz cavity and a twelfth harmonic 117.3-MHz cavity. Both cavities have been manufactured for higher voltage operation with improved Q-factors, reliability, and tuning capability. Both cavities employ current-controlled ferrite tuners for control of the resonant frequency. The harmonic cavity can be operated in either a pulsed mode or a CW mode. The rf properties of the cavities are presented

  9. Small-scale upgrading and refinement of biogas; Smaaskalig uppgradering och foeraedling av biogas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blom, Helena; Mccann, Michael; Westman, Johan (Poeyry SwedPower AB, Stockholm (Sweden))

    2012-02-15

    Small-scale upgrading and refinement of biogas is a report which aims to compile the state of knowledge in small-scale biogas upgrading. The project have been a collaboration with Agrovaest and Energy Farm and was funded by the Foundation for Agricultural Research, Western Goetaland and the Agriculture Department. The technology available for small scale upgrade has been examined from the technical and economic standpoint. An economic comparison has been made and the production of upgraded biogas has been estimated for different raw gas flows. The work also contains information related to biogas production, upgrading and a comparison of liquid biogas, DME and Ecopar-diesel

  10. Progress in MPC and A upgrades at Luch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mizin, P.; Chukov, V.; Rogatchev, V.; Curtiss, J.; Erkkila, B.; Goodey, K.; Hembree, D. Jr.; Lowe, D.; Turner, C.

    1997-01-01

    Luch, a MINATOM facility, has been engaged in both scientific research and uranium processing for fifty years. Since the spring of 1996, Luch has participated in a program of US/Russia Cooperation in Nuclear MPC and A Upgrades. The program began with planning for immediate upgrades in MPC and A, with en emphasis on physical protection. In addition, US and Luch experts exchanged technical data during a number of workshops, to establish a common understanding of available MPC and A tools and equipment. Site characterizations and vulnerability assessments were then prepared by Luch, to form the basis for the current program of methodical upgrades in all areas of MPC and A. Access control, alarms and alarm communications are being improved as part of this program. Control of nuclear material is being enhanced through improvements in material monitoring and in transportation security when nuclear material is moved between buildings on the Luch site. A comprehensive, site-wide computer network for Luch was designed during a recent workshop. Acquiring and installing this computer system, complete with COREMAS software, is currently in progress. Nuclear material analysis will be improved through NDA techniques using Canberra InSpector systems. The planned upgrades in nuclear MPC and A will reinforce safeguards over large quantities of HEU at Luch

  11. The ATLAS multi-user upgrade and potential applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mustapha, B.; Nolen, J. A.; Savard, G.; Ostroumov, P. N.

    2017-12-01

    With the recent integration of the CARIBU-EBIS charge breeder into the ATLAS accelerator system to provide for more pure and efficient charge breeding of radioactive beams, a multi-user upgrade of the ATLAS facility is being proposed to serve multiple users simultaneously. ATLAS was the first superconducting ion linac in the world and is the US DOE low-energy Nuclear Physics National User Facility. The proposed upgrade will take advantage of the continuous-wave nature of ATLAS and the pulsed nature of the EBIS charge breeder in order to simultaneously accelerate two beams with very close mass-to-charge ratios; one stable from the existing ECR ion source and one radioactive from the newly commissioned EBIS charge breeder. In addition to enhancing the nuclear physics program, beam extraction at different points along the linac will open up the opportunity for other potential applications; for instance, material irradiation studies at ~ 1 MeV/u and isotope production at ~ 6 MeV/u or at the full ATLAS energy of ~ 15 MeV/u. The concept and proposed implementation of the ATLAS multi-user upgrade will be presented. Future plans to enhance the flexibility of this upgrade will also be presented.

  12. Recent technology products from Space Human Factors research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, James P.

    1991-01-01

    The goals of the NASA Space Human Factors program and the research carried out concerning human factors are discussed with emphasis given to the development of human performance models, data, and tools. The major products from this program are described, which include the Laser Anthropometric Mapping System; a model of the human body for evaluating the kinematics and dynamics of human motion and strength in microgravity environment; an operational experience data base for verifying and validating the data repository of manned space flights; the Operational Experience Database Taxonomy; and a human-computer interaction laboratory whose products are the display softaware and requirements and the guideline documents and standards for applications on human-computer interaction. Special attention is given to the 'Convoltron', a prototype version of a signal processor for synthesizing the head-related transfer functions.

  13. Upgrading BWR training simulators for annual outage operation training

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamakabe, K.; Nakajima, A.; Shiyama, H.; Noji, K.; Okabe, N.; Murata, F.

    2006-01-01

    Based upon the recently developed quality assurance program by the Japanese electric companies, BWR Operator Training Center (BTC) identified the needs to enhance operators' knowledge and skills for operations tasks during annual outage, and started to develop a dedicated operator training course specialized for them. In this paper, we present the total framework of the training course for annual outage operations and the associated typical three functions of our full-scope simulators specially developed and upgraded to conduct the training; namely, (1) Simulation model upgrade for the flow and temperature behavior concerning residual heat removal (RHR) system with shutdown cooling mode, (2) Addition of malfunctions for DC power supply equipment, (3) Simulation model upgrade for water filling operation for reactor pressurization (future development). We have implemented a trial of the training course by using the upgraded 800MW full-scope training simulator with functions (1) and (2) above. As the result of this trial, we are confident that the developed training course is effective for enhancing operators' knowledge and skills for operations tasks during annual outage. (author)

  14. The Upgrade of the ATLAS First Level Calorimeter Trigger

    CERN Document Server

    Yamamoto, Shimpei; The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    The Level-1 calorimeter trigger (L1Calo) operated successfully during the first data taking phase of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Based on the lessons learned, a series of upgrades is planned for L1Calo to face the new challenges posed by the upcoming increases of the LHC beam energy and luminosity. The initial upgrade phase in 2013-15 includes substantial improvements to the analogue and digital signal processing to cope with baseline shifts due to signal pile-up. Additionally a newly introduced system will receive real-time data from both the upgraded L1Calo and L1Muon trigger to perform trigger algorithms based on entire event topologies. During the second upgrade phase in 2018-19 major parts of L1Calo will be rebuilt in order to exploit a tenfold increase in the available calorimeter data granularity compared to that of the current system. In this contribution we present the lessons learned during the first period of LHC data taking. Based on these we discuss the expected performance improvements toge...

  15. Production and properties of monoclonal antibodies to human blood coagulation factor VII and factor VIIa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mann, P.; Nesbitt, J.A.; Ge, M.; Kisiel, W.

    1986-01-01

    Human factor VII is a trace vitamin K-dependent protein that circulates in blood as a single-chain precursor to a serine protease. Upon activation, two-chain factor VIIa activates factor x in the presence of tissue factor and calcium. Purified preparations of single-chain (SC) human factor VII and two-chain (TC) factor VIIa were utilized to immunize Balb/c mice. Spleen cells from these immunized mice were fused to a non-secreting NS-1 derivative of X63-Ag8 myeloma cells and grown in selective medium. Analysis of culture supernatants by EIA revealed several hybridomas that were secreting IgG specific for Sc-factor VII and TC-factor VIIa. In addition, several hybridomas secreted IgG that reacted equally well with factor VII and factor VIIa. One of the latter McAb (A-29) reacted with the heavy chain of factor VIIa and the intact factor VII molecule equally as judged by Western blotting. A-29 was produced in ascites fluid, purified and coupled to activated CH-Sepharose. Application of one liter of normal human plasma to 10 ml of this immunoadsorbent column, elution of factor VII and subsequent Western blot using 125 I-rabbit anti-human factor VII indicated a single species of factor VII(M/sub r/ = 50 KDa) in normal plasma. These specific factor VII/VIIa McAbs may prove useful in the analysis of these factors, and in the separation of SC-factor VII from TC-factor VIIa

  16. 3D vision upgrade kit for TALON robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edmondson, Richard; Vaden, Justin; Hyatt, Brian; Morris, James; Pezzaniti, J. Larry; Chenault, David B.; Tchon, Joe; Barnidge, Tracy; Kaufman, Seth; Pettijohn, Brad

    2010-04-01

    In this paper, we report on the development of a 3D vision field upgrade kit for TALON robot consisting of a replacement flat panel stereoscopic display, and multiple stereo camera systems. An assessment of the system's use for robotic driving, manipulation, and surveillance operations was conducted. The 3D vision system was integrated onto a TALON IV Robot and Operator Control Unit (OCU) such that stock components could be electrically disconnected and removed, and upgrade components coupled directly to the mounting and electrical connections. A replacement display, replacement mast camera with zoom, auto-focus, and variable convergence, and a replacement gripper camera with fixed focus and zoom comprise the upgrade kit. The stereo mast camera allows for improved driving and situational awareness as well as scene survey. The stereo gripper camera allows for improved manipulation in typical TALON missions.

  17. High voltage multiplexing for the ATLAS Tracker Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villani, E G; Phillips, P; Matheson, J; Lynn, D; Hommels, L B A; Gregor, I; Bessner, M; Tackmann, K; Newcomer, F M; Spencer, E; Greenall, A

    2014-01-01

    The increased luminosity of the HL-LHC will require more channels in the upgraded ATLAS Tracker, as a result of the finer detector segmentation, stemming from the otherwise too high occupancy. Among the many technological challenges facing the ATLAS Tracker Upgrade there is more an efficient power distribution and HV biasing of the sensors. The solution adopted in the current ATLAS detector uses one HV conductor for each sensor, which makes it easy to disable malfunctioning sensors without affecting the others, but space constraints and material budget considerations renders this approach impractical for the Upgraded detector. A number of approaches, including the use of the same HV line to bias several sensors and suitable HV switches, along with their control circuitry, are currently being investigated for this purpose. The proposed solutions along with latest test results and measurements will be described

  18. Upgraded G-optk program for electron gun characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagasao, K.; Takebe, M.; Ushio, W.; Fujita, S.; Ohye, T.; Shimoyama, H.

    2011-01-01

    The generalized trajectory theory (the G-optk program) has been extended in order to make the method applicable to electron guns with curved and/or asymmetric cathodes. The object-image analysis mode has also been added. Enhanced capability of the upgraded G-optk program was demonstrated by applying the program to three electron optical systems: (a) the point cathode gun, (b) the hairpin-type cathode gun, and (c) the LEEM objective lens. The Canonical Mapping Transformation (CMT) diagrams were calculated both by direct ray tracing and by the upgraded G-optk program. In each case, it was found that the upgraded program reproduces well the results obtained by ray tracing. The generalized trajectory method has several advantages over direct ray tracing, such as substantially lighter calculation load and easy interpretation of the calculation results in terms of the optical parameters.

  19. Upgrades for TwinSol facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O’Malley, P.D.; Bardayan, D.W.; Kolata, J.J.; Hall, M.R.; Hall, O.; Allen, J. [Physics Department, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Becchetti, F.D. [Physics Department, U. Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 48109 (United States)

    2016-06-01

    TwinSol, a pair of coupled, superconducting solenoids, was one of the first devices capable of producing beams of radioactive nuclei at energies near the Coulomb barrier. A primary beam from University of Notre Dame (UND) tandem accelerator is used to bombard a primary target producing a secondary beam in flight. TwinSol is used to gather, separate, and focus the recoils. Since it was commissioned at the UND in 1997, at least 58 publications have reported data from its use and there have been hundreds of collaborators from many different countries that use this device. Currently, plans are in place at the UND to provide several upgrades to TwinSol, including a multi-cell gas production target and the possible addition of a third solenoid. Upgrades currently in progress will be discussed along with future plans.

  20. Upgrade plans for hadron calorimeter in the CMS detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dugad, Shashikant R.

    2010-01-01

    The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is expected to undergo upgrades in two phases in next decade. Luminosity at the completion of the second phase is expected to increase by an order of magnitude to 10 35 /cm 2 s. The upgrade of the CMS Hadron Calorimeter (HCAL) is being planned to sustain an increased dose of radiation and challenges arising from occupancy rate due to higher luminosity. Replacement of existing photo readout device by silicon photomultipliers is being planned for the HCAL. Detailed studies performed on this device are presented. Plans on the upgrade of the front-end electronics, DAQ, trigger, and the active elements in some part of the detector will be discussed in detail.

  1. Real time analysis with the upgraded LHCb trigger in Run-III

    CERN Multimedia

    Szumlak, Tomasz

    2016-01-01

    The current LHCb trigger system consists of a hardware level, which reduces the LHC bunch-crossing rate of 40 MHz to 1 MHz, a rate at which the entire detector is read out. A second level, implemented in a farm of around 20k parallel processing CPUs, the event rate is reduced to around 12.5 kHz. The LHCb experiment plans a major upgrade of the detector and DAQ system in the LHC long shutdown II (2018-2019 ). In this upgrade, a purely software based trigger system is being developed and it will have to process the full 30 MHz of bunch crossings with inelastic collisions. LHCb will also receive a factor of 5 increase in the instantaneous luminosity, which further contributes to the challenge of reconstructing and selecting events in real time with the CPU farm. We discuss the plans and progress towards achieving efficient reconstruction and selection with a 30 MHz throughput. Another challenge is to exploit the increased signal rate that results from removing the 1 MHz readout bottleneck, combined with the high...

  2. Human Factors and Robotics: Current Status and Future Prospects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parsons, H. McIlvaine; Kearsley, Greg P.

    The principal human factors engineering issue in robotics is the division of labor between automation (robots) and human beings. This issue reflects a prime human factors engineering consideration in systems design--what equipment should do and what operators and maintainers should do. Understanding of capabilities and limitations of robots and…

  3. Methods and apparatus for hydrogen based biogas upgrading

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2013-01-01

    The present invention relates to an anaerobic process for biogas upgrading and hydrogen utilization comprising the use of acidic waste as co-substrate.In this process,H2 and CO2 will be converted to CH4, which will result in lower CO2 content in the biogas. The invention relates to both in situ...... and ex situ methods of biogas upgrading. The invention further relates to a bioreactor comprising hollow fibre membranes....

  4. Theory Support for the Excited Baryon Analysis Program at the JLAB 12 GeV Upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burkert, Volker; Lee, Tsung-Shung; Mokeev, Viktor; Aznauryan, Inna; Braun, Vladimir; Capstick, Simon; Cloet, Ian; Edwards, Robert; Gianinni, M.; Lin, Huey-Wen; Roberts, C.D.; Stoler, Paul; Zhao, Qiang; Zou, Bing-Song

    2009-01-01

    This document summarizes the contributions of the Electromagnetic $\\gamma_vNN^*$ Transition Form Factors workshop participants that provide theoretical support of the excited baryon program at the 12 GeV energy upgrade at JLab. The main objectives of the workshop were (a) review the status of the $\\gamma_vNN^*$ transition form factors extracted from the meson electroproduction data, (b) call for the theoretical interpretations of the extracted $N$-$N^*$ transition form factors, that enable access to the mechanisms responsible for the N* formation and to their emergence from QCD.

  5. Towards Optimum Material Choices for HL-LHC Collimator Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Quaranta, E.; Biancacci, N.; Bruce, R.; Carra, F.; Métral, E.; Redaelli, S.; Rossi, A.; Salvant, B.

    2016-01-01

    properties that address different limitations of the present collimation system, solutions have been found to fulfil various upgrade challenges. This paper describes the proposed staged approach to deploy new materials in the upgraded HL-LHC collimation system. Beam tests at the CERN HiRadMat facility were also performed to benchmark simulation methods and constitutive material models.

  6. Recent Upgrades and Extensions of the ASDEX Upgrade ECRH System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, Dietmar; Stober, Jörg; Leuterer, Fritz; Monaco, Francesco; Münich, Max; Schmid-Lorch, Dominik; Schütz, Harald; Zohm, Hartmut; Thumm, Manfred; Scherer, Theo; Meier, Andreas; Gantenbein, Gerd; Flamm, Jens; Kasparek, Walter; Höhnle, Hendrik; Lechte, Carsten; Litvak, Alexander G.; Denisov, Gregory G.; Chirkov, Alexey; Popov, Leonid G.; Nichiporenko, Vadim O.; Myasnikov, Vadim E.; Tai, Evgeny M.; Solyanova, Elena A.; Malygin, Sergey A.

    2011-03-01

    The multi-frequency Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECRH) system at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak employs depressed collector gyrotrons, step-tunable in the range 105-140 GHz. The system is equipped with a fast steerable launcher allowing for remote steering of the ECRH RF beam during the plasma discharge. The gyrotrons and the mirrors are fully integrated in the discharge control system. The polarization can be controlled in a feed-forward mode. 3 Sniffer probes for millimeter wave stray radiation detection have been installed.

  7. ATLAS Detector Upgrade Prospects

    CERN Document Server

    Dobre, Monica; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    After the successful operation at the center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV in 2010 - 2012, the LHC is ramped up and successfully took data at the center-of-mass energies of 13 TeV in 2015. Meanwhile, plans are actively advancing for a series of upgrades of the accelerator, culminating roughly ten years from now in the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, delivering of the order of five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity along with luminosity leveling. The ultimate goal is to extend the dataset from about few hundred fb−1 expected for LHC running to 3000 fb−1 by around 2035 for ATLAS and CMS. The challenge of coping with the HL-LHC instantaneous and integrated luminosity, along with the associated radiation levels, requires further major changes to the ATLAS detector. The designs are developing rapidly for a new all-silicon tracker, significant upgrades of the calorimeter and muon systems, as well as improved triggers and data acquisition. ATLAS is also examining potential benefits of extens...

  8. ATLAS detector upgrade prospects

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00184940; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    After the successful operation at the centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV in 2010-2012, the LHC is ramped up and successfully took data at the centre-of-mass energies of 13 TeV in 2015. Meanwhile, plans are actively advancing for a series of upgrades of the accelerator, culminating roughly ten years from now in the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, delivering of the order of five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity along with luminosity levelling. The ultimate goal is to extend the dataset from about few hundred fb$^{-1}$ expected for LHC running to 3000 fb $^{-1}$ by around 2035 for ATLAS and CMS. The challenge of coping with the HL-LHC instantaneous and integrated luminosity, along with the associated radiation levels, requires further major changes to the ATLAS detector. The designs are developing rapidly for a new all-silicon tracker, significant upgrades of the calorimeter and muon systems, as well as improved triggers and data acquisition. ATLAS is also examining potential benefits of ...

  9. submitter Search for Dark Matter in the Upgraded High Luminosity LHC at CERN: Sensitivity of ATLAS phase II upgrade to dark matter production

    CERN Document Server

    Hallsjö, Sven-Patrik; Johansson, Magnus

    The LHC at CERN is now undergoing a set of upgrades to increase the center of mass energy for the colliding particles to be able to explore new physical processes. The focus of this thesis lies on the so called phase II upgrade which will preliminarily be completed in 2023. After the upgrade the LHC will be able to accelerate proton beams to such a velocity thateach proton has a center of mass energy of 14 TeV. One disadvantage of the upgrade is that it will be harder for the atlas detector to isolate unique particle collisions since more and more collisions will occur simultaneously, so called pile-up. For 14 TeV there does not exist a full simulation of the atlas detector. This thesis instead uses data from Monte Carlo simulations for the particle collisions and then uses so called smearing functions to emulate the detector responses. This thesis focuses on how a mono-jet analysis looking for different wimp models of dark matter will be affected by this increase in pile-up rate. The signal models which are ...

  10. Environmental benefits of utilizing biogas and upgrading it to natural gas quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eriksen, K.; Jensby, T.; Norddahl, B.

    1997-01-01

    In case of successful development of the upgrading technology, the utilization of biomass for biogas production may be increased tenfold in Funen. The pilot plant using low-pressure membranes for the upgrading of biogas is expected to be able to undertake a cost-neutral upgrading of biogas due to earnings which arise from the sale of CO 2 . It appears that the utilization of the upgrading technology for the production of 10 7 Nm 3 within region Funen alone will result in a reduction of the greenhouse effect corresponding to 74 * 10 3 t CO 2 . (au)

  11. Upgrading primary heat transport pump seals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graham, T.; Metcalfe, R.; Rhodes, D.; McInnes, D.

    1995-01-01

    Changes in the operating environment at the Bruce-A Nuclear Generating Station created the need for an upgraded Primary Heat Transport Pump (PHTP) seal. In particular, the requirement for low pressure running during more frequent start-ups exposed a weakness of the CAN2 seal and reduced its reliability. The primary concern at Bruce-A was the rotation of the CAN2 No. 2 stators in their holders. The introduction of low pressure running exacerbated this problem, giving rapid wear of the stator back face, overheating, and thermocracking. In addition, the resulting increase in friction between the stator and its holder increased stationary-side hysteresis and thereby changed the seal characteristic to the point where interseal pressure oscillations became prevalent. The resultant increased hysteresis also led to hard rubbing of the seal faces during temperature transients. An upgraded seal was required for improved reliability to avoid forced outages and to reduce maintenance costs. This paper describes this upgraded 'replacement seal' and its performance history. In spite of the 'teething' problems detailed in this paper, there have been no forced outages due to the replacement seal, and in the words of a seal maintenance worker at Bruce-A, 'it allows me to go home and sleep at night instead of worrying about seal failures.' (author)

  12. Development of Human Factor Management Requirements and Human Error Classification for the Prevention of Railway Accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwak, Sang Log; Park, Chan Woo; Shin, Seung Ryoung

    2008-08-01

    Railway accident analysis results show that accidents cased by human factors are not decreasing, whereas H/W related accidents are steadily decreasing. For the efficient management of human factors, many expertise on design, conditions, safety culture and staffing are required. But current safety management activities on safety critical works are focused on training, due to the limited resource and information. In order to improve railway safety, human factors management requirements for safety critical worker and human error classification is proposed in this report. For this accident analysis, status of safety measure on human factor, safety management system on safety critical worker, current safety planning is analysis

  13. Catalytic Upgrading of bio-oil using 1-octene and 1-butanol over sulfonic acid resin catalysts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Zhijun; Wang, Qingwen; Tripathi, Prabhat; Pittman, Charles U.

    2011-02-04

    Raw bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of biomass must be refined before it can be used as a transporation fuel, a petroleum refinery feed or for many other fuel uses. Raw bio-oil was upgraded with the neat model olefin, 1-octene, and with 1-octene/1-butanol mixtures over sulfonic acid resin catalysts frin 80 to 150 degrees celisus in order to simultaneously lower water content and acidity and to increase hydrophobicity and heating value. Phase separation and coke formation were key factors limiting the reaction rate during upgrading with neat 1-octene although octanols were formed by 1-octene hydration along with small amounts of octyl acetates and ethers. GC-MS analysis confirmed that olefin hydration, carboxylic acid esterification, acetal formation from aldehydes and ketones and O- and C-alkylations of phenolic compounds occurred simultaneously during upgrading with 1-octene/1-butanol mixtures. Addition of 1-butanol increased olefin conversion dramatically be reducing mass transfer restraints and serving as a cosolvent or emulsifying agent. It also reacted with carboxylic acids and aldehydes/ketones to form esters, and acetals, respectively, while also serving to stabilize bio-oil during heating. 1-Butanol addition also protected the catalysts, increasing catalyst lifetime and reducing or eliminationg coking. Upgrading sharply increased ester content and decreased the amounts of levoglucosan, polyhydric alcohols and organic acids. Upgrading lowered acidity (pH value rise from 2.5 to >3.0), removed the uppleasant ordor and increased hydrocarbon solubility. Water content decreased from 37.2% to < 7.5% dramatically and calorific value increased from 12.6 MJ kg to about 30.0 MJ kg.

  14. Extraction of human factors issues caused by application of the advanced HSI technology and development of human factor issue management system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang; Oh, In Seok [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea)

    1999-01-01

    A comprehensive literature survey was performed in this study to collect human performance issues related to the advanced HSI design features. The literature from not only nuclear industry but also other industries was collected and reviewed. The issues were categorized into the following advanced HSI design features: devices characteristics, levels of automation, information design and management, display management, computerized controls, alarm systems, computerized procedures, staffing and crew coordination, and operator support systems. The classified issues were described with the description framework. Then, the relationship of issues to HSI design process such as human factors analyses, human factors design, and human factors verification and validation was investigated. Finally, the issue management system of server-client environment was developed using Microsoft's Active Server Page technology and Access 97. (author). 18 refs., 6 figs.

  15. Upgrade of the CMS Global Muon Trigger

    CERN Document Server

    Jeitler, Manfred; Rabady, Dinyar; Sakulin, Hannes; Stahl, Achim

    2015-01-01

    The increase in center-of-mass energy and luminosity for Run-II of the Large Hadron Collider poses new challenges for the trigger systems of the experiments. To keep triggering with a similar performance as in Run-I, the CMS muon trigger is currently being upgraded. The new algorithms will provide higher resolution, especially for the muon transverse momentum and will make use of isolation criteria that combine calorimeter with muon information already in the level-1 trigger. The demands of the new algorithms can only be met by upgrading the level-1 trigger system to new powerful FPGAs with high bandwidth I/O. The processing boards will be based on the new μTCA standard. We report on the planned algorithms for the upgraded Global Muon Trigger (μGMT) which sorts and removes duplicates from boundaries of the muon trigger sub-systems. Furthermore, it determines how isolated the muon candidates are based on calorimetric energy deposits. The μGMT will be implemented using a processing board that features a larg...

  16. LHCb; DAQ Architecture for the LHCb Upgrade

    CERN Multimedia

    Neufeld, N

    2013-01-01

    LHCb will have an upgrade of its detector in 2018. After the upgrade, the LHCb experiment will run at a high luminosity of 2x 10$^{33}$ cm$^{-2}$ . s$^{-1}$. The upgraded detector will be read out at 40 MHz with a highly flexible software-based triggering strategy. The Data Acquisition (DAQ) system of HCb reads out the data fragments from the Front-End Electronics and transports them to the High-Lever Trigger farm at an aggregate throughput of 32 Tbit/s. The DAQ system will be based on high speed network technologies such as InfiniBand and/or 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet. Independent of the network technology, there are different possible architectures for the DAQ system. In this paper, we present our studies on the DAQ architecture, where we analyze size, complexity and (relative) cost. We evaluate and compare several data-flow schemes for a network-based DAQ: push, pull and push with barrel-shifter traffic shaping. We also discuss the requirements and overall implications of the data-flow schemes on the DAQ ...

  17. The 12 GeV Upgrade at Jefferson Lab

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rolf Ent

    2002-01-01

    There has been a remarkable fruitful evolution of our picture of the behavior of strongly interacting matter during the almost two decades that have passed since the parameters of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab were defined. These advances have revealed important new experimental questions best addressed by a CEBAF-class machine at higher energy. Fortunately, favorable technical developments coupled with foresight in the design of the facility make it feasible to triple (double) CEBAF's design (achieved) beam energy from 4 (6) GeV to 12 GeV, in a cost-effective manner: the Upgrade can be realized for about 15% of the cost of the initial facility. This Upgrade would enable the worldwide community to greatly expand its physics horizons. In addition to in general improving the figure of merit and momentum transfer range of the present Jefferson Lab physics program, raising the energy of the accelerator to 12 GeV opens up two main new areas of physics: (1) It allows direct exploration of the quark-gluon structure of hadrons and nuclei in the ''valence quark region''. It is known that inclusive electron scattering at the high momentum and energy transfers available at 12 GeV is governed by elementary interactions with quarks and, indirectly, gluons. The original CEBAF energy is not adequate to study this critical region, while with continuous 12 GeV beams one can cleanly access the entire ''valence quark region'' and exploit the newly discovered Generalized Parton Distributions. In addition, a 12-GeV Jefferson Lab can essentially complete the studies of the transition from hadronic to quark-gluon degrees of freedom. (2) It allows crossing the threshold above which the origins of quark confinement can be investigated. Specifically, 12 GeV will enable the production of certain ''exotic'' mesons. Whereas in the QCD region of asymptotic freedom ample evidence for the role of gluons exist through the observation of gluon jets

  18. Humanism Factors and Islam Viewpoint from Motahri's Point of View

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yousefi, Zargham; Yousefy, Alireza; Keshtiaray, Narges

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this research is to criticize liberal humanism based on Islam viewpoint emphasizing Motahri's point of view. In this paper, the researchers tried to identify liberalism humanism factors with analytical look in order to present a new categorization called "main factor of liberal humanism". Then, each factor was studied and…

  19. Guidelines for Home Energy Upgrade Professionals: Standard Work Specifications for Multifamily Energy Upgrades (Fact Sheet)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2011-08-01

    This fact sheet provides essential information about the 2011 publication of the Workforce Guidelines for Multifamily Home Energy Upgrades, including their origin, their development with the help of industry leaders to create the standard work specifications for retrofit work.

  20. Upgrade of telephone exchange

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, work will be carried out on the CERN switching centre between Monday 23 October 8.00 p.m. and Tuesday 24 October 2.00 a.m. Telephone services may be disrupted and possibly even interrupted during this operation. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service