Nuclear safety in the unexpected second nuclear era

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820007116
• Publication Date: 2019-08-20T00:25:50Z
• Authors: Yican Wu; Zhibin Chen; Zhen Wang; Shanqi Chen; Daochuan Ge; Chao Chen; Jiangtao Jia; Yazhou Li; Ming Jin; Tao Zhou; Fang Wang; Liqin Hu
• Keywords: Sociotechnical system; Viewpoints; Nuclear technology; Reductionism

Significance Despite great efforts to pursue a safe nuclear energy system during the first era, which was dominated by developed countries, severe accidents still occurred. Today, development has entered an unexpected second is driven developing countries. This may give rise risk. Nuclear power plants are complex sociotechnical systems, and their safety never been fully defined. We argue that social aspects, rather than just technical measures, must be involved ensure safety. In this paper, nature of elucidated with identification new challenges, corresponding suggestions proposed improve in era.