Micro arc oxidation (MAO) technology known as a newly surface treatment technology has got a widely application in the field of aviation, aerospace, automotive, electronics, and medical industry. Strength, toughness, hardness and corrosion of valve metal such as aluminum, magnesium, copper, zinc, zirconium and their alloys can be greatly improved by MAO technology. This paper tries to probe into the feasibility of using MAO technology in nuclear power industry. Aluminum and its alloys are used as structural materials such as the cladding of reactor fuel and all kinds of pipes in the low nuclear reactor. Zirconium alloys are widely used for the fuel cladding, cannula, catheter and other components of the fuel assemblies. Titanium and its alloys offer a unique combination of desirable mechanical properties which makes them to be the candidate materials for structural application in the field of nuclear energy. The surface of all these materials may be destroyed which increasing the risk of the nuclear accident due to the severe serving conditions. As a result, it is necessary to improve the corrosion and wear resistance behavior. With the urgent requirements of safety and durability of nuclear reactor, MAO technology must have a broad prospect in nuclear industry.

KPI (( http://www.ntu-kpi.kiev.ua/ ) is one of the oldest and biggest technical universities in Ukraine. It was founded in 1898. Prof. D.I. Mendeleyev (inventor of the Periodic Table of Elements) was a chairman of the first examining board in KPI in 1903. World-famous are the names of I.I. Sikorskiy ( Russian and American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft ), S.P. Timoshenko (the father of modern engineering mechanics ), S.P. Korolyov (the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer), B.E. Paton (world-known Ukrainian metallurgist and specialist in welding technology), etc. who studied or worked in KPI. Now KPI is the largest university in Ukraine — 28 000 students; 53 bachelor’s, 113 master’s, and 82 Ph.D. programs. 25 % of the students of the technical universities of Ukraine are the students of NTUU “KPI”. In 2011, more than 120 titles of scientific and educational literature were published and 17 scientific periodicals were issued at NTUU “KPI”. KPI scientifically and technically cooperates with numerous international organizations and funds, such as: Ukraine-EU, Ukraine-NATO, International European Innovational Scientific and Technical Program “EUREKA”, IAEA, US Civilian Research and Development Foundation for Former Soviet Union countries (FSU), European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), etc. KPI is leading in preparation of the engineers for nuclear and thermal power plants in Ukraine. Its Heat Power Engineering Faculty includes two Departments to meet the challenge: the Department of Nuclear Power Plants and of Engineering Thermophysics and the Department of Heat-and-Power Engineering Units of Thermal and Nuclear Power Plants. The students learn such courses of Nuclear Engineering program as: Nuclear Power Unit Regulation; Erection, Maintenance, and Adjustment of Nuclear Power Units; Neutron-Physical Simulation of Reactors; NPP Reliability and Safety; Risk Management. Program of Engineering Thermophysics includes the following courses: Numerical Simulation of Thermal and Hydrodynamic Processes; Investigation of Alternative Energy Sources; Optimization of Power Equipment Operation, etc.

Since human error dominates the probability of failures of still-existing human-requiring systems (as the Monju reactor), the human-machine interface needs to be improved. Several rationales may lead to the conclusion that “humans” should limit themselves to monitor the “machine”. For example, this is the trend in the aviation industry: newest aircrafts are designed to be able to return to a safe state by the use of control systems, which do not need human intervention. Thus, the dilemma whether we really need operators (for example in the nuclear industry) might arise. However, social-technical approaches in recent human error analyses are pointing out the so-called “organizational errors” and the importance of a human-machine interface harmonization. Typically plant’s operators are a “redundant” safety system with a much lower reliability (than the machine): organizational factors and harmonization requirements suggest designing the human-machine interface in a way that allows improvement of operator’s reliability. In addition, taxonomy studies of accident databases have also proved that operators’ training should promote processes of decision-making. This is accomplished in the latest trends of PSA technology by introducing the concept of a “Safety Monitor” that is a computer-based tool that uses a level 1 PSA model of the plant. Operators and maintenance schedulers of the Monju FBR will be able to perform real-time estimations of the plant risk level. The main benefits are risk awareness and improvements in decision-making by operators. Also scheduled maintenance can be approached in a more rational (safe and economic) way.