Information complexity and appropriate interface design in nuclear power plant control rooms

Evaluation of color in digital nuclear power plant control room displays.

The design of computerized procedure presentation for nuclear power plants

New methods of information presentation and interface design are changing the working conditions in the modern Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) control room. Symptom-oriented EOPs (SOPs) with their structures and practical application are described. The Computerized Symptom-oriented Operating Procedures (CSOP) is researched, which can help the operator analyze all the symptom signals of steam generator tubes rupture (SGTR) and provide the computerized procedures corresponding to the symptom signals. This paper analyzes the accident of SGTR; the accident management of SGTR is important in reactor safety because SGTR is one of the relatively high-frequency events in pressurized water reactors PWRs. The symptom signals of SGTR and the possible accidents corresponding to the symptom signals are analyzed. The homologous measures of symptoms are summarized. The disposal of SGTR adopts the method of based on symptoms. The programs are developed by VxWorks that is a real-time operating system. The debugging of programs is processed on simulator. The test results indicated that the programs can provide operating procedures according to the symptoms of accidents. After adopting the Computerized Emergency Operating Procedures, the labor intensity and mental burden of operators are lightened. Computerized Emergency Operating Procedures can enhance the reliability, safety and efficiency of Nuclear Power Plant.

Operator situational awareness in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) control rooms is quintessential in ensuring plant safe operation. Towards improving situational awareness, a novel framework of the EYE - Expert Supervisory System capable of visually monitoring human machine interfaces (HMI) in cyber physical system (CPS) is proposed with target application in NPP control room environment. EYE applied on HMI (EYE-on-HMI), conceptually offers an unique opportunity to reduce human-in-the-loop errors inherent in feedback control systems and improve overall safety. While assessing the feasibility of the proposed framework, we reflect on implementation challenges and review key enabling state-of-the-art technologies for EYE-on-HMI framework. EYE-on-HMI as a framework is envisioned to be portable to various industrial applications with prospective safety improvement to next generation of commercial applications with “driverless” operations.

Guidelines for computerized presentation of emergency operating procedures

The improvement of Human-Machine Interface (HMI) design for control rooms on nuclear power plants (NPP) has been accomplished world wide, especially after the TMI-2 accident. The design process and guidelines are standardized in IEC60964 and supplemental standards as international standard. However, technological update is required due to the increased use of computerized control and monitoring equipment and systems in control rooms on NPP in recent years. Standards are becoming more important for computerized control rooms because there is more freedom to design than conventional hardware based system. For computerized control rooms, standards for hardware and software of HMI systems should be also considered. Standards and guidelines for computerized control rooms on NPP have been developed recently in each body such as IEC, ISO, and IEEE etc. Therefore, reviewing these standards and guidelines related to control rooms design of NPP can be useful not only for revision of the international standards such as IEC60964, but also for users of the standards and guidelines. In this paper, we reviewed the international standards related to the design for control rooms, in the two aspects of HMI design and hardware and software design, considering the undergoing revision work and their application.

Ergonomic field studies in a nuclear power plant control room

Advanced pressurized water reactors are the main part of a new generation of nuclear power plant projects under development that provide cost-effective power production for various needs (Yemelyanov et al. 1982, Klimov 2002, Boyko et al. 2005, Baklushin 2011, Bays et al. 2019, Nuclear Technology Review 2019). The innovative technologies are aimed at improving the safety and reliability as well as at reducing the cost of NPPs. At the same time, improvements in design, technological and layout solutions are focused primarily on the reactor core. Assessments of the efficiency of these improvements are preceded by numerical simulations of the processes in the core, in particular heat generation and sink, with account for the difference between the study object and the standard version tested in operational practice. The authors of the article propose a method for calculating the temperature field in the core of a heterogeneous reactor (using the example of a pressurized water reactor), which makes it possible to quickly assess the level of temperature safety of various changes in the core and has the necessary speed for analyzing transients in real time. This method is based on the energy equation for an equivalent homogeneous core in the form of a heat equation that takes into account the main features of the simulated heterogeneous structure. The procedure for recovering the temperature field of a heterogeneous reactor uses the analytical relation obtained in this work for the heat sink function, taking into account inter-fuel element heat leakage losses. Calculations of temperature fields in the model of the PWR type reactor (The Westinghouse Pressurized Water Reactor Nuclear Plant 1984) were carried out in stationary and transient operating modes. The calculation results were compared with the results of CFD simulation. The area of competing use of the temperature field recovery method was indicated.

This study describes a modification of the technique for human error analysis in nuclear power plants (NPPs) which adopts advanced Man-Machine Interface (MMI) features based on computerized working environment, such as LCOs. Flat Panels. Large Wall Board, and computerized procedures. Firstly, the state of the art on human error analysis methods and efforts were briefly reviewed. Human error analysis method applied to NPP design has been THERP and ASEP mainly utilizing Swain`s HRA handbook, which has not been facilitated enough to put the varied characteristics of MMI into HRA process. The basic concepts on human errors and the system safety approach were revisited, and adopted the process of FMEA with the new definition of Error Segment (ESJ. A modified human error analysis process was suggested. Then, the suggested method was applied to the failure of manual pump actuation through LCD touch screen in loss of feed water event in order to verify the applicability of the proposed method in practices. The example showed that the method become more facilitated to consider the concerns of the introduction of advanced MMI devices, and to integrate human error analysis process not only into HRA/PRA but also into the MMI and interface design. Finally, the possible extensions and further efforts required to obtain the applicability of the suggested method were discussed.

Development of an EEG-based workload measurement method in nuclear power plants

In spite of the decreasing share of nuclear power all over the world, China resumed the approval of large-scale construction of nuclear power plants in 2012. However, influenced by the worldwide spreading anti-nuclear attitudes, people who live near nuclear power plants showed increasing concerns about nuclear risks. Consequently, the Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome of nuclear power plants should be evaluated prudently to support the healthy development of nuclear power in China. Based on the face-to-face survey data, this study estimates Chinese public willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid having nuclear power plants in the neighborhood. The respondents include both residents who currently live near and those who would live near nuclear power plants in the future. Considering the possible presence of the sample selection bias caused by protest responses, this paper constructs a two-step sample selection model with the protest responses and the double bounded dichotomous choice (DBDC) questions. Using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), we measure the effects of influencing factors of public WTP and study the decay of WTP with longer distances from nuclear power plants. The results suggest that most people are willing to pay higher electricity prices to avoid having nuclear power plants in the neighborhood. Comparing the WTP to avoid having nuclear power plants nearby with the current electricity price, we find that there is an increase of 56.7% and 69.1% of respondents’ WTP for a nuclear power plant located 80 km and 30 km, respectively.

Due to the increasing demand for energy in the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently reviewing permit applications for 26 new nuclear power reactors. However, the previous generation of U.S. civilian nuclear plant construction experienced significant cost and schedule overruns. Previous research identified “regulatory ratcheting” (continuous, retroactive change in nuclear plant regulations) as one of the primary causes of this poor performance. Regulatory ratcheting was enabled by the nuclear industry’s two-step permitting and licensing process for civilian power plant construction, which allowed society’s perception of the risks associated with nuclear plant operation to impact nuclear plant construction. How will public policy and societal risk perception affect the next generation of U.S. civilian nuclear plant construction? This question is investigated using a dynamic simulation model of the public policy and social feedback processes that impact U.S. nuclear plant con...

Recently Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) is becoming more important to the safety of nuclear power plant (NPP). As the reliability of the NPP equipments have been increased more higher, HRA should be developed in order to guarantee the better safety of NPP. By the collection of human performance about operators in main control room of NPP, especially in accident situation, it is very important to enhance the human reliability. This paper chooses Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) and Steam Generator Tube Rupture (SGTR) as the initiating events, and base on this, some loss of other equipment or system have been added. Then the process that the operators deal with the accidents has been recorded in the accident situation in order to get reasonable human performance data. After we analyzed all of these video by some tools such as eye tracking tool, some items have been found which are very important to the human reliability such as training level, operation task, human-machine interface, surrounding, team work, etc. According to the analysis of the human performance result, we have evaluated the computerized human machine interface. As a result, it also could be benefit to improve the design of NPP, specially the design of main control room.

Effect of user interface layout on the operators’ mental workload in emergency operating procedures in nuclear power plants

A REVIEW OF STUDIES ON OPERATOR'S INFORMATION SEARCHING BEHAVIOR FOR HUMAN FACTORS STUDIES IN NPP MCRS