Human factors in the Canadian nuclear industry-application and research

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D. Beattie
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Nuclear Industry

The Interpretation of Human Factors Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plant Control Room Reviews

1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
Michael E. Maddox
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Design Criteria ◽  
Control Room ◽  
Design Standards ◽  
Room Design ◽  
Power Plant Control ◽  
The Military

As a result of the Three Mile Island-Unit 2 (TMI) accident and subsequent investigations, all U.S. nuclear utilities are being required to review the control rooms in their nuclear generating plants for human factors design adequacy. Before TMI, human factors considerations were not an integral part of the design process in the nuclear industry. The utilities were not well equipped to handle the requirement for control room design reviews (CRDR), so, in an attempt to provide useable guidance for CRDR's, the NRC issued several documents that were based on military design standards and commonly-used equipment design guides. A fundamental problem with the guidance issued by the NRC and others is that much of the design guidance is not directly applicable to a review and backfit process such as the CRDR. This paper presents a description of the ongoing process of applying human factors design criteria from the military and aerospace arena to the review and backfit activities in the nuclear utility industry. This process has, and is, taking place in a broad-based utility working group to which the author acts as a consultant. The work includes a large educational segment in which techniques, such as task analysis, are made explicity applicable to the CRDR. So far, this activity has resulted in four guidelines that have been reviewed by the nuclear utilities.

scholarly journals Enabling Business-Driven Innovation Through Human Factors Engineering In Nuclear Power Plants

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1790-1794
Author(s):  
Casey R. Kovesdi ◽  
Katya Le Blanc
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Human Factors Engineering ◽  
The People ◽  
Industry Needs

For existing United States nuclear power plant fleet to remain economically viable, the nuclear industry needs to fundamentally change the way in which these plants are operated, maintained, and supported. A digital transformation is a key strategy to address this challenge. Though, guidance in this area is a continued effort. One framework to support innovation in the nuclear industry has taken a broader perspective by focusing on how technology can be used to meet specific business needs and work for the people and processes at hand. This work discusses the role and value of human factors engineering within this nuclear innovation framework. Human factors methods are presented here regarding how they address the phases of nuclear innovation. This work seeks to describe how human factors can be applied in nuclear innovation by strengthening the alignment of technology, people, processes, and regulations such that the needs of the business is addressed.

Human Factor Approaches for the Enhancement of Nuclear Control Rooms

1981 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
Steven M. Pine
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Human Engineering ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Nuclear Control ◽  
Control Rooms ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Display Systems

The accident at Three Mile Island (TMI) has underscored the need for human factors review and analysis of Nuclear Control Rooms. Virtually every study of the TMI debacle has come to the conclusion that one of the major contributors of the accident was poor human engineering. In recognition of this fact, the nuclear industry, through its research institutes, has initiated a series of research programs designed to provide individual utilities with guidelines on how to apply human factors principles and criteria to improve the safety and performance of their nuclear facilities. The present paper reports on one of the major studies being undertaken by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the area. The objective of this research project is to identify and prioritize the existing Human Engineering Discrepancies (HEDs) in nuclear control rooms and to develop retrofits for correcting these HEDs that can be implemented during normal plant operation or during planned outages. Data was collected during one week visits to five power plants. Structured interviews, checklists, task analyses, surveys (noise, light, etc.) and procedural walk-throughs/talk-throughs were employed to assess the design and layout of the control rooms. In depth analyses of these data led to the identification of numerous HEDs. A prioritization scheme was developed to determine the relative seriousness of these HEDs and to rank alternative retrofit solutions in terms of cost and feasibility. The results revealed fairly wide variance in the extent to which control rooms violate human factors principles. The most frequent areas in which violations were found are labeling, alarm/display systems, functional grouping, design conventions, and anthropometric limits. Numerous HEDs along with alternative retrofits are shown and discussed. Emphasis is given to cost and engineering consideration in selecting appropriate backfits.

Three Mile Island—A Year & a Half Later

1980 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-285
Author(s):  
Donald E. Parr
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Human Error ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Industry Planning ◽  
The Military

Following last year's Three Mile Island (TMI) Accident, there remains much concern about what is being done to prevent future incidents. With obvious emphasis on the major role played by human error, the human factors community, some members of the nuclear industry, and even the general public, saw possible implications for human factors applications in the nuclear power industry. What was needed was a rational definition of possible human performance contributions to the accident, a carefully thoughtout plan for both short and long term improvements, and then everyone pitching in to help make an already safe and efficient industry even better. A unique opportunity existed to emphasize human factors contributions to system performance while taking advantage of many applicable “lessons learned” in aerospace and the military. What occurred over the eighteen months since TMI was a mixture of confused responses rivaling Abbott& Costello's famed “Who's on first?!” routine. Human factors specialists, snake oil salesmen, and many inexperienced but eager individuals and companies rushed headlong into the nuclear age with threats, promises, and simple solutions to “save the industry.” However, even before TMI, some useful activities were underway and others have been planned and pursued since. This paper provides an overall summary of human factors related activities including industry planning, active contract activities, studies, research, and a comprehensive bibliography.

scholarly journals Human Reliability Analysis for Verification and Validation of New Designs

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 2170-2174
Author(s):  
Ronald Laurids Boring
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Reliability Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Internal Quality ◽  
Human Reliability ◽  
Human Reliability Analysis ◽  
Performance Shaping Factors ◽  
System Interfaces

As the commercial nuclear industry prepares to extend the life of existing power reactors and build new reactors, it becomes necessary to verify and validate the human-system interfaces found in the main control rooms and elsewhere at the plants. Verification has consisted of comparison of the system to human factors standards. Validation has consisted of operator-in-the-loop studies to identify potential shortcomings in the system design and establish the safety of operations of the system. The empirical studies in support of validation have typically been led by human factors experts, who treat the validation exercise as a type of detailed usability study to meet regulatory and internal quality standards. Human reliability analysis (HRA) has not held a prominent role in validation. In this paper, we explore the role of HRA to augment human factors studies. It is suggested that HRA can serve as an important driver in the design of validation studies by identifying those critical performance shaping factors known to lead to decreased operator reliability. Additionally, HRA can support verification by serving as a standard checklist against which to base expected operator performance.

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