scholarly journals Small Modular Reactor Human-System Interface and Control Room Layout Design

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 516-520
Author(s):  
Kevin LaFerriere ◽  
Jessica Stevens ◽  
Ryan Flamand NuScale
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Control Room ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Human System ◽  
Small Modular Reactor ◽  
Room Design ◽  
Safety Features ◽  
And Control

The NuScale Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is premised on well-established nuclear technology principles with a focus on integration of components, simplification or elimination of systems, automation, and use of passive safety features. Traditional nuclear power plants have in some cases operated up to four modules from a single control room. Due to the unique nontraditional operating characteristics of this technology a state-of-the art control room design was needed to ensure proper staffing totals for monitoring and control of multiple modules (twelve) from a single control room. To accomplish this, the human system interface and control room layout must translate the functional and task requirements needed for safe operation of the plant into the detailed design of workstations, alarms, controls, navigation, and other needs of the control room operations staff.

Innovative Design for Control Rooms

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hessler ◽  
Tobias Scharf
Keyword(s):  
Situation Awareness ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Control Room ◽  
Process Industries ◽  
Monitoring And Control System ◽  
Human Machine Interfaces ◽  
Room Design ◽  
Operator Interface

Screen-based human-machine interfaces, having been standard for many years in most process industries, are now also well acknowledged in the main control room of nuclear power plants. Being a standard feature of digital I&C systems, they offer significant benefits and interesting options for control room design, but also constitute challenges for the designer. Attractive opportunities for the designer and operator are for example the minimization of equipment, compared to design of hardwired panels, the reduction of cabling and cable separation issues, the flexibility and increased possibility for customization to specific utilities and operator needs. However, this flexibility brings also new challenges to the design, for new builds as well as for plant modernization projects, such as ensuring overall situation awareness of the operator, in spite the intrinsically serial character of information presentation, and the need to integrate different, even diverse digital human-machine interfaces of the safety and non-safety I&C systems. The reference concept of AREVA NP for all projects involving control room design relies on an overall I&C architecture, based on the TELEPERM XS for safety I&C systems, and Siemens SPPA T2000. SPPA T2000’s OM690 screen-based monitoring and control system is used as the integrated main operator interface, supporting plant operation in all plant states. Additionally control boards are used to implement a separate safety panel satisfying nuclear safety qualification requirements. These components are used to tailor the design of main control room, remote shut-down stations and local control stations, in accordance with licensing requirements, utility expectations and operating staff needs.

scholarly journals IEEE Human Factors Standards for Nuclear Facilities: The Development Process, Available Standards, Current Activities, and the Future

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 587-591
Author(s):  
David R Desaulniers ◽  
Stephen Fleger
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
And Control

Since 1980 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has supported development of human factors (HF) standards. Within IEEE, Subcommittee 5 (SC5) of the Nuclear Power Engineering Committee develops and maintains HF standards applicable to nuclear facilities. These standards are structured in a hierarchical fashion. The top-level standard (IEEE Std. 1023) defines the HF tasks required to support the integration of human performance into the design process. Five lower tier documents (IEEE Std. 845, 1082, 1289, 1786 and 1707) expand upon the upper tier standard. Presently, two new HF standards projects are underway; one to provide HF guidance for the validation of the system interface design and integrated systems operation and another for designing and developing computer-based displays for monitoring and control of nuclear facilities. SC5 is also involved in outreach activities, including sponsorship of a series of conferences on human factors and nuclear power plants.

Quantitative and Qualitative Comparison of Light Water and Advanced Small Modular Reactors

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatih Aydogan ◽  
Geoffrey Black ◽  
Meredith A. Taylor Black ◽  
David Solan
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Passive Safety ◽  
Qualitative Comparison ◽  
Light Water ◽  
Small Modular Reactor ◽  
Safety Features ◽  
Physical Challenges ◽  
Integral Reactor

In recent years, several small modular reactor (SMR) designs have been developed. These nuclear power plants (NPPs) not only offer a small power size (less than 300 MWe), a reduced spatial footprint, and modularized compact designs fabricated in factories and transported to the intended sites, but also passive safety features. Some light water (LW)-SMRs have already been granted by Department of Energy: NuScale and mPower. New LW-SMRs are mainly inspired by the early LW-SMRs (such as process-inherent ultimate safety (PIUS), international reactor innovative and secure (IRIS), and safe integral reactor (SIR)). LW-SMRs employ significantly fewer components to decrease costs and increase simplicity of design. However, new physical challenges have appeared with these changes. At the same time, advanced SMR (ADV-SMR) designs (such as PBMR, MHR Antares, Prism, 4S, and Hyperion) are being developed that have improved passive safety and other features. This paper quantitatively and qualitatively compares most of the LW- and ADV-SMRs with respect to reactors, nuclear fuel, containment, reactor coolant systems, refueling, and emergency coolant systems. Economic and financing evaluations are also included in the paper. The detailed comparisons in this paper elucidate that one reactor is not superior to the others analyzed in this study, as each reactor is designed to meet different needs.

A Development of Human-System Interaction in Digital NPPs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiachuan Lu ◽  
Longtao Liao ◽  
Bo Feng ◽  
Yifen Chen ◽  
Junwei Hao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Operating Experience ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Human System ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Instrument Control ◽  
Design Interfaces ◽  
And Control

Now Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) design is moving toward being highly dependent on digital computers in many complex systems, especially microprocessors. As a medium between operators and NPPs for exchange and interaction which ultimate operational decisions still rely on, the Human-System Interaction has been widely concerned and become one of the focuses in NPPs design. So in order to take full advantage of operating experience, human cognitive processing abilities, and progressive technologies, it is critical to plan, design, implement, operate, and maintain a reliable HSIs. The project, funded by the Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC), designs and develops a set of typical and comparatively complete technical solution of Human-System Interaction based on instrumentation and control system in actual NPP. To take advantage of the design process and modules as well as templates of this technical solution provided by this project, which take HFE into account, we can achieve the realistic simulation of Human-System Interaction for digital NPPs, making the use of iFIX software, and the Human-System Interaction system can be used to design interfaces for different kinds of NPPs. In this paper, the realization of human-system interaction will be introduced, and the current research status and main challenges of Human-System Interaction are included. And at this stage we have made the processes of the cross-platform data acquisition and monitoring, processing and display of small instrument control systems come true.

A Nuclear Safety Basis for Assigning Priorities to Human Engineering Concerns at Nuclear Power Plants

1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-183
Author(s):  
Edward J. Sheehy
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Safety ◽  
Human Engineering ◽  
Control Room ◽  
Current State ◽  
Operator Interface ◽  
Safety Features ◽  
Actual Control

At this point in the integration of human factors into the nuclear power industry an important issue is how are the various discrepancies between the post Three Mile Island operator interface guidelines and the actual control room configuration to be assigned priorities for resolution? While it is generally agreed that safety-related discrepancies should receive first priority, it is not at all clear just what “safety-related” means when considered in an operational sense. This paper describes the current state of evolving standard definitions for hardware oriented safety features. It discusses how these definitions could be expanded to include operationally related considerations and explores some benefits which would ensue. These include (1) establishing a nuclear safety basis which can be used in establishing priorities for resolution of human engineering concerns, and (2) obtaining legal recognition of operational concerns in general in the design and licensing arenas.

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