Use of Panel Enhancements as Operator Aids in Nuclear Power Plant Control Rooms

Topical panel enhancement techniques were designed and implemented for one nuclear power plant control room. Panel enhancements designed and implemented effectively can be good operator aids for the searching and identifying of plant instrumentation, and in processing of information. This paper discusses the purpose for providing operator aids through topical panel enhancements, and the constraints and methodology used in designing and implementing three panel enhancement techniques.

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Survey and Assessment of Nuclear Power Plant Control Room Operability

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138002400172 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 267-270

Author(s):

Clifford C. Baker ◽

Robin West ◽

Kenneth M. Mallory

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Data Collection ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Human Engineering ◽

Control Room ◽

Design Problems ◽

Power Plant Control ◽

Control Rooms ◽

Plant Control

As part of an effort to develop human engineerging guidelines and a methodology for the evaluation of nuclear power plant control room operability, the Essex Corporation conducted T & E (test and evaluation) reviews of a wide sample of nuclear power plant control rooms. The objectives of these design reviews were: 1) selection, application, and development of human engineering evaluation guidelines applicable to the nuclear power industry; 2) selection and development of data collection and analysis procedures; and 3) identification of recurrent human engineering design problems in the control rooms of currently operating nuclear power plants. The present paper discusses the approach taken and the findings in item three above. Thirteen control rooms were visited, and guidelines and data collection methods under various degrees of development were applied. Following control room visits, data were analyzed according to usability, number of incidences of similar or identical operability design problems, criticality of problems with respect to both public and plant safety, and subjective assessment of operational affects due to human engineering problems in design. Results to date show that the following areas have recurrent operability design problems: layout of controls and displays according to either operational or functional use; coding of information for visual and auditory presentation; job performance aid and procedures design; communications; environmental factors such as ambient noise; violations in control and display conventions employed; use of conventions which violate population stereotypes; and failure to design within anthropometric constraints. Further work is being conducted by Essex Corporation to identify critical human engineering deficiencies in control room design and to select adequate yet cost-effective and corrective backfits.

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Procedures for Human Engineering Evaluation of Nuclear Power Plant Control Rooms

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138002400173 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 271-275

Author(s):

Kenneth M. Mailory ◽

Clifford C. Baker ◽

Robin K. West

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Human Engineering ◽

Control Room ◽

Room Design ◽

Engineering Problems ◽

Power Plant Control ◽

Control Rooms ◽

Plant Control

Few human engineering standards or criteria for the design of nuclear power plant control rooms existed prior to the accident at Three Mile Island — Unit 2. For the most part control room design was dictated by electrical criteria, costs, and, most importantly, by precedent evolved from fossil fuel plant experience. Since the TMI-2 accident, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has undertaken an ambitious program to develop control room design and operational guidelines to be used by utilities in evaluating the human engineering fitness of control rooms and in identifying human engineering problems requiring backfit. The following paper reviews the method used to develop control room guidelines, the process suggested to the utilities for performing control room evaluations, and sources for and the content of guidelines. As reported in the paper, evaluation guidelines evolved from a basic set of military standards and checklists through a series of on-site control room reviews. The methods used in these reviews involve surveys, checklists, and videotaped walk-throughs of emergency procedures. The final product is a Guidebook containing: (a) procedures for scheduling, planning, administration, and staffing of human engineering reviews; (b) the evaluation procedures to be used, including guidelines, human engineering data, references, and methods; (c) a trade-off process for sorting out problems needing immediate vs. more remote attention; and (d) suggestions for backfits for the human engineering problems most widespread in the industry.

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Task Analysis of Nuclear Power Plant Control Room Crews Data Collection Approach and Methodology

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193128202600719 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 26 (7) ◽

pp. 668-668

Author(s):

Donald C. Burgy ◽

William J. Newell ◽

Harold P. van Cott

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Data Collection ◽

Task Analysis ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Control Room ◽

Power Plant Control ◽

Control Rooms ◽

Data Collection Approach ◽

Plant Control

This paper describes the data collection approach and methodology used to conduct a task analysis of nuclear power plant control room crews. The objective of the research project, funded by the NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, is to provide task data for evaluating six areas: (1) Human engineering designs of new control rooms and retrofitting of current control rooms, (2) The numbers and types of control room operators required with requisite skills and knowledges, (3) Operator qualification and training requirements, (4) Normal, off-normal, and emergency operating procedures, (5) Job performance aids, and (6) Communications. The task analysis methodology used in this project is discussed and compared to traditional task analysis and job analysis methods. A data collection approach is described which focusses on a generic structural framework for assembling the multitude of task data that will be observed. Control room crew task data is observed and recorded within the context of an “operating sequence.” The data collection will be conducted at eight power plant sites by teams comprised of human factors and operations personnel. Plants were sampled according to NSSS vendor, vintage, simulator availability, architect-engineer, and control room configuration. The results of the data collection effort will be compiled in a computerized task data base. Preliminary discussion of illustrative examples to demonstrate suitability for data analysis will be presented.

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Human Factors Considerations for Implementation of A “Green Board” Concept in an Existing “Red/Green” Power Plant Control Room

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138102500105 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 14-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

P. D. Osborne ◽

H. F. Barsam ◽

D. C. Burgy

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Human Factors ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Normal Operation ◽

Control Room ◽

Power Plant Control ◽

Control Rooms ◽

The Impact ◽

Plant Control

Various human factors issues have been raised in recent years concerning the operability of nuclear power plant control rooms. The plethora of status indicator lights which must be monitored effectively has prompted the development of alternative control board design layouts to increase ease of operation. A study was conducted to address the feasibility of implementing the “green board” concept in a nuclear power plant control room which has an existing “red/green” board. The research included a comparison of current control room display and design concepts as well as an identification of the impact that the “green board” modification could have upon various aspects of daily plant operation. Recommendations based on the information gathered during the study specify that existing control rooms should be modified to incorporate the “green board” concept for more effective operation. In addition, a recommendation was made that further research should be conducted to investigate the following parameters: (1) detection time, (2) the effects of stress, training and different approaches to computerizing status indicators on operability; and (3) CRT color-coding compatability during off-normal operation.

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