Design of an Integrated Operator Support System for Advanced NPP MCRs: Issues and Perspectives

A nuclear power plant (NPP) is operated by operators in a main control room (MCR). Usually, the operators in an MCR consist of three to five operators and the number of operators is different according to the plant type. The operators always monitor the plant status and manipulate the control devices when necessary. The MCR operators perform a supervisory role of information gathering, planning, and decision making, which are complex and mentally taxing activities. In safety-critical and complex systems such as NPPs, human error could be a serious cause of accidents because of complex interfaces, task-loads, lots of information, dynamic situations, and so on. In fact, after the TMI accident, human error in NPPs has been a considerable concern. In an analysis of the abstracts from 180 significant events reported to have occurred in the United States, it was found that 48 % of the incidents were attributable to human-factor failures [1]. There have been two approaches to prevent human error during MCR operations. The first approach is the provision of better training and education programs for operators. The second is to improve human machine interfaces (HMIs) with improved interfaces and operator support systems. Design of an Integrated Operator Support System for Advanced NPP MCRs: Issues and Perspectives