Human factors approach for evaluation and redesign of human–system interfaces of a nuclear power plant simulator
Section snippets
Digital interface design for nuclear power plants
Nuclear power plant (NPP) control room operators observe and manipulate an extremely complex system. In the past, this required walking along a large control panel, taking readings from gauges and adjusting knobs and levers. Many of today’s control rooms have been upgraded such that these control panels have been replaced or augmented with visual display units (VDUs). Unlike the old analog control rooms, in the new “advanced” interfaces all operators can access almost all the information about
Research setting
The simulator in which this study had been carried out simulates in an advanced (digital) control room nuclear power plant physical processes that are similar to the ANGRA I Brazilian first constructed nuclear power plant. The construction of ANGRA I started in 1972, the first criticality (the first fission reaction in the reactor core) occurred in 1982, and the plant commercial operation started in 1985. Since then, it has generated 40 million MWh of electric energy. After the solution of some
Materials and methods
In this research, we use LABIHS to investigate the nature of operator–system interaction during abnormal events in order to contribute to operational safety and efficiency through enhanced decision support system design. LABIHS consists of an advanced control room, an experimenter’s gallery room and other auxiliary rooms. The advanced control room consists of nuclear reactor simulator software, graphical user interface design software, a hardware/software platform to run and provide the
Graphic design evaluation
Fig. 6 shows a typical control screen for one subsystem of the plant, in this case, the Chemical and Volume Control System (CVCS). Multiple objects with bright, contrasting colors compete for the operator’s attention on the cluttered screen. In many places in the interface, red is associated with a state of alarm or failure. However, this association is undermined by the red color of some valves, pumps, and indicators which are operating normally (red means valve closed; the same color pattern
Recommendations for a new HSI prototype
The redesigned interface is based on the deficiencies noted in the previous section. They include improved aesthetics and mock-up designs of new functionality. While we have not coded the components into the simulator software, we do not expect significant compatibility problems. The components consist of borders, text boxes and colors – all of which are supported by the simulator’s graphics builder software. The component functionality is also expected to be compatible, as it largely mimics
Conclusions
The human factors/ergonomics requirements for complex industrial system design, evaluation and validation should be applied in the design process in which the system is produced, and in the system itself. In this research we investigate a part of the produced system (the human system interface – HSI) in order to validate the design solutions taken during the design phase. The methodology used was based on field studies and observations of the operators’ performance in the LABIHS simulators.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of National Advice of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) and CAPES/FIPSE. The research was performed at Instrumentation and Human Reliability Division of the Nuclear Engineering Institute, Brazil (DICH/IEN).
References (30)
- et al.
Safety implications of some cultural and cognitive issues in nuclear power plant operation
Applied Ergonomics
(2006) - et al.
Human factors in process control systems: the design of human–machine interfaces
Safety Science
(2006) - ANSI/ANS 58.8, Time Response Design Criteria for Safety-Related Operator Actions, US, American Nuclear Society,...
Ironies of Automation
- et al.
A cognitive approach to safe violations
Cognitive Technology Work
(2003) Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems
Human Factors
(1995)- S. Guerlain, P. Bullemer, Critiquing team procedure execution, in: Proceedings of the IEA/HFES 2000 Congress,...
Navigating software systems
- et al.
On human factors
An incremental objective achievement model in computerized procedure execution
Reliability Engineering and System Safety
Cited by (88)
Instrumentation and control systems design for nuclear power plant: An interview study with industry practitioners
2021, Nuclear Engineering and TechnologyMulti-source information fusion to assess control room operator performance
2020, Reliability Engineering and System SafetyCognitive human modeling in collaborative robotics
2020, Procedia ManufacturingDYSCO Vis.: DYnamic Self-Correction for Obstructed Visualizations
2023, Conference Proceedings - IEEE SOUTHEASTCON
- 1
Senior Member, IEEE.