Johanna Oxstrand

HUMAN RELIABILITY ANALYSIS FOR CONTROL ROOM UPGRADES

This paper presents work in progress on a project to develop a process for integrating human reliability analysis (HRA) into the control room design process used in nuclear power plant modernization and upgrade projects. Human factors, human reliability analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, and design experts at a Swedish nuclear power plant were interviewed, resulting in six principles for the use of HRA in design. These principles are: (i) early implementation, (ii) tailored methods, (iii) scalable methods, (iv) better use of qualitative information, (v) HRA design criteria, and (vi) better HRA sensitivity to human-machine interface issues. Future efforts will center on adapting HRA techniques to meet these principles and implementing HRA as part of a plant upgrade process.

Is human reliability relevant to human factors

This paper presents a number of views from a panel discussion on the relationship between human reliability analysis (HRA) and human factors. HRA emerged concurrently with the field of human factors and now features a nearly fifty-year shared history. While built on human factors, HRA distinguished itself early on from human factors due to its emphasis on predicting human performance. While one of the major focus areas of human factors has been improving the design of novel systems to optimize human performance, HRA has largely focused on predicting human performance for as-built systems. Over time, as HRA became closely tied particularly to the nuclear energy industry, it increasingly became a field associated more with reliability engineering than human factors. Yet, the similarity to human factors has not abated, nor has the opportunity for the two fields to cooperate. Human factors research provides the empirical basis to support predicting human performance in HRA. Importantly, HRA continues to benefit human factors by providing: (1) a framework for modeling human performance, (2) an example of how a human factors discipline can be seamlessly integrated with an engineering field, and (3) insights on how predictive modeling may be used as a system design tool.

A Model of Operator Interaction with Field Procedures: Insights for Computer-Based Procedures

Paper-based procedures (PBPs) are used to manage human performance in the nuclear power industry both in the field, and in the main control room. Though PBPs are viewed as a necessary tool to guide operators through complex tasks, limitations in paper-based systems may increase operator workload and contribute to errors. Plans to upgrade aging plants with digital equipment and wireless technology may present an opportunity to enhance procedures by migrating them to computer-based systems. These computer-based procedures (CBPs) have the potential to enhance human performance by integrating plant status information and automating many tasks (e.g., place-keeping). CBPs have been explored for more than 30 years for use in the main control room; however their actual deployment in the US nuclear plants is yet to be realized. Currently, the Idaho National Laboratory and participants from the nuclear industry are collaborating on a research effort aimed at identifying requirements for CBPs used by field operators. This paper describes the first step in that effort: a qualitative study and the development of a Model of Procedure Usage.

HUMAN FACTORS AND THE NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE

Following the Three Mile Island incident and the Chernobyl accident, there was a general decline in public acceptance of nuclear power plants. Consequently, there was a heavy push to ensure the safety of existing plants coupled with a large-scale decline in the development of new plants. This situation has posed unique challenges to human factors within the nuclear industry. The emphasis of research came in the form of ensuring the safety of as-built systems. This approach clashed with broader human factors work, which used a variety of innovative approaches to design novel or incrementally improved interfaces. The situation is changing now. As current plants near the end of their operational life, there is an urgent need to develop new plants and modernize aging plants to sustain current energy production levels and, in many countries, to meet growing power demands. The resurgence of interest in nuclear energy has been called the “nuclear renaissance.” The challenge for human factors is now to go beyond as-built safety requirements and provide innovative interface concepts that maximize human performance in new plants. The purpose of this panel is to bring together established and new human factors professionals in nuclear energy to discuss the opportunities and challenges for research, practice, and regulation of this nuclear renaissance.

Automated work packages architecture: An initial set of human factors and instrumentation and controls requirements

The work management process in current fleets of national nuclear power plants is so highly dependent on large technical staffs and quality of work instruction, i.e., paper-based, that this puts nuclear energy at somewhat of a long-term economic disadvantage and increase the possibility of human errors. Technologies like mobile portable devices and computer-based procedures can play a key role in improving the plant work management process, thereby increasing productivity and decreasing cost. Automated work packages are a fundamentally an enabling technology for improving worker productivity and human performance in nuclear power plants work activities because virtually every plant work activity is accomplished using some form of a work package. As part of this year’s research effort, automated work packages architecture is identified and an initial set of requirements identified, that are essential and necessary for implementation of automated work packages in nuclear power plants.

Computer–Based Procedures for Nuclear Power Plant Field Workers Preliminary Results from Two Evaluation Studies

The Idaho National Laboratory and participants from the U.S. nuclear industry are collaborating on a research effort aimed to augment the existing guidance on computer-based procedure (CBP) design with specific guidance on how to design CBP user interfaces such that they support procedure execution in ways that exceed the capabilities of paper-based procedures (PBPs) without introducing new errors. Researchers are employing an iterative process where the human factors issues and interface design principles related to CBP usage are systematically addressed and evaluated in realistic settings. This paper describes the process of developing a CBP prototype and the two studies conducted to evaluate the prototype. The results indicate that CBPs may improve performance by reducing errors, but may also increase the time it takes to complete procedural tasks.

Living HRA: Building New Communities of Practice for Proactive Safety Management:

In order to improve human reliability assessment (HRA) methods, we need to understand the role of HRA in a safety assessment process as applied in the industry today. The traditional focus on HRA as provider of human error probability numbers for probabilistic risk assessment obscures the diversity of HRA users and uses that can be identified when HRA is analyzed in its organizational context. Once such an organizational perspective is adopted, opportunities for new communities of practice emerge, linking HRA with other human factors and safety-related activities (event review, training, design etc) into a continuous safety management / safety monitoring process. This paper presents results from an interview study at a nuclear power plant in Europe. It documents current practices, constraints and problems in the application of HRA. It also identifies opportunities for improved use of plant-specific operational information and makes suggestions on how other practitioners at the plant can capitalize on the results, knowledge and experience of HRA analysts. Implications for the development of second-generation HRA methods are discussed.

Quantifying the Contribution of Individual Display Features on Fixation Duration to Support Human-System Interface Design in Nuclear Power Plants

The integration of new digital instrumentation and control (I&C) technologies like advanced human-system interfaces in U.S. nuclear power plant main control rooms is important for addressing long-term aging and obsolescence of existing I&C. Nonetheless, attention should be made to ensure these technologies reflect state-of-the-art human factors engineering (HFE) principles. Often, there is conflicting guidance from one guideline to another, requiring the analyst to make a judgment call on addressing these ‘tradeoffs.’ The objective of this research was to inform the analyst of these tradeoffs through an empirical investigation of how certain display features that characterize common HFE guidelines concerning visual clutter and saliency influence information processing in a naturalistic context. By understanding the unique contribution of each display feature using a multilevel model, the HFE analyst should have an understanding of the interrelations of each feature with its impact on cognitive processes. Results and implications are discussed in this paper.

Design Guidance for Computer-Based Procedures for Field Workers

The paper-based procedures currently used for nearly all activities in the commercial nuclear power industry have a long history of ensuring safe operation of the plants. However, there is potential to greatly increase efficiency and safety by improving how the human interacts with the procedures, which can be achieved through the use of computer-based procedures (CBPs). A CBP system offers a vast variety of improvements, such as context driven job aids, integrated human performance tools and dynamic step presentation. As a step toward the goal of improving procedure use performance, the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program researchers, together with the nuclear industry, have been investigating the feasibility of replacing current paper-based procedures with CBPs. The main purpose of the CBP research for nuclear field workers conducted at the Idaho National Laboratory was to provide design guidance to the nuclear industry to be used by both utilities and vendors. After studying existing design guidance for CBP systems, the researchers concluded that the majority of the existing guidance is intended for control room CBP systems, and does not necessarily address the challenges of designing CBP systems for instructions carried out in the field. Further, the guidance is often presented on a high level, which leaves the designer to interpret what is meant by the guidance and how to specifically implement it. The authors developed a design guidance to provide guidance specifically tailored to instructions that are carried out in the field based.

Automated Work Packages Prototype: Initial Design, Development, and Evaluation. Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program

The goal of the Automated Work Packages (AWP) project is to demonstrate how to enhance work quality, cost management, and nuclear safety through the use of advanced technology. The work described in this report is part of the digital architecture for a highly automated plant project of the technical program plan for advanced instrumentation, information, and control (II&C) systems technologies. This report addresses the DOE Milestone M2LW-15IN0603112: Describe the outcomes of field evaluations/demonstrations of the AWP prototype system and plant surveillance and communication framework requirements at host utilities. A brief background to the need for AWP research is provided, then two human factors field evaluation studies are described. These studies focus on the user experience of conducting a task (in this case a preventive maintenance and a surveillance test) while using an AWP system. The remaining part of the report describes an II&C effort to provide real time status updates to the technician by wireless transfer of equipment indications and a dynamic user interface.