Development of human performance measures for human factors validation in the advanced MCR of APR-1400

Abstract

Main control room (MCR) man-machine interface (MMI) design of advanced nuclear power plants (NPPs) such as APR (advanced power reactor)-1400 can be validated through performance-based tests to determine whether it acceptably supports safe operation of the plant. In this paper, plant performance, personnel task performance, situation awareness, workload, teamwork, and anthropometric/physiological factor are considered for the human performance evaluation. For the development of human performance measures, attention is paid to considerations and constraints such as the changed environment in an advanced MCR, needs for a practical and economic evaluation, and suitability of evaluation criteria. Measures generally used in various industries and empirically proven to be useful are adopted as the main measures with some modifications. In addition, complementary measures are developed to overcome some of the limitations associated with the main measures. The development of the measures is addressed based on theoretical and empirical background. Finally we discuss the way in which the measures can be effectively integrated. The HUPESS (HUman Performance Evaluation Support System) which is in development is also briefly introduced.