FINDINGS FROM AN OPERATOR-IN-THE-LOOP STUDY ON SYSTEM OVERVIEW DISPLAYS IN A MODERNIZED NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

摘要

The second Operator Study of System Overviews (OSSO-2) was conducted with a three-person reactoroperator crew in the Human Systems Simulation Laboratory (HSSL) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) inAugust, 2017. The study supported control room modernization at a nuclear power plant and featured abenchmark comparison of three variants of a turbine control system (TCS): the existing analog TCS, aproposed standalone digital TCS with two displays, and the digital TCS with the addition of a third displaydepicting a system overview screen. TCS prototypes were developed at INL to allow evaluation of operatorperformance and preferences during realistic turbine scenarios in the full-scope simulator. The study revealedthat completion of turbine startup was several minutes faster with the digital TCS variants than with theconventional analog TCS. Eye tracking revealed visual fixations were more widely distributed in the overviewvs. standalone TCS condition, suggesting the overview screen may have cued reactor operators to verify valuesacross the boards. Reviewing key plant parameters showed smoother transitions during load following for thedigital vs. analog TCS. The study provides evidence that the new digital TCS could be used successfully byoperators without extensive training or rewriting of the operating procedures, suggesting high usability for thedigital TCS design. Further advantages were realized through the addition of the system overview screen toprovide crews with at-a-glance indicators of key turbine parameters.