A Nuclear Safety Basis for Assigning Priorities to Human Engineering Concerns at Nuclear Power Plants

Abstract

At this point in the integration of human factors into the nuclear power industry an important issue is how are the various discrepancies between the post Three Mile Island operator interface guidelines and the actual control room configuration to be assigned priorities for resolution? While it is generally agreed that safety-related discrepancies should receive first priority, it is not at all clear just what “safety-related” means when considered in an operational sense. This paper describes the current state of evolving standard definitions for hardware oriented safety features. It discusses how these definitions could be expanded to include operationally related considerations and explores some benefits which would ensue. These include (1) establishing a nuclear safety basis which can be used in establishing priorities for resolution of human engineering concerns, and (2) obtaining legal recognition of operational concerns in general in the design and licensing arenas.

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References

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