Evaluation of a Rankine Cycle Display for Nuclear Power Plant Monitoring and Diagnosis

Abstract

Traditionally, nuclear power plant control rooms have been designed according to a single-sensor single-indicator (SSSI) philosophy. Various researchers have proposed new display design principles, such as the mapping principle, which tries to overcome the limitations associated with the traditional approach by displaying higher-order functional information directly to operators. The mapping principle is exemplified by the Rankine cycle display, which is an overview display for monitoring and diagnosing the state of nuclear power plants. In this paper we present the results of the first formal evaluation of the Rankine display, comparing it with an SSSI display and a variation of the SSSI that also contains a pressure-temperature graph. The performance of undergraduate and graduate students in mechanical and nuclear engineering is compared with that of licensed nuclear power plant operators. Participants in each of these three groups were required to detect and diagnose abnormalities in dynamic scenarios using one of the three display. The results indicate that the nuclear power plant operators outperformed the other two groups and that the Rankine cycle display led to more accurate detection and diagnosis performance than did either of the other two displays. Finally, we discuss some additional issues that must be addressed before one can recommend that the Rankine cycle display be implemented in commercial nuclear power plant control rooms.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abbott, L. S. (1982). Proceedings of workshop on cognitive modeling of nuclear power plant control room operators (NUREG/CR-3114). Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Beltracchi, L. (1987). A direct manipulation interface for water-based Rankine cycle heat engines. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, SMC-17, 478–187.

Beltracchi, L. (1989). Energy, mass, model-based displays, and memory recall. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 36, 1367–1382.

Beltracchi, L. (1991). Conceptual design of a computer-driven display for monitoring reactor coolant mass. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 38, 923–935.

Bennett, K. B. , & Flach, J. M. (1992). Graphical displays: Implications for divided attention, focused attention, and problem solving. Human Factors, 34, 513–533.

Broughton, T. G. , & Walsh, P. S. (1981). A real-time method for analyzing nuclear power plant transients. Nuclear Technology, 53, 217–225.

Goodstein, L. P. (1981). Discriminative display support for process operators. In J. Rasmussen & W. B. Rouse , (Eds.), Human detection and diagnosis of system failures (pp. 433–449. New York: Plenum.

Haugset, K. , Berg, ø. , Førdestrømmen, N. T. , Kvalem, J. , & Nelson, W. R. (1991). Integrated surveillance and control system (ISACS-1): The prototype of an advanced control room. In Balancing automation and human action in nuclear power plants (conference proceedings; pp. 209–221). Vienna, Austria: International Atomic Energy Agency.

Itoh, J. , Monta, K. , Sakuma, A. , & Makino, M. (1993). An ecological interface for intelligent man-machine systems design for BWR plants. In Proceedings of the Topical Meeting on Nuclear plant Instrumentation, Control and Man-Machine Interface Technologies (pp. 97–103). La Grange Park, IL: American Nuclear Society.

10.

Lindsay, R. W. (1990). A display to support knowledge-based behavior. In Proceedings of the ANS Topical Meeting on Advances in Human Factors Research on Man-Computer Interactions: Nuclear and Beyond (pp. 266–270). La Grange Park, IL: American Nuclear Society.

11.

Lindsay, R. W. , & Staffon, J. D. (1988). A model-based display system for the experimental breeder reactor-II. ANS Transactions, 57, 264–265.

12.

Moray, N. , Jones, B. J. , Rasmussen, J. , Lee, J. D. , Vicentet, K. J. , Brock, R. , & Djemil, T. (1993). A performance indicator of the effectiveness of human-machine interfaces for nuclear power plants (NUREG/CR-5977). Washington, DC: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

13.

Rasmussen, J. (1983). Skills, rules, and knowledge: Signals, signs, and symbols, and other distinctions in human performance models. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, SMC-13, 257–266.

14.

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1988). Safety evaluation report related to the restart of Rancho Seco Nuclear Generation Station, Unit 1, following the event of December 26, 1985 (NUREG/CR-1286, Suppl. 1). Washington, DC: Author.

15.

Vicente, K. J. (1992). Memory recall in a process control system: A measure of expertise and display effectiveness. Memory and Cognition, 20, 356–373.

16.

Vicente, K. J. , Christoffersen, K. , & Pereklita, A. (1995). Supporting operator problem solving through ecological interface design. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, SMC-25, 529–545.

17.

Vicente, K. J. , & Rasmussen, J. (1990). The ecology of human-machine system:: II. Mediating "direct perception" in complex work domains. Ecological Psychology, 2, 207–250.

18.

Vicente, K. J. , & Rasmussen, J. (1992). Ecological interface design: Theoretical foundations. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, SMC-22, 589–606.

19.

Wood, B. D. (1991). Applications of thermodynamics. (2nd ed.). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.

20.

Woods, D. D. (1991). The cognitive engineering of problem representations. In J. Alty & G. Weir , (Eds.), Human-computer interaction in complex systems (pp. 169–188. London: Academic.

21.

Woods, D. D. , Wise, J. A. , & Hanes, L. F. (1982). Evaluation of safety parameter display concepts (EPRI NP-2239). Palo Alto, CA: Electric Power Research Institute.