Development and evaluation of a monitoring-aid system for a nuclear power plant in control room system manipulation

Background: In an advanced nuclear power plant (NPP), the operators are responsible for monitoring a massive number of alarm parameters.

Objective: To assist the operators, a monitoring-aid system (MAS), that applies four quality control chart methods, was proposed and evaluated.

Methods: Two types of MAS, namely, text and graph marks, were proposed and compared with the original display. To validate the proposed MAS, 17 professional engineers and operators were invited to join an experiment. Two different system states, normal and abnormal, were simulated. The operators were asked to manipulate the system, monitor the critical parameters, search for operational procedures, and deal with other secondary tasks. The primary and secondary task performance and heart rate were measured. After each task was conducted, three subjective rating questionnaires, namely, mental workload, situation awareness, and preference ratings, were implemented for the proposed MAS and the original system.

Results: With the assistance of the MAS, the alarm detection rate, secondary task performance, and subjective mental workload demonstrate significant improvements. The proposed MAS helps the operators monitor critical parameters.

Conclusions: Therefore, the MAS should be considered for implementation with the control panel to increase the safety of NPPs. Furthermore, the MAS could reduce the mental workload might decrease the health hazard of the operators.