An interface redesign for the feed-water system of the advanced boiling water reactor in a nuclear power plant in Taiwan

Abstract

A well-designed human-computer interface for the visual display unit in the control room of a complex environment can enhance operator efficiency and, thus, environmental safety. In fact, a cognitive gap often exists between an interface designer and an interface user. Therefore, the issue of the cognitive gap of interface design needs more improvement and investigation. This is an empirical study that presents the application of an ecological interface design (EID) using three cases and demonstrates that an EID framework can support operators in various complex situations. Specifically, it analyzes different levels of automation and emergency condition response at the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant in Taiwan. A simulated feed-water system was developed involving two interface styles. This study uses the NASA Task Load Index to objectively evaluate the mental workload of the human operators and the Situation Awareness Rating Technique to subjectively assess operator understanding and response, and is a pilot study investigating EID display format use at nuclear power plants in Taiwan. Results suggest the EID-based interface has a remarkable advantage over the original interface in supporting operator performance in the areas of response time and accuracy rate under both normal and emergency situations and provide supporting evidence that an EID-based interface can effectively enhance monitoring tasks in a complex environment.Keyword: human computer interface; interface design; ecological interface design; nuclear power plant IntroductionSince the early 1990s, there have been extensive applications of computers and digital technology in the control rooms of nuclear power plants [1]. In a control room, an operator's task is to monitor the system states, keep the plant under control, and ensure proper system performance throughout the operation [2]. Given that a nuclear accident is intolerable and unaffordable, plant-related issues have drawn increasing attention. Numerous studies have pointed out that a well-designed human-computer interface can enhance human performance and decrease the probability of human error [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Such an interface can help operators analyze system states with higher accuracy and agility [9].The human-computer interface of the visual display unit (VDU) plays an important role in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) since it is the primary resource for operators to access critical information about plant operations [10]. To ensure plant safety, a series of human factor guidelines (e.g., [11,12]) have been developed and

An optimal range of information quantity on computer-based procedure interface design in the advanced main control room

“…A welldesigned human-computer interface can enhance human performance and decrease the probability of human error [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Logically, a good human-computer interface design can assist operators to understand system states with higher accuracy and agility [14,15]. Hence, several studies have been developed to evaluate different formats of the CBP interface with an aim to improve the performance of the operators.…”