Human Factors Engineering Insights and Guidance for Implementing Innovative Technologies from the Nuclear Innovation Workshop: A Summary Report

Abstract

We would like to thank our industry partners who attended this workshop. Without their participation, the workshop would have not been possible. To this end, we are particularly grateful for the effort and support Dustin Greenwood of NuScale, Patrick Kopfle of Dominion Energy, Jim Hill of Xcel Energy, and Asgeir Drøivoldsmo of the Institute for Energy Technology provided in developing presentations to share at the workshop. Indeed, these presentations were absolutely integral to the engagement and success of the workshop.

Enabling Business-Driven Innovation Through Human Factors Engineering In Nuclear Power Plants

“…The industry recognizes these barriers and is working towards different approaches to innovate. One recent approach that is being explored pertains to the Four Phased Framework for Nuclear Innovation (Kovesdi et al, 2019).…”

“…Utilities have focused on upgrades to nonsafety systems under which a different set of regulatory criteria is applied when compared to safety-systems. While there have certainly been success cases in performing plant modifications to these non-safety systems, the industry at large is still in need of having additional guidance for developing a clear roadmap to a full digital end state (Kovesdi et al, 2019). In many cases, the implementation of available enabling technologies has failed to leverage the complete benefits of the technology to meet the needs of the business.…”

“…Requirements gathering entails first identifying the drivers of the project. This involves understanding the problem, or challenge space, at hand (Kovesdi, et al, 2019). It is critical to collect a complete set of requirements from all intended user groups.…”

“…The U.S. nuclear industry has historically been riskadverse in making any significant NPP modifications (Joe & Remer, 2019;Kovesdi et al, 2019). A subset of factors that have been suggested to influence the risk perception of the nuclear industry comprise misperceived return on investment (ROI) of digital upgrades, level of difficulty in licensing and regulatory submittal, as well as an unclear direction in managing cyber security concerns for digital systems .…”

Exploring the Use of Cognitive Work Analysis in Developing a Nuclear Power Plant New-State Vision

“…However, changes in electricity market demands coupled with the adoption of emerging technologies in other electricity-generating industries has created an imminent need for the U.S. nuclear industry to identify and implement new strategies that will lower operating and maintenance costs (Joe & Remer, 2019). The U.S. nuclear industry must undergo a substantial transformation of the way in which the plants are operated, maintained, and supported (Kovesdi, St Germain, Le Blanc, & Primer, 2019). The U.S. nuclear industry must also have a clear and strategic vision of their transformative new state that focuses on ways in which technologies can be integrated to drive down costs while maintaining a strong safety record.…”