Human engineering considerations in the Man-Machine Interface System design for the AP600 plant

Summary form only given. The Man-Machine Interface System (M-MIS) for the AP600 will be implemented using digital computer technology. The AP600 M-MIS provides a plant-wide network for the distribution of real-time plant process data and the computational power to obtain synthesized results according to user needs. A design process that is based upon the cognitive systems engineering approach proposed by Rasmussen (Rasmussen, J., 1986; Hollnagel, E., and Woods, D.D., 1983) has been developed and put into place. The approach calls for a decomposition of plant equipment purposes in order to form a structure that is used for designing the organization and presentation of process data. The objective of the design process is to create an M-MIS design that meets the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission design certification requirements and meets the needs of the US utilities as specified in the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Advanced Light Water Reactor Passive Plant Utility Requirements Document. The result of the application of this M-MIS design process is a set of computerized workstations at appropriate locations in the plant that are tailored to support humans in performing the tasks required at these locations. >