Design and Evaluation of an Abstract Auxiliary Display for Operating Procedures in Advanced NPP Control Rooms

Accident investigations have revealed that human errors are the most likely reasons of major accidents in the nuclear domain. As the nuclear power plant system become more computerized and automated, operators pay more attention to following the operating procedures, rather than why they are conducting a certain operation, or what results will the operation lead to. On the other hand, due to complexity of the nuclear system as well as accident scenario, operators are overwhelmed by detailed operating procedures and component parameters, thus may lose awareness of system status while conducting operations. This is very dangerous especially when emergency or unanticipated events occurs.