SAFECOM

Project summary

The adoption of advanced nuclear power plants (NPPs), e.g., highly automated conventional NPPs and small modular reactors (SMRs), greatly increases the level of automation in the management and control of the power production process. Lifetime extensions of existing NPPs will often involve upgrading analogue systems to digital ones, thus opening possibilities for increased automation in existing plants as well. Parallel to this development, digital process automation is becoming more intelligent and complex. From human and organizational factors (HOF) perspective, these changes pose two kinds of interrelated risks: First, with the introduction of more complex automation systems there is the risk of insufficient automation knowledge and skills, and second, with higher levels of automation, there is the risk of diminished understanding of the plant processes controlled by automation systems. Therefore, from the perspective of operator training and competence, a greater emphasis should be placed on understanding the requirements for the retention and development of automation skills and competencies to ensure the safety and security of nuclear energy production.

Our aim is three-fold: First, we aim to get a deeper understanding of operator expertise and tacit/procedural knowledge about process automation by using the Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) method to identify and specify information about operators’ cognitive tasks and skills. Second, we will apply a new prospective risk assessment method (Work Domain Analysis with Broken Nodes, WDA-BN) for the identification of potential human and organizational risks in the operation of current advanced highly digitalized and automated NPPs as well as not yet existing future NPPs, such as SMRs. Third, based on the above-mentioned analyses and in accordance with the Systematic Approach to Training (SAT), we will specify knowledge, skill and training requirements, learning objectives and evaluation standards for operator-automation interaction and automation error/failure management in advanced NPPs.

The research is conducted jointly by researchers from Finland and Sweden, and in close collaboration with end-user organizations from both countries. Through this, the project promotes existing competence in the HOF area in the Nordic countries and inducts young professionals into the nuclear domain by enabling them to do part of their dissertation research within the project. Also, representatives from other Nordic nuclear organizations will be involved by inviting them to expert interviews and the project final seminar.

Contact:
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Activity co-ordinator
Jari Laarni

Postal address
Tekniikantie 21, Espoo, FIN-02044 VTT

E-mail
Jari.Laarni@vtt.fi
Telephone (international format) +358 40 595 2313