Citation

Haas PM, Bott TF. Reliab. Eng. 1982; 3(1): 59-72.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1982, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0143-8174(82)90022-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The need for a quantitative data base on the reliability of nuclear power plant operators has long been recognised by human factors and reliability analysts, and the great need for further assessment of operator performance under accident conditions has been dramatically emphasised by the incident at Three Mile Island-2. In the US, an effort has been under way for a number of years to develop a design standard to define when required manual operator action can be accepted as part of a nuclear plant design basis. Insufficient data are available to provide quantitative guidelines for the standard.

To provide the necessary data base to support such standards and the necessary quantitative assessment of operator reliability, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sponsoring a study at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop the data base. A preliminary assessment, completed in April 1979, concluded that sufficient data from US operating experience did not exist to provide an adequate data base. A programme of research using full-scope nuclear plant simulators and results that are correlated to field data was suggested. That programme was recently initiated. This paper reviews the approach, results and conclusions of the preliminary assessment and summarises the planned research programme of simulator studies.