Experience for plant monitoring design in Italian BWR NPP and future trends in man-machine interface

TMI accidental sequence and daily-gained operating experience on italian and abroad NPPs have affected in depth the approach to the design of information presentation to the Control Room staff. It has been cleared that most problems in plant operation arise from a poor and inadequate information system. The main lacks have been identified in the Control Room lay-out and information organization. This has pushed designers both to improve the Control Room environment and to better exploit the computer data processing and data presentation capabilities. The paper deals with the basic criteria for the design and the design review of a computerized system to be inserted in a hybrid Control Room in Italian 981 Mwe BWR-6 NPP, where the concepts outlined above were taken-up from the very beginning. The Control Room keeps conventional instrumentation arranged in a human-factor lay-out, according to post-TMI requirements, and adds a powerful computer-based information system for advanced alarm presentation and plant supervision during both normal and emergency conditions with high data reliability. Colour videounits and operating panels are functionally integrated to create powerful operator work-stations. Emphasis is mostly given on the revision work for video-unit displays and Man-System Communication carried out in cooperation with Halden Reactor Project human factor and plant operation experts. The work peculiarity has been a strong care on the integration between conventional and computerized information presentation, with particular regard to common information and code consistency. (author)