Guidelines for human-machine interface designs for the computerized main control rooms of nuclear power plants

The nuclear power plant is operated by carrying out the intensive monitoring of the plant facility in the main control room. For this reason, it is required that monitoring and operation should be efficiently made to the human-machine interface of a nuclear power plant main control room exactly. Research in the field of human factors and ergonomics have been carried out for the purpose to prevent erroneous operations and erroneous judgments of operators. Various contrivances have been adopted to human-machine interface designs to improve capability of monitoring and operability of plant facilities, such as introduction of importance classification of alarms and indicators. After that, by remarkable improvement of electronics technologies and cumulative operation experiences, computers have been adopted to human-machine interface designs to realize intensive monitoring by means of CRT displays and automation of operations. Among such circumstances, at the time of development of a newest nuclear power plant main control room and facility upgrades of nuclear of nuclear power plants main control room under operation, new interface technologies, such as touch operations on Visual Display Units, are being introduced positively together with wide introduction of computers, for the purpose of minimization of operator consoles, hierarchization of alarms, increase of automation extent and so on. For this reason, it is necessary to clarify the requirements which should be taken into consideration for functions and designs corresponding to these, and to make it as a guideline. Based upon this necessity, the purpose of this guideline is to provide the way of execution about developments and designs of human-machine interface that is designed to monitor and operate plant facilities mainly by means of computers. (author)