Aiding operator performance at low power feedwater control

Control of the feedwater system during low power operations (approximately 2% to 30% power) is a difficult task where poor performance (excessive trips) has a high cost to utilities. This paper describes several efforts in the human factors aspects of this task that are underway to improve feedwater control. A variety of knowledge acquisition techniques have been used to understand the details of what makes feedwater control at low power difficult and what knowledge and skill distinguishes expert operators at this task from less experienced ones. The results indicate that there are multiple factors that contribute to task difficulty