Trip reduction during reactor start-ups at Arkansas Nuclear One unit 2 based on human factors

In 1985, Arkansas Power ampersand Light Company (AP ampersand L) conducted a review of the increasing trend of reactor trips during plant startup at Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2 (ANO-2). This review was part of an overall effort to reduce plant trips that reached 15 during 1984. The single most common cause of these plant trips was steam generator level trips during start-up. The primary problem identified involved human factors associated with the manual control of feedwater at low power such that the operator had difficulty in maintaining the steam generator level within the reactor trip setpoints. The plant modifications implemented during 1985 have resulted in the elimination of low-power feedwater-control-related trips, even though the system is still operated manually. This paper presents the results of the human factors evaluation and the subsequent corrective action taken that has been so successful for ANO-2