Management of availability in operation

The key to successful operation of power plants is well-trained operating personnel and a suitable presentation of all relevant plant parameters to the operator. Both requirements are considerably augmented by the complexity of modern power plants. For an effective operator training, one of the pre-requisites is that comprehensive operating instructions are available. There were some complaints from the utility side that the operating instructions delivered by the plant manufacturers are often inadequate. It was recommended to set up joint manufacturer/utility staffs to ensure suitable operator manuals. Plant simulators have already been established as an effective and indispensable means of training nuclear power plant operators. With the growing size and complexity of conventional thermal generating plants, simulator training is becoming of increasing value for this type of plant and is already used by some utilities. The suitable presentation of all relevant plant parameters to the operator is greatly facilitated by recent developments in measuring techniques and data processing. The effective use of these techniques requires, however, a careful examination of man/machine inter-action