A case study: nuclear power plant alarm system human factors review

Numerous historical examples show that accidents at nuclear power plants are often attributed to human error. In the nuclear utility industry, errors can prove very costly. It is in the control room, the major 'pulse point' of a nuclear power plant, that consideration for human factors principles are critical to man-machine integration with the system design. A crucial component of the control room that alerts the human operator to a disruption in the status quo of the plant is the alarm (or annunciator) system. In a case study of a two-unit power plant, the Advanced Resource Development (ARD) Corporation reviewed the annunciator/alarm system and made specific human factors recommendations