An Evaluation of Operator Performance Related to the Switch Types in Man Control Rooms of the Nuclear Power Plants

주관적 작업부하 평가기법을 이용한 원자력 발전소 주제어반 제어 스위치 사용 인적 수행도 평가

The objective of this study is to evaluate the operator performance relating to hand switches with two or three buttons in the main control rooms of nuclear power plants. Based on the comparative analysis of the nuclear power plants, two different subjective workload-rating scales were used to evaluate the performance of 48 operators: the Overall Workload(OW) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA TLX). The survey questions consisting of the eight-items were asked to evaluate the operating experiences for the two different switch types. The OW scales ratings were applied to measure the workload of the switch-related tasks. The ratings revealed that signal detection tasks caused less workload in the three-buttoned-switch operators than the other switch group. However, in the switch operation tasks, the switch types did not show statistically significant effects on workload level. The NASA TLX scale ratings were performed based on detailed task scenarios that assumed the accident of small break loss of coolant, what we call, the small LOCH. The NASA TLX was administered to three different task groups: the reactor, the turbine, and the electric operator groups. Based on the NASA TLX, the two-buttoned switch groups showed higher workload than those with the three-buttoned switches. However, a statistically significant difference was found only in the reactor operator groups. When the current switch type was assumed to be changed for the other type, all of the three-buttoned switch groups were predicted to have higher workload than the other switch groups, respectively. The implications of these findings were discussed.