Development of a Technical Basis and Guidance for Advanced SMR Function Allocation [report]

Jacques Hugo, David Gertman, Jeffrey Joe, Ronal Farris, April Whaley, Heather Medema
2013 unpublished
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY T his report presents the results from three key activities for FY2013 that are helping to determine the definition of new concepts of operations for advanced Small Modular Reactors (Adv SMR): a) the development of a framework for the analysis of the functional, environmental, and structural attributes of Adv SM Rs, b) the effect that new technologies and operational concepts would have on the way functions are allocated to humans or machines or combinations of the two, and c)
more » ... the relationship between new concepts of operations, new function allocations, and human performance requirements. A previous report described some of the principles involved in how Adv SM Rs will use advanced digital instrumentation and control systems, and make greater use of automation. T hese advances not only pose technical and operational challenges, but will undo ubtedly have an effect on the operating and maintenance cost of new plants. It is generally assumed that automation would be the most likely way to reduce the impact of labor on operating and maintenance cost. Howe ver, the effect of automation and other advanced technology on staffing requirements and safety standards has raised many questions and very little research has been conducted to date. For example, the impact of AdvSMR designs on operational and regulatory considerations, such as workload, situation awareness, h uman reliability, staffing levels, and the appropriate allocation of functions between the crew and various plant systems that are likely to be highly automated is largely uncertain and will remain uncertain until empirical research data become available to support the development of sound technical bases. Experience with Adv SM Rs o utside of the US Navy is limited to a very few predecessor plants. In addition, existing human factors and systems engineering design standards are not current in terms of human interaction basics for automated sy stems, and there is a lack of good functional allocation and staffing models that take into account static or dynamic allocation. Given these uncertainties and other issues, it is necessary to develop new Concepts of Operations models as well as new mo dels of function allocation and human performance requirements. T his report explains the relationship between these three requirements and how old paradigm s and methodologies are no longer suitable for the analysis of evolving concepts. The report further explains how the development of new models and guidance for Concepts of Operations need to adopt a state-of-the-art approach such as Work Domain Analysis (WDA). T he primary goal of this methodology is to identify and evaluate specific human factors challenges related to non -traditional concepts of operations, and the associated changes in the allocation of functions to human and system agents. This includes developing a framework for the analysis of Adv SM R functions, structures and systems using the WDA methodology, as well as the development of functional allocation principles as one of the primary de cision criteria for staffing design and do wnstream design. T he results from this phase of the research indicate that the WDA methodology will provide a valid framework for the analysis of AdvSMR operating concepts, in spite of the lack of current design information on advanced designs. T he basis for this conclusion comes from relevant operating experience that informs Concepts of Operations, a considerable amount of conceptual design information in published literature, and from a predecessor plant, the Argonne National Laboratory's Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II). Given these sources of information, this research effort has made significant progress in developing a formalized approach to the analysis and definition of AdvSM R Concepts of Operations. T his phase of the project has established the framework for the defin ition of operational strategies, determined requirements for and a basic model of function allocation, and identified a human performance requirements approach that can be used to addres s staffing requirements aspects of AdvSMR concepts of operations. The report further explains how the systematic application of the methodology will produce information essential to the formalization of this new Adv SMR Function Allocation methodology while also providing essential input for the development of new models of humanautomation collaboration. Concepts of Operations for Advanced Small Modul ar Reactors page iii of 95
doi:10.2172/1097174 fatcat:zwcjmh2vnjh27mc6feme6i2i3y