Task Analysis of Nuclear Power Plant Control Room Crews Data Collection Approach and Methodology

This paper describes the data collection approach and methodology used to conduct a task analysis of nuclear power plant control room crews. The objective of the research project, funded by the NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, is to provide task data for evaluating six areas: (1) Human engineering designs of new control rooms and retrofitting of current control rooms, (2) The numbers and types of control room operators required with requisite skills and knowledges, (3) Operator qualification and training requirements, (4) Normal, off-normal, and emergency operating procedures, (5) Job performance aids, and (6) Communications. The task analysis methodology used in this project is discussed and compared to traditional task analysis and job analysis methods. A data collection approach is described which focusses on a generic structural framework for assembling the multitude of task data that will be observed. Control room crew task data is observed and recorded within the context of an “operating sequence.” The data collection will be conducted at eight power plant sites by teams comprised of human factors and operations personnel. Plants were sampled according to NSSS vendor, vintage, simulator availability, architect-engineer, and control room configuration. The results of the data collection effort will be compiled in a computerized task data base. Preliminary discussion of illustrative examples to demonstrate suitability for data analysis will be presented.