An interface redesign for the feed-water system of the advanced boiling water reactor in a nuclear power plant in Taiwan

Abstract

A well-designed human-computer interface for the visual display unit in the control room of a complex environment can enhance operator efficiency and, thus, environmental safety. In fact, a cognitive gap often exists between an interface designer and an interface user. Therefore, the issue of the cognitive gap of interface design needs more improvement and investigation. This is an empirical study that presents the application of an ecological interface design (EID) using three cases and demonstrates that an EID framework can support operators in various complex situations. Specifically, it analyzes different levels of automation and emergency condition response at the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant in Taiwan. A simulated feed-water system was developed involving two interface styles. This study uses the NASA Task Load Index to objectively evaluate the mental workload of the human operators and the Situation Awareness Rating Technique to subjectively assess operator understanding and response, and is a pilot study investigating EID display format use at nuclear power plants in Taiwan. Results suggest the EID-based interface has a remarkable advantage over the original interface in supporting operator performance in the areas of response time and accuracy rate under both normal and emergency situations and provide supporting evidence that an EID-based interface can effectively enhance monitoring tasks in a complex environment.