Using Modern Social Network Techniques to Expand Link Analysis in a Nuclear Reactor Console Redesign

Abstract

As part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recertification of Texas A&M University’s AGN-201M nuclear reactor, a human factors analysis was performed to evaluate the drawbacks of the current system and make design recommendations for a new console layout. The process involved three phases. Background development consisted of a literature review and expert interviews (both structured and unstructured). Process analysis was performed using hierarchical task analysis, critical incident analysis, and heuristic usability walkthroughs. Control panel redesign utilized an expanded version of link analysis through adding modern social networking analysis techniques. While social network analysis has previously been used for design, particular emphasis in this paper is placed on the novel application of faction and centrality analysis to identify group categories for console redesign.