Applications of the rancor microworld nuclear power plant simulator

The Rancor Microworld is a recently developed low- fidelity Nuclear Power Plant Simulator. The microworld concept provides a simplified representation of an integrated 30 MW pressurized water reactor that can be taken from a cold-shutdown through turbine startup and load generation. Non-expert operators can be trained to competently operate the Rancor simulator within an hour, and it has already been used to examine attention and situation awareness measures in a series of experiments. Here we discuss the role of simulation in nuclear human factors, examine how a tool like Rancor fills a niche for nuclear human factors process control, and discuss potential avenues for future development and research in computer-based procedures, human reliability analysis, team operations, and cybersecurity.