An experimental evaluation of the flowchart type Operating Procedure for Nuclear Power Plants

In Nuclear Power Plants(NPPs), Emergency Operating Procedure(EOP) is used to overcome a undesirable or emergency plant state. Most NPPs are using the two-column type EOP, even though the flowchart type is used in some other NPPs. The flowchart type EOP has inherent characteristics due to its structure and format. In this study, an experimental evaluation was conducted for a flowchart type EOP. For the experimental evaluation, questionnaires were used, observations were made on operators using flowchart type procedures, and ECG based physiological measurements when need were performed. The results of the analysis show that the flowchart type EOP does not have any significant problems when compared with the two-column type as far as the safety of NPPs is concerned. However, we found a few problems, caused by the structure and format of the flowchart type, to be improved.