The effects or advanced plant design features and control room staffing on operator and plant performance

This report documents the results of an empirical study of operator and plant performance in simulator based settings for nuclear power plants. The simulator settings were made representative of conventional and advanced plants that employ passive system designs. The control room architectures were also made representative of both plant types. Two control room staffing sizes were employed in each plant setting: a normal staffing size reflecting the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54 (m)[l]; and a minimum staffing size that involved a different number of control room operators in the two plant settings. A series of five design basis scenarios, relevant for both conventional and advanced passive plants were chosen to evaluate the effects of plant type and crew size on operator and plant performance. The findings of the study revealed a number of effects of crew size, plant type, and their interaction on operator and plant performance.