Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Simulator Complexity on Human Performance

Human reliability analysis (HRA), which is used to predict accidents resulting from human errors, is an important factor in probabilistic safety assessments that comprehensively evaluate the safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs). This study analyzes how simulator complexity affects the performance of NPP operators and falls under Idaho National Laboratory’s project to collect additional HRA data through the use of simulations. Experiments were conducted featuring two types of simulators and scenarios as independent variables. The data collected via these experiments were further evaluated using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and correlation analysis, resulting in the derivation of four human performance charts.