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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Visual Style Elements in Human–System Interface Design for Nuclear Power Operations: Does Style Affect Performance and Preference?

As the world increasingly adopts renewable and sustainable energy systems, transitionary solutions include nuclear power, which currently provides 20% of the United States’ electricity and is the largest single source of carbon-free electricity generation. Advanced reactors are a critical component of a carbon-free mixed energy portfolio that require careful design of first-of-a-kind control rooms. The application of Human Factors Engineering (HFE) is essential for scientific and iterative testing of novel human–system interface (HSI) concepts to ensure effective, efficient, and safe plant operations. Microworlds are simulators that use simplified physics models and control systems to distill nuclear power operations into essential functions. HFE scientists used the Rancor Microworld Simulator to obtain preference and performance metrics for novel and traditional static HSI design styles. Participants comprised advanced reactor company employees and nuclear industry consultants. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative data was captured. There was a preference for the basic graphical style that included high contrast and traditional color scheme elements. No single HSI design outperformed the others, and the participants did not perform better using their preferred HSI style. We report this experiment is the first in a series of HFE testing for HSIs in advanced reactor control room development. Clear user preferences emerged for elements within static displays. The cutting-edge neumorphic style was the least preferred. Future directions include tests of dynamic displays. HFE is used in evaluating and designing HSI devices that will improve the efficiency and safety of advanced nuclear power operations.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Simulation of the Prompt Dose Environment in the NIF during High Yield Shots

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the world's largest and most energetic laser system for inertial confinement fusion. NIF is a 192-laser beam facility, capable of producing 1.8 MJ, 500 TW of ultraviolet light. The main laser systems are installed in two laser bays. Each laser bay delivers 96 beams into one of two switchyards. Sets of turning mirrors in each Switchyard (SY) redirect the beams into the Target Bay (TB). Additional sets of optics in the TB will align and focus the beams onto the target in the center of the Target Chamber (TC). The 192 beams enter the TC through 48 indirect-drive beam ports. Laser beams are then focused to enter a small metal can (hohlraum) held at the center of the TC creating thermal x-rays that heat the surface of the fusion capsule contained within. The Target Bay has a cylindrical design with an inner radius of 15.24 m, 1.83-m-thick concrete walls and 1.37-m-thick concrete roof. A total of 239 and 121 penetrations are present in the Target Bay and switchyard walls, respectively. Figure 1 shows the facility's layout. There are seven floor levels within the TB at elevations of -33'9'', -21'9'', -3'6'', 17'6'', 29'6'', 40'0'', and 50'6'' with respect to the ground level. The TC is positioned in the middle of the TB with its center at elevation of 23'0'' from the ground level. The NIF will routinely utilize deuterium-tritium (D-T) targets with up to 20 MJ yield per shot, and maximum annual yield of 1200 MJ. This summary focuses on analyzing the expected prompt dose environment during the NIF's high yield phase of operations. Previous publications evaluated the expected doses associated with lower yield phases of operation. During shots, the Target Bay, Switchyards, and Laser Bays are interlocked and unoccupied. On the other hand, Personnel can be present inside the Operations Support Building (OSB), the control room, and the visitor center during the shots. The radiation shielding has been optimized to meet the NIF radiological design goals and the Department of Energy (DOE) limits. The goal is to limit the maximum prompt dose in any potentially occupied area to less than 50 {mu}Sv per shot as well as limiting the annual dose to individuals in the occupied areas to less than 1 mSv.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Multi-unit Operations in Non-Nuclear Systems: Lessons Learned for Small Modular Reactors

The nuclear-power community has reached the stage of proposing advanced reactor designs to support power generation for decades to come. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are one approach to meet these energy needs. While the power output of individual reactor modules is relatively small, they can be grouped to produce reactor sites with different outputs. Also, they can be designed to generate hydrogen, or to process heat. Many characteristics of SMRs are quite different from those of current plants and may be operated quite differently. One difference is that multiple units may be operated by a single crew (or a single operator) from one control room. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is examining the human factors engineering (HFE) aspects of SMRs to support licensing reviews. While we reviewed information on SMR designs to obtain information, the designs are not completed and all of the design and operational information is not yet available. Nor is there information on multi-unit operations as envisioned for SMRs available in operating experience. Thus, to gain a better understanding of multi-unit operations we sought the lesson learned from non-nuclear systems that have experience in multi-unit operations, specifically refineries, unmanned aerial vehicles and tele-intensive care units. In this paper we report the lessons learned from these systems and the implications for SMRs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A SUMMARY COMPARISON OF DESIGN EVALUATION TECHNIQUES

The United States’ fleet of Nuclear Reactors is considering modernizing their control rooms and instrumentation as an effort to avoid component obsolescence, keep up with competing industries, and cater to a new work force among others. Multiple technologies have potential to improve the control room. In attempts to evaluate the available options researchers employ a variety of measures to ensure the best candidate is used in a modernizing effort. The NRC is in charge of ensuring any new design has been thoroughly vetted before approving a license. Laid out in NUREG-0711 “Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model” is the review criteria for design validation. As there are a variety of measures currently used to evaluate candidate technologies, this paper seeks to identify weaknesses in the common measures used to design and validate technology in control room modernization efforts. Identifying where measurements are not meeting the criteria will help the control room modernization research platform identify where measurement development needs to occur. This will help ensure that current performance measurements are producing as reliable results as possible to select the right technology to integrate into nuclear operating control rooms.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Systems usability case in stepwise control room validation - 125

We present a Systems Usability Case (SUC) approach enabling a requirement-based human factors evaluation of complex technical systems. The approach is especially suitable for stepwise verification and validation (V and V) of nuclear power plant (NPP) control room (CR) systems. A SUC is based on the Safety Case approach and on the Systems Usability (SU) construct. A series of V and V test activities carried throughout the design process and constructed according to SUC enables us to monitor how evaluation evidence is aggregated over variety of V and V steps and how the design solution is maturing towards a tool of a good quality and usability. The paper demonstrates an application of the SUC approach to real data from a stepwise CR validation. The results suggest that SUC has some clear advantages. It makes it easier to conduct the V and V activities in a more systematic fashion and it makes the reasoning process more explicit and transparent. Moreover, it enables building a longitudinal view of the progress of the design process. Most importantly, constructing the SUC enables monitoring of the fulfilment of the requirements from the human factors (i.e., SU) perspective. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A REVIEW OF HUMAN-SYSTEM INTERFACE DESIGN ISSUES OBSERVED DURING ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL AND DIGITAL-TO-DIGITAL MIGRATIONS IN U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program is developing a scientific basis through targeted research and development (R&D) to support the U.S. nuclear power plant (NPP) fleet in extending their existing licensing period and ensuring their long-term reliability, productivity, safety, and security. Over the last several years, human factors engineering (HFE) professionals at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have supported the LWRS Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II&C) System Technologies pathway across several U.S. commercial NPPs in analog-to-digital migrations (i.e., turbine control systems) and digital-to-digital migrations (i.e., Safety Parameter Display System). These efforts have included in-depth human factors evaluation of proposed human-system interface (HSI) design concepts against established U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) design guidelines from NUREG-0700, Rev 2 to inform subsequent HSI design prior to transitioning into Verification and Validation. This paper discusses some of the overarching design issues observed from these past HFE evaluations. In addition, this work presents some observed challenges such as common tradeoffs utilities are likely to face when introducing new HSI technologies into NPP hybrid control rooms. The primary purpose of this work is to distill these observed design issues into general HSI design guidance that industry can use in early stages of HSI design.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-T-273: Radiation Shielding for a Fixed Horizontal-Beam Linac in a Shipping Container and a Conventional Treatment Vault

Purpose: A fixed horizontal-beam linac, where the patient is treated in a seated position, could lower the overall costs of the treatment unit and room shielding substantially. This design also allows the treatment room and control area to be contained within a reduced space, such as a shipping container. The main application is the introduction of low-cost, high-quality radiation therapy to low- and middle-income regions. Here we consider shielding for upright treatments with a fixed-6MV-beam linac in a shipping container and a conventional treatment vault. Methods: Shielding calculations were done for two treatment room layouts using calculation methods in NCRP Report 151: (1) a shipping container (6m × 2.4m with the remaining space occupied by the console area), and (2) the treatment vault in NCRP 151 (7.8m by 5.4m by 3.4m). The shipping container has a fixed gantry that points in one direction at all times. For the treatment vault, various beam directions were evaluated. Results: The shipping container requires a primary barrier of 168cm concrete (4.5 TVL), surrounded by a secondary barrier of 3.6 TVL. The other walls require between 2.8–3.3 TVL. Multiple shielding calculations were done along the side wall. The results show that patient scatter increases in the forward direction and decreases dramatically in the backward direction. Leakage scatter also varies along the wall, depending largely on the distance between the gantry and the wall. For the treatment room, fixed-beam requires a slightly thicker primary barrier than the conventional linac (0.6 TVL), although this barrier is only needed in the center of one wall. The secondary barrier is different only by 0–0.2 TVL. Conclusion: This work shows that (1) the shipping container option is achievable, using indigenous materials for shielding and (2) upright treatments can be performed in a conventional treatment room with minimal additional shielding. Varian Medical Systems.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Innovative Patient Room Lighting System with Integrated Spectrally Adaptive Control

In December of 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy’s SSL R&D Program released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), that for the first time, contained opportunities for comprehensive application-specific system development. The FOA included opportunities for two applications, one of which was a Patient Room. Philips Lighting Research North America, submitted a proposal for the Patient Room application, and was selected for the complete project award. The award amount was for $497,127, with a Philips Research co-funding commitment 165,709 dollars. The total project value was 662,836 dollars. This project sought to redefine lighting for the patient room application. The goal was to deliver an innovative LED patient suite (patient room and bathroom) lighting system solution that was 40% more energy-efficient than traditional fluorescent incumbent technologies, and would meet all the visual and non-visual needs of patients, caregivers and visitors, and improve the patient experience. State-of-the-art multichannel LED platforms and control technologies that would provide spectral tuning and become part of an intelligent, connected lighting system drove the solution. The project was scoped into four main task areas that included a) System Concept Creation, b) Identification of the Luminaire Portfolio, c) Development of the Connected Lighting Infrastructure, and d) System Performance Validation. Each of the four main tasks were completed and validated extensively over the course the 2 ½ year project. The system concept was created by first developing a lighting design that demonstrated best practices for patient room lighting – illuminance and uniformity for task performance, reduced glare, and convenient controls, in addition to giving patients control over the lighting in their environment. A framework was defined to deliver circadian support via software behaviors. Through that process luminaires were identified from the Philips portfolio that were adaptable – by their form, dimensions, and optical materials – to mix multicolor LED platforms uniformly and deliver target design lumen levels. The Blue Sky luminaire was selected for the patient bed area to give the illusion of skylight while providing white light on the patient bed. Luminaires used existing 2-channel tunable white LED boards, and newly developed 4-channel LED boards. Red-Orange, Blue, Green, and Blue-shifted Yellow LED chips were selected based on spectral characteristics and their ability to produce high quality white light. 4-channel Power over Ethernet (PoE) drivers were developed and firmware written so they would communicate with both 2- and 4-channel boards. These components formed the backbone of the connected lighting infrastructure. Software, flexible and nuanced in its complexity, was written to set behaviors for myriad lighting scenes in the room throughout the 24 hour day – and all could be overridden by manual controls. This included a dynamic tunable white program, three color changing automatic programs that simulated degrees of sunrise to sunset palettes, and an amber night lighting system that offered visual cues for postural stability to minimize the risk of falls. All programs were carefully designed to provide visual comfort for all occupants, support critical task performance for staff, and to support the patient’s 24hr rhythms. A full scale mockup room was constructed in the Philips Cambridge Lab. The lighting system was installed, tested and functionality demonstrated to ensure smooth operation of system components – luminaires, drivers, PoE switches, wall controls, patient remote, and daylight and occupancy sensors. How did the system perform? It met visual criteria, confirmed by calculations, simulations and measurements in the field. It met non-visual criteria, confirmed by setting circadian stimulus (CS) targets and performing calculations using the calculator developed by the Lighting Research Center. Finally, human factors validation studies were conducted to gain insight from real end users in the healthcare profession; surveys were administered, data analyzed, and audio comments captured. The general consensus was positive, with requests to pilot the system in their hospitals. The importance of the research completed under this grant is that it allowed the exploration and development of a unique lighting system, one that would deliver a blend of visual and non-visual criteria in patient room design for today’s healthcare environment. The research investigated the area of multichannel LED technology, multichannel Power over Ethernet (PoE) drivers and their integration with automatic and manual controls as a system – uncovering and meeting challenges along the way. It married visual needs of patients and staff with support for 24 hour rhythms, placing value on the wellbeing of the patient – while successfully saving energy over incumbent technologies. Indications are that the market is ready and willing to invest – multiple healthcare facilities are in line to pilot this system, recognizing its value beyond energy to patient and staff well-being. Its value to the public can best be expressed by a patient support coordinator who, after spending several hours in the room being immersed in the lighting, analyzing all its features, commented: “This re-writes lighting for healthcare”.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2018

Embedded Sensors and Controls to Improve Component Performance and Reliability - Final Report

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has researched embedded instrumentation and controls (I&C) for extreme environments under the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy's Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology program. Advanced sensors and controls have the potential to dramatically increase the performance and efficiency of nuclear reactor components, however, the extreme environments of exiting and advanced reactor designs limit the options for sensors, actuators, and control designs. To address two of the extreme environment challenges to embedded I&C, the focus of this research is to fill technology gaps needed for electromagnetic systems that can operate at temperatures greater than 700 C in corrosive environments. A magnetically suspended, canned-rotor pump was chosen for the embedded I&C development platform because it is a system with a practical need in industry and because the sensors, actuators, and embedded I&C technologies needed to successfully build this platform will be widely applicable to any high-temperature components that utilize electromagnetic interactions. This design also eliminates the need for pump seals and mechanical bearings which are the main sources of pump failures and maintenance costs. During the project a conceptual design for the high-temperature magnetically suspended pump was developed and analyzed for manufacturability and reliability. Specifications for the materials, control system, sensors, mechanical performance, high-temperature wiring, and electromagnetic properties were developed for the conceptual design. The canned rotor design of the high-temperature pump presents unique fluid force characteristics arising from the thin fluid channel between the rotor and stator. A model of the fluid forces was developed and the impact of these forces on the stability and performance of magnetic bearing controllers was studied. Then a room temperature bench-scale magnetic testbed was designed and fabricated for testing the performance of sensors and electromagnetic actuators, modern control design techniques, closed-loop system identification, state estimation, and model uncertainty. Finally, a loop-scale testbed with submerged magnetic bearings was designed and fabricated. This testbed will be used to analyze the stability and performance of control system designs in response to the nonlinear and cross-coupling fluid effects between the shaft axes of motion, rotordynamics, gyroscopic effects, and impeller disturbances.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optically Induced Static Magnetization in Metal Halide Perovskite for Spin‐Related Optoelectronics

Abstract Understanding the feasibility to couple semiconducting and magnetic properties in metal halide perovskites through interface design opens new opportunities for creating the next generation spin‐related optoelectronics. In this work, a fundamentally new phenomenon of optically induced magnetization achieved by coupling photoexcited orbital magnetic dipoles with magnetic spins at perovskite/ferromagnetic interface is discovered. The depth‐sensitive polarized neutron reflectometry combined with in situ photoexcitation setup, constitutes key evidence of this novel effect. It is demonstrated that a circularly polarized photoexcitation induces a stable magnetization signal within the depth up to 7.5 nm into the surface of high‐quality perovskite (MAPbBr 3 ) film underneath a ferromagnetic cobalt layer at room temperature. In contrast, a linearly polarized light does not induce any detectable magnetization in the MAPbBr 3 . The observation reveals that photoexcited orbital magnetic dipoles at the surface of perovskite are coupled with the spins of the ferromagnetic atoms at the interface, leading to an optically induced magnetization within the perovskite’s surface. The finding demonstrates that perovskite semiconductor can be bridged with magnetism through optically controllable method at room temperature in this heterojunction design. This provides the new concept of utilizing spin and orbital degrees of freedom in new‐generation spin‐related optoelectronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

A review of human-system interface design issues observed during analog-to-digital and digital-to-digital migrations in U.S. nuclear power plants - 312

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program is developing a scientific basis through targeted research and development (R and D) to support the U.S. nuclear power plant (NPP) fleet in extending their existing licensing period and ensuring their long-term reliability, productivity, safety, and security. Over the last several years, human factors engineering (HFE) professionals at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have supported the LWRS Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II and C) System Technologies pathway across several U.S. commercial NPPs in analog-to-digital migrations (i.e., turbine control systems) and digital-to-digital migrations (i.e., Safety Parameter Display System). These efforts have included in-depth human factors evaluation of proposed human-system interface (HSI) design concepts against established U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) design guidelines from NUREG-0700, Rev 2 to inform subsequent HSI design prior to transitioning into Verification and Validation. This paper discusses some of the overarching design issues observed from these past HFE evaluations. In addition, this work presents some observed challenges such as common tradeoffs utilities are likely to face when introducing new HSI technologies into NPP hybrid control rooms. The primary purpose of this work is to distill these observed design issues into general HSI design guidance that industry can use in early stages of HSI design. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Implementation of Software Tools for Hybrid Control Rooms in the Human Systems Simulation Laboratory

The Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) and Idaho National Laboratory have designed, implemented, tested and installed a functioning prototype of a set of large screen overview and procedure support displays for the Generic Pressurized Water Reactor (GPWR) simulator in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Human Systems Simulation Laboratory. The overview display is based on IFE’s extensive experiences with large screen overview displays in the Halden Man-Machine Laboratory (HAMMLAB), and presents the main control room indicators on a combined three-screen display. The procedure support displays are designed and implemented to provide a compact but still comprehensive overview of the relevant process measurements and indicators to support operators' good situational awareness during the performance of various types of procedures and plant conditions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2017

SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY BY DEVELOPING A DESIGN GUIDANCE FOR COMPUTER-BASED PROCEDURES FOR FIELD WORKERS

The paper-based procedures currently used for nearly all activities in the commercial nuclear power industry have a long history of ensuring safe operation of the plants. However, there is potential to greatly increase efficiency and safety by improving how the human interacts with the procedures, which can be achieved through the use of computer-based procedures (CBPs). A CBP system offers a vast variety of improvements, such as context driven job aids, integrated human performance tools and dynamic step presentation. As a step toward the goal of improving procedure use performance, the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program researchers, together with the nuclear industry, have been investigating the possibility and feasibility of replacing current paper-based procedures with CBPs. The main purpose of the CBP research conducted at the Idaho National Laboratory was to provide design guidance to the nuclear industry to be used by both utilities and vendors. After studying existing design guidance for CBP systems, the researchers concluded that the majority of the existing guidance is intended for control room CBP systems, and does not necessarily address the challenges of designing CBP systems for instructions carried out in the field. Further, the guidance is often presented on a high level, which leaves the designer to interpret what is meant by the guidance and how to specifically implement it. The authors developed a design guidance to provide guidance specifically tailored to instructions that are carried out in the field based.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2012

Computer-Based Procedures for Field Workers in Nuclear Power Plants: Development of a Model of Procedure Usage and Identification of Requirements

The nuclear industry is constantly trying to find ways to decrease the human error rate, especially the human errors associated with procedure use. As a step toward the goal of improving procedure use performance, researchers, together with the nuclear industry, have been looking at replacing the current paper-based procedures with computer-based procedure systems. The concept of computer-based procedures is not new by any means; however most research has focused on procedures used in the main control room. Procedures reviewed in these efforts are mainly emergency operating procedures and normal operating procedures. Based on lessons learned for these previous efforts we are now exploring a more unknown application for computer based procedures - field procedures, i.e. procedures used by nuclear equipment operators and maintenance technicians. The Idaho National Laboratory and participants from the U.S. commercial nuclear industry are collaborating in an applied research effort with the objective of developing requirements and specifications for a computer-based procedure system to be used by field workers. The goal is to identify the types of human errors that can be mitigated by using computer-based procedures and how to best design the computer-based procedures to do so. This paper describes the development of a Model of Procedure Use and the qualitative study on which the model is based. The study was conducted in collaboration with four nuclear utilities and five research institutes. During the qualitative study and the model development requirements and for computer-based procedures were identified.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Human factors and modeling methods in the development of control room modernization concepts - 315

Control room modernization is one of the most challenging and complex upgrade projects that a nuclear power plant can undertake. It can even have a bigger impact on operations than, for example, turbine replacement. The challenges of migrating an analog control system to a distributed control system are already well known and a number of nuclear utilities have embarked upon various levels of effort to upgrade some of the systems in the control room. When planning for control room upgrades, plants have to deal with a multitude of engineering and operational impacts. This will inevitably include several human factors considerations, including physical ergonomics of workstations, viewing angles, lighting, seating, new communication requirements, and new concepts of operation. In helping nuclear power utilities to deal with these challenges, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has developed human factors design and evaluation methods to be used in the development of an end-state control room concept and to manage the various phases of the upgrade life cycle. This included interactive sessions with operators in INL's Human System Simulation Laboratory, and three-dimensional modeling to visualize control board changes. To make the various upgrade phases as concrete and as visible as possible, the end-state concept includes a set of visual representations of the control room before and after various upgrade phases to provide the context and a framework within which to consider the various options in the upgrade. This includes the various control systems, human-system interfaces to be replaced, and possible changes to operator workstations. This paper describes how this framework helps to ensure an integrated and cohesive outcome that is consistent with human factors engineering principles and also provide substantial improvement in operator performance. The paper further describes the application of this integrated approach in the strategic modernization program at a nuclear power plant where legacy systems are upgraded to advanced digital technologies through a systematic process that links human factors principles to the systems engineering process. This approach results in an integrated control room architecture beyond what is possible for individual subsystem upgrades alone. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Digial Technology Qualification Task 2 - Suitability of Digital Alternatives to Analog Sensors and Actuators

The next generation reactors in the U.S. are an opportunity for vendors to build new reactor technology with advanced Instrumentation and Control Systems (control rooms, DCS, etc.). The advances made in the development of many current generation operating reactors in other parts of the world are being used in the design and construction of new plants. These new plants are expected to have fully integrated digital control rooms, computerized procedures, integrated surveillance testing with on-line monitoring and a major effort toward improving the O&M and fault survivability of the overall systems. In addition the designs are also incorporating major improvements in the man-machine interface based on lessons learned in nuclear and other industries. The above relates primarily to the scope of supply in instrumentation and control systems addressed by Chapter 7 of the Standard Review Plan (SRP) NUREG-0800 (Reference 9.5), and the associated Balance of Plant (BOP) I&C systems. This does not relate directly to the actuator and motor, breaker, initiation circuitry, valve position, etc. which is the subject of this report and normally outside of the traditional Distributed Control System (DCS), for both safety and non-safety systems. The recommendations presented in this report will be used as input to I&C research programming for the implementation of lessons learned during the early phases of new build both for large light water reactors (LWR) and also small modular reactors (SMR). This report is intended to support current research plans and provide user (vendor, owner-operator) input to the optimization of these research plans.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2012

The Development of A Human Systems Simulation Laboratory: Strategic Direction

The Human System Simulation Laboratory (HSSL) at the Idaho National Laboratory is one of few facilities of its kind that allows human factors researchers to evaluate various aspects of human performance and human system interaction for proposed reactor designs and upgrades. A basic system architecture, physical configuration and simulation capability were established to enable human factors researchers to support multiple, simultaneous simulations and also different power plant technologies. Although still evolving in terms of its technical and functional architecture, the HSSL is already proving its worth in supporting current and future nuclear industry needs for light water reactor sustainability and small modular reactors. The evolution of the HSSL is focused on continual physical and functional refinement to make it a fully equipped, reconfigurable facility where advanced research, testing and validation studies can be conducted on a wider range of reactor technologies. This requires the implementation of additional plant models to produce empirical research data on human performance with emerging human-system interaction technologies. Additional beneficiaries of this information include system designers and HRA practitioners. To ensure that results of control room crew studies will be generalizable to the existing and evolving fleet of US reactors, future expansion of the HSSL may also include other SMR plant models, plant-specific simulators and a generic plant model aligned to the current generation of pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and future advanced reactor designs. Collaboration with industry partners is also proving to be a vital component of the facility as this helps to establish a formal basis for current and future human performance experiments to support nuclear industry objectives. A long-range Program Plan has been developed for the HSSL to ensure that the facility will support not only the Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, but also to provide human factors guidance for all future developments of the nuclear industry.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Efficient and assured reinforcement learning-based building HVAC control with heterogeneous expert-guided training

Abstract Building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems account for nearly half of building energy consumption and $$20\%$$ of total energy consumption in the US. Their operation is also crucial for ensuring the physical and mental health of building occupants. Compared with traditional model-based HVAC control methods, the recent model-free deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based methods have shown good performance while do not require the development of detailed and costly physical models. However, these model-free DRL approaches often suffer from long training time to reach a good performance, which is a major obstacle for their practical deployment. In this work, we present a systematic approach to accelerate online reinforcement learning for HVAC control by taking full advantage of the knowledge from domain experts in various forms . Specifically, the algorithm stages include learning expert functions from existing abstract physical models and from historical data via offline reinforcement learning, integrating the expert functions with rule-based guidelines, conducting training guided by the integrated expert function and performing policy initialization from distilled expert function. Moreover, to ensure that the learned DRL-based HVAC controller can effectively keep room temperature within the comfortable range for occupants, we design a runtime shielding framework to reduce the temperature violation rate and incorporate the learned controller into it. Experimental results demonstrate up to 8.8 X speedup in DRL training from our approach over previous methods, with low temperature violation rate.

Xu, Shichao↗