Advances in HFE Methods and Their Implications for Regulatory Reviews.

There is renewed interest in the United States (U.S.) to construct new Generation III and III+ reactors within the next decade and Generation IV reactors in the future. Licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is a significant consideration and these new plants may pose new challenges. One such challenge is the advances in human factors engineering (HFE) methods that are used. These methods are used to design and evaluate the HFE aspects of a plant, such as the human-system interface (HSI). These methods are important because NRC HFE reviews are design process oriented, thus, the criteria are mostly technology neutral with regard to reactor design.[1] However, the HFE review criteria are not neutral with respect to the HFE methods that are used as part of the design process This will be important for new reactor reviews because the diversity of reactor types, HSIs, and operational concepts will increase, especially for Generation III+ and IV plants. Thus the NRC is conducting research to identify advances in HFE methods and to develop additional guidance to address their review.