Final Report Summary - MMOTION (Man-machine-organisation through innovative orientations for nuclear)
MMOTION is a Support Action launched under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) targeting a better understanding of the man-machine-organisation (MMO) research challenges related to the operation and the design of nuclear installations. Its main goal is to provide guidance for future research on subjects dealing with MMO and related safety aspects, and to develop a European roadmap for MMO research in the medium term, i.e. for a period of five years. With regard to this time frame, the project focused on research requirements that are related to the design and the operation of Gen II and Gen III plants.
The MMOTION approach to the definition of relevant MMO research priorities is based on the understanding that the different expert communities involved and their different views should be integrated more closely within future research programmes. The technical systems, the behaviour and attitudes of the human beings using the installation, the design perspectives, and the organisation of people and processes involved in the system's operation and maintenance are therefore considered as closely connected. The links to external factors such as actions and attitudes of regulators and other external stakeholders, market forces, national and international standards and regulations, and education and training programmes are also taken into account. The aim to achieve such integration at a European level has been a main driver for identifying European research needs.
The process for developing the MMOTION research roadmap has been in different phases, considering the international state of the art, the MMO related challenges, the main drivers for future developments, and the main stakeholders' perspectives on MMO related needs. This process resulted in the identification of 26 research topics considered most relevant in a European context and a grouping of these topics into four research programmes (RP) grouped around the needs of main stakeholders in nuclear safety, plant operation, plant design activities, and I&C component development:
- RP1 'Risk informed decision-making in design and operation' dedicated to balancing human and technological contributions to minimise the risk in the operation of nuclear installations;
- RP2 ' Culture and practices for safety' aiming at better understanding the conditions for achieving robustness in the organisation of nuclear installations operation;
- RP3 'Integrated design approaches' focusing on better integrating human and organisational factors within the design of future nuclear installations or the renewal of existing I&C systems;
- RP4 ' Technological requirements in nuclear and other high risk industry' aimed at achieving better coherence between the products offered by the industry for I&C systems and the specific needs of the nuclear and other high risk industries.
All four RPs include three stages:
- a first stage comprising research to be addressed from the very beginning of the programme;
- a second stage comprising research which can or should start later;
- an integration phase to consider results from other phases and programmes.
Those links to other programmes and related coordination mechanisms are required because results of several research topics are relevant to more than one RP.
Budget estimates are given with reference to the scope and the complexity of the work to be performed, to the degree of innovation to be achieved, and to the number of countries and organisations expected to participate in the research.
Project context and objectives:
MMOTION: a roadmap on MMO research
The main objective of the MMOTION project is the establishment of a European research roadmap dedicated to MMO challenges in the nuclear field and corresponding safety related aspects. The aim is to provide the European Commission with a common European vision for research and development (R&D) policies in the framework of FP7 / EURATOM and beyond. It is based on an analysis of current and future needs within the nuclear industry and addressing human and safety factors related to the range of engineering, operation and maintenance activities in nuclear facilities. Special attention is to research at the European and international level which is needed to complement the ongoing national research in the MMO domain.
The objective is to propose contents and structure of research that is required with special regard to the needs for improved integration of human and organisational factors in the design and the operation of nuclear installations. The selection of MMO topics addressed by the roadmap is based on the following high-level view on functions and activities implemented in the plant:
- Functions within a plant are carried out by people, supported by technology. Therefore, any design project carried out in this context should be considered as a socio-technical system design, not just as the design of technology or as fitting the technology to the humans. Therefore, one important factor for every design project is the physiological and cognitive properties of the human designing the system as well as the human using the system and how these properties are shaped by the organisational framework and other non-technical determinants such as safety culture and management practices.
- The organisational structures of the plant may either support or impede good interaction among individuals of the teams. Other factors influencing interaction between people are communication skills of the individual staff member and availability of support methods and tools. As most activities within the plant life cycle require multidisciplinary teams to be carried out properly, one major focus of the MMOTION project was to facilitate communication between people working within different disciplines.
- Particular attention is given to the fact that MMO research must deal with complex human and technical systems and that performance of this system is closely linked to several dimensions of the socio-technical system. The appropriate management of complexity itself and the proper simplification during design is a major research challenge. Complexity also influences the ability of the human to understand the performance of the technology and to monitor and take over in case any technological component should fail.
- Finally the evaluation of the dependability of the socio-technical system is a major issue. Diverse methods should be applied to achieve an adequate assessment of this aspect. In particular the reliability of the human is important.
The MMOTION roadmap must provide a set of MMO research areas defined as coherent clusters of research topics identified and assessed during the project with respect to their significance and their priority for a five year's reference period. It shall include proposals for the next steps in view of implementing the proposed European MMO research.
Timeframe for research
Present day strategic planning for nuclear energy research generally relates to a longer time frame covering the operation of the current fleet of nuclear power plants (Gen II plants) including the extension of their operational lives as well as future reactor generations which are under construction and/or under development.
In the latter categories, two main families are distinguished:
- Gen III reactors are essentially based on the proven technology of the most advanced current plants with additional 'evolutionary' improvements mainly aimed at improving safety features and at reducing costs.
- Gen IV reactors are based on innovative concepts requiring more time for technological development and are assumed to be available for the market at a later stage. Depending on the technology use, deployment of those reactors may start in about three decades.
Regarding the MMO domain, the requirements for Gen II and Gen III plants are quite close: Both plant generations are using almost the same physical processes, and will be based on hybrid I&C technologies, as the refurbishment of Gen II plants is continuing.
According to the objectives of the MMOTION project, the roadmap shall focus on a medium term research covering a period of approximately five years starting about one year after completion of the MMOTION project.
According to these technical and organisational considerations the attention of the MMOTION project is mainly on topics related to the design and the operation of (refurbished) Gen II and on Gen III plants. However, the knowledge developed within these projects should also be relevant for Gen IV plants.
Project results:
The significance of MMO aspects and research
Explanation of the MMO domain
The performance of technical systems depends on three main factors:
- the behaviour and attitudes of the human beings using the facility;
- the technical design;
- the organisation of people and processes involved in the system's operation and maintenance.
These factors and their interaction must be a key consideration for designing and operating every large technical system and even more nuclear power plants needing a high level of safety. Examples of such factors are plant automation, information systems, human-system interfaces, staffing, work practices, plant organisation, management of change, management of operating experience feedback.
Traditionally many of these aspects were considered separately by specific communities of experts. With increasing demands on safety and economy, it is more and more important to proceed to a more integrated approach considering the many interactions between the various aspects and bridging the different expert communities. In this perspective, the nuclear power plant is understood as a technical system interacting with the humans and the organisational provisions involved in the plant operation. These are linked to a number of external factors such as actions and attitudes of regulators and other external stakeholders, market forces, national and international standards and regulations, and education and training programmes.
Drivers for research
As explained above, the functioning of a nuclear power plant as an MMO system depends on the interaction of many factors which are generally themselves subject of technological evolution and/or other kinds of change. Some of these developments pose challenges for the safe operation of the plants whilst others offer opportunities to strengthen the economical performance and/or the operational safety. In many cases, those developments call for research in view of identifying the most appropriate responses.
The following developments have been identified to be particular drivers for the near term research needs in the MMO domain:
- There are important forces in the energy market resulting in an increased drive for productivity and organisational changes in the NPP such as outsourcing and reduction of personnel. Balancing productivity and safety is becoming an increasingly challenging practical issue.
- New digital technology is arriving and its implementation needs a better understanding of all the aspects related to its use including its integration with conventional technology. We have to consider that human factors play an even larger role for those hybrid solutions raising new issues in terms of individual and team performance.
- Trend towards more international engagements of the operating organisations and the resulting need for standardised operation, e.g. by harmonisation of operating practices, within Europe. In parallel, there is a clear tendency towards international cooperation of regulators and the development international regulatory standards.
- Due to the small size of the nuclear market and the high level of technical requirements for systems, vendors may not be interested in developing I&C equipment if there is not more international standardisation of product requirements.
- The new generations of experts and plant personnel joining the workforce are from different demographics, have different educational backgrounds, different approaches to cooperative working, and adapt different behaviours for facing novel digital technology.
It is recognised that meeting the specific needs deriving from those drivers requires continuous efforts in fundamental research on human and organisational factors.
The MMOTION roadmapping process
The MMOTION roadmapping has been conducted in the spirit of the broader European R&D in the area of nuclear power plant technology and safety, which aims at the evolution of proven technology by combining lessons learned from experience with technological innovation capable to increase the safety and economics of nuclear energy production. Within this approach, technological innovation is appraised less as absolute value and more in proportion to its contributions to improving the operation of nuclear power plants, to the refurbishments of Gen II NPPs and to the design of Gen III plants. This needs to be kept in mind, for instance, when comparing the MMOTION roadmap to roadmaps developed in the US with the focus on Gen IV reactors.
An essential objective of the MMOTION approach is achieving a closer integration of the different scientific communities involved in MMO related to nuclear facilities, i.e. human factor specialists, I&C engineers, and managers. Particular attention has been paid to the potential benefits of that integration for strengthening safety of existing and new power plants in a European context striving for common understanding of essential safety issues and for a harmonisation of the related practices.
The MMOTION project's road mapping exercise has been based on the following steps:
- Brainstorming on the overall view of the MMO considering the choices made in each country to reach an acceptable equilibrium point between man machine and organisation. Existing studies and standards were considered to establish the relevant questions and to provide a better view to each partner of how each partner is organised and to give the necessary background for the remaining work (Work package (WP) 1);
- Identification of the research topics which are considered most relevant for Gen II/III plants in the medium term considering the relevant MMO-related needs and their European dimension for three major themes: 'design of human technology systems', 'operation', and 'evaluation and assessment'. The topics identified are described in section 3.1 and in Annex A (WP2);
- A pilot exercise has been performed dealing with the feasibility of implementing new R&D methods discussed in WP2. It focuses on the evaluation of a methodology to support the Human Factors evaluation of an innovative technical concept (WP 3);
- Grouping of the research topics identified into four clusters to be addressed in a coordinated way and definition of RPs related to the clusters by considering different stages of research and the related costs (WP 4).
In view of consistently structuring the working process and the results of the discussions among the MMOTION partners in the various areas to be covered by the roadmap, a large part of the work, in particular the work within the WPs 1 and 2, has been based on templates. This approach made it possible to have the necessary interdisciplinary discussions in plenary sessions or sub-groups and to produce the results in a structured way between meetings.
Special regard has been paid to avoiding inconsistencies between the MMO roadmap developed within the MMOTION project and the broader research prioritisation activities which are planned under the umbrella of the SNETP. Thus the MMO roadmap presented in this report can serve as a building block for the MMO area within a more general roadmap defining the needs and the priorities of European research related to nuclear fission energy.
Starting with the identification of issues, the work continues to identifying and organising research topics to build various research programmes proposed for implementation as part of future European nuclear fission research activities.
Clustering of research topics (RTs) and definition of RPs
RTs
The following RTs have been singled out by the project partners as most relevant and promising for MMO related European research in a time frame of five years:
- RT 1.1.1: Classification and evaluation of automation types
The main result of the work is a tentative classification framework to be tested out in use within several of the other research topics.
- RT 1.1.2: Harmonisation of operational principles
This research topic deals with the identification of benefits, drawbacks and limitations of different operational principles and the feasibility of harmonising operation principles across Europe, for all plant situations including normal operation and emergency conditions.
- RT 1.1.3: Solutions for balancing I&C reliability and functionality
The objective of this research topic is to establish coherent design principles for safety-related and non safety-related I&C functions, enabling the design and construction of more coherent and integrated operation systems.
- RT 1.1.4: Man in the loop
Automation may force the operator out of the loop with consequences in plant efficiency and/or safety. Concepts and requirements for the automation system and the system complexity should be defined to keep the operator in the loop.
- RT 1.1.5: Operation support
This research topic focuses on technological solutions to enhance operator performance during plant operation. Systems for alarm filtering, computerised procedures, critical safety function monitoring are examples. The research aims at developing approaches, methods and tools for designing and maintaining such systems in a way avoiding HF problems such as information overload and lack of system transparency.
- RT 1.1.6: Managing the life-cycle of I&C at the European level
I&C systems, especially digital, have a much shorter lifecycle than nuclear power plants, making I&C modernisation programmes necessary at least once during the operational lifetime of a NPP. This research topic aims at developing sustainable I&C specifications and design methods which can be shared across Europe in order to ease future I&C modernisation programmes.
- RT 1.2.1: Innovative human-system interaction concepts
The industry will provide modern HSI solutions based on new hardware and software. Then it becomes necessary to understand the potential for improving operation. The research will elaborate different operational concepts and bring empirically-based evidence to predict the impact of different HSI solutions on the different operation concepts.
- RT 1.2.2: Advanced interaction technologies and their applicability in the nuclear field
This topic deals with the use of off-the shelf products such as touch screens and voice recognition for basic applications in the nuclear field. It aims at qualification of such products and the underlying technologies and intends to produce guidelines for their nuclear application.
- RT 1.2.3: Usability of HSI solutions
Usability is a crucial issue for HSI solutions. The research topic deals with both how to assess the usability during the design process and how to validate the usability of the final product in its context of use. It aims at developing relevant methods and tools.
- RT 1.3.1: Development of shared representations supporting integrated design
The purpose of this research is to improve the communication and mutual understanding within multi-disciplinary design teams, by the use of a modelling framework supporting and connecting the viewpoints of the various categories of professionals involved in the design of future nuclear installations.
- RT 1.3.2: Managing socio-technical systems complexity at the design level
The purpose of this research topic is to identify the origins of the complexity of socio-technical systems in view of making the design teams able to manage it better and to minimise negative impacts on operation and safety.
- RT 1.3.3: Proactive task analysis as part of design
The objective of this research is to develop new types of task analyses that are capable of predicting demands of future work. These methods should be applicable in early phases of the design process, and they should elaborate the domain-related control and psychological work demands, define constraints and possibilities for acting, and use these foundations in formulating and testing hypotheses concerning optional solutions for joint technological and human functions.
- RT 1.3.4: Integrated design of socio-technical systems
The purpose of this research is to define a design organisation that is able to integrate the 'non technical' design requirements (e.g. human and organisational aspects) more effectively into the design process by anticipating future work situations at very early design stages.
- RT 2.1: Safety culture
Safety culture is a key area within the nuclear industry. The research will produce a common European framework creating a basis for the development of harmonised techniques for measuring and assessing safety culture and the impact of change on it as well as producing methods and guidelines to strengthen safety culture of utilities and further relevant stakeholders across the EU and beyond.
- RT 2.2: Robustness and vulnerability of organisations
Changes in the nuclear environment (e.g. in the organisation's external conditions and/or in supporting technologies) potentially results in new vulnerabilities jeopardising the effectiveness of organisational provisions. The research aims at acquiring better knowledge of the impacts of such changes and at developing a European approach to measure the impact of organisational factors on safety.
- RT 2.3: Safety management practices
Safety management depends on management practices influencing among others, decision making processes, employees motivation to deal with safety and efficiency issues, cooperation and mutual trust between managers and teams and the balance between autonomy and prescriptions. The research will be established by comparisons of management practices in different NPP's, teams and European countries in order to develop knowledge and evaluate the generic strengths and weaknesses of their practices.
- RT 2.4: Risk management
The research topic deals with the development of risk management approaches tailored to MMO related decision making for the design and the operation of nuclear power plants. The objective is to identify MMO related risk management approaches capable to achieve broad acceptance across various EU Member States and to provide a basis for a European harmonisation of respective approaches.
- RT 2.5: Staffing
Staffing refers to the determination of human resource needs, including the amount of work assigned to each employee, the professional competencies required, and the duration of experience demanded. The research aims at better understanding the potential effects of new technologies on staffing requirements, the different functional staffing models and the possibilities to use them in NPPs, and at better predicting the staffing requirements throughout the plant's lifecycle.
- RT 2.6: Analysis of work practices
The research topic deals with generating empirical evidence of individual and collective behaviour in nuclear power plant work settings. A major objective is to evaluate HSI technologies from the work practice perspective and to proactively influence their development.
- RT 2.7: Human performance tools
The object of this research topic is to assess the impact of INPO human performance tools on NPP operations across Europe. Assessment will be made of the differences in effectiveness of the tools between countries, in different professions, and in comparison with technological aids. Consideration will be given to the financial implications of using human performance tools as compared to engineered solutions.
- RT 2.8: Teamwork
The objective of this research topic is to better understand how teams function and what the critical factors influencing performance and safety are. New forms of spatial and temporal distributed teamwork should be investigated as well the role of the technical system supporting efficient collaborations between people.
- RT 2.9: Occupational health
The object of this research topic is to develop an understanding of the connections and potential synergies that may be exploited between occupational health and safety (OHS) and nuclear safety across multiple European operators. Specifically, the topic will address the issue of the impact of shift patterns and working hours upon OHS and other factors specifically within a nuclear context, and in different countries.
- RT 3.1: Human reliability analysis methods
The objective of this research is to develop an advanced understanding of the performance, strengths, and weaknesses of different human reliability analysis methods used to model human response to adverse conditions in applications of risk-based approaches to nuclear power plant safety and to provide recommendations regarding solutions of weak points in the estimation of the human failure potential.
- RT 3.2: Verification and validation
The object of this research is to improve methods for the verification and validation of complex socio-technical systems. The major objective is to develop methods that can support early phases of the design process by producing relevant knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of the operational concept. There is urgent need for improved methods in this area as existing plants undergo upgrades, and new operational concepts are being developed for future plants.
- RT 3.3: Operating experience on human and organisational factors
The research topic deals with human and organisational aspects of operational experience feedback (OEF) for nuclear facilities. It particularly aims at developing advanced, harmonised methods, solutions and tools for evaluation of operating experience (OE) linked to human and organisational factors, for communication and the dissemination of OE, and for assessing the efficiency of relevant OEF processes.
- RT 3.4: Tools and methods for assessing individuals and crews
The object of this research topic is to assess a wide range of performance measures that could be used to gauge the impact of human factors interventions in the nuclear industry. The topic will specifically address the issue of how best to assess workload in complex control room tasks with multiple operators engaged in multiple, complex and potentially conflicting sub-tasks. The output of the work is expected to provide guidance for HF practitioners who have to assess the impact of their interventions in control room practices or design.
Clustering of RTs and definition of RPs
The definition of RPs has been based on a clustering process with the following objectives in mind:
- subdivide the set of research topics into manageable packages called clusters;
- attribute those topics with the closest thematic links to one cluster;
- limit the thematic links between clusters and provide their coordinated treatment within the same research framework;
- have a balanced relationship between the clusters and the viewpoints;
- achieve visible results for major needs.
As a result of this process, four research clusters been defined each of them building the basis of an RP:
- RP1 'Risk informed decision making in design and operation'
The programme is dedicated to balance human and technological contributions to minimising the risk in the operation of nuclear installations.
- RP2 'Culture and practices for safety
The programme aims at better understanding the conditions for achieving robustness in the organisation of nuclear installations operation.
- RP3 'Integrated design approaches'
The programme aims at better integrating human and organisational factors within the design of future nuclear installations or the renewal of existing I&C systems.
- RP4 'Technological requirements in nuclear and other high risk industries'
The programme aims at achieving coherence between the products offered by the industry for I&C systems and the specific needs of the nuclear and other high risk industries.
Potential impact:
MMOTION is the first EURATOM project dealing with the human dimension.
It is not a collection of RPs proposed by different organisations, with different goals (suppliers, research institutes, utilities, engineering centres), it is really a consensus, strongly negotiated during a two years program. This consensus is now shared and promoted by all the MMOTION members. Thus, the implementation of the proposed programmes or RTs should not pose major issue of understanding; most of the work has already been achieved.
Compared to other research programs on MMO, MMOTION has the particularity to avoid separating technical and human aspects. Instead, the proposal insists on the fact that a power plant has to be designed and operated as a complex technical and human system. Based on this, the potential impact on design and operation could be particularly important. Business plans, methods of design, project management, etc. could be impacted, on a middle term, by MMOTION proposals.
Regarding the implementation of the RPs, it is proposed to build on the structure of European nuclear fission research which is emerging under the SNETP umbrella. The following implementation mechanisms are considered most appropriate:
- Future calls of the EURATOM Framework Programmes for RP1 and RP2 as these programmes are strongly related to safety issues of high public interest.
- The industrial initiatives emerging under the SNETP umbrella for RP3 and RP4 because these programmes mainly respond to needs of the industry with respect to the long term operation of Gen II plants and to Gen III developments.
The MMOTION project also considered non-European MMO research initiatives related to nuclear fission energy. As some of those activities are very significant, especially in the US, it is proposed to share part of the proposed research with non-European and international organisations. In view of the relatively small number of European research organisations with a focus on MMO challenges in nuclear facilities, a networking approach for MMO is considered useful in view of sharing parts of the research programmes established and to initiate negotiations with the relevant organisations.
Project website: http://www.mmotion.org(si apre in una nuova finestra)
The MMOTION approach to the definition of relevant MMO research priorities is based on the understanding that the different expert communities involved and their different views should be integrated more closely within future research programmes. The technical systems, the behaviour and attitudes of the human beings using the installation, the design perspectives, and the organisation of people and processes involved in the system's operation and maintenance are therefore considered as closely connected. The links to external factors such as actions and attitudes of regulators and other external stakeholders, market forces, national and international standards and regulations, and education and training programmes are also taken into account. The aim to achieve such integration at a European level has been a main driver for identifying European research needs.
The process for developing the MMOTION research roadmap has been in different phases, considering the international state of the art, the MMO related challenges, the main drivers for future developments, and the main stakeholders' perspectives on MMO related needs. This process resulted in the identification of 26 research topics considered most relevant in a European context and a grouping of these topics into four research programmes (RP) grouped around the needs of main stakeholders in nuclear safety, plant operation, plant design activities, and I&C component development:
- RP1 'Risk informed decision-making in design and operation' dedicated to balancing human and technological contributions to minimise the risk in the operation of nuclear installations;
- RP2 ' Culture and practices for safety' aiming at better understanding the conditions for achieving robustness in the organisation of nuclear installations operation;
- RP3 'Integrated design approaches' focusing on better integrating human and organisational factors within the design of future nuclear installations or the renewal of existing I&C systems;
- RP4 ' Technological requirements in nuclear and other high risk industry' aimed at achieving better coherence between the products offered by the industry for I&C systems and the specific needs of the nuclear and other high risk industries.
All four RPs include three stages:
- a first stage comprising research to be addressed from the very beginning of the programme;
- a second stage comprising research which can or should start later;
- an integration phase to consider results from other phases and programmes.
Those links to other programmes and related coordination mechanisms are required because results of several research topics are relevant to more than one RP.
Budget estimates are given with reference to the scope and the complexity of the work to be performed, to the degree of innovation to be achieved, and to the number of countries and organisations expected to participate in the research.
Project context and objectives:
MMOTION: a roadmap on MMO research
The main objective of the MMOTION project is the establishment of a European research roadmap dedicated to MMO challenges in the nuclear field and corresponding safety related aspects. The aim is to provide the European Commission with a common European vision for research and development (R&D) policies in the framework of FP7 / EURATOM and beyond. It is based on an analysis of current and future needs within the nuclear industry and addressing human and safety factors related to the range of engineering, operation and maintenance activities in nuclear facilities. Special attention is to research at the European and international level which is needed to complement the ongoing national research in the MMO domain.
The objective is to propose contents and structure of research that is required with special regard to the needs for improved integration of human and organisational factors in the design and the operation of nuclear installations. The selection of MMO topics addressed by the roadmap is based on the following high-level view on functions and activities implemented in the plant:
- Functions within a plant are carried out by people, supported by technology. Therefore, any design project carried out in this context should be considered as a socio-technical system design, not just as the design of technology or as fitting the technology to the humans. Therefore, one important factor for every design project is the physiological and cognitive properties of the human designing the system as well as the human using the system and how these properties are shaped by the organisational framework and other non-technical determinants such as safety culture and management practices.
- The organisational structures of the plant may either support or impede good interaction among individuals of the teams. Other factors influencing interaction between people are communication skills of the individual staff member and availability of support methods and tools. As most activities within the plant life cycle require multidisciplinary teams to be carried out properly, one major focus of the MMOTION project was to facilitate communication between people working within different disciplines.
- Particular attention is given to the fact that MMO research must deal with complex human and technical systems and that performance of this system is closely linked to several dimensions of the socio-technical system. The appropriate management of complexity itself and the proper simplification during design is a major research challenge. Complexity also influences the ability of the human to understand the performance of the technology and to monitor and take over in case any technological component should fail.
- Finally the evaluation of the dependability of the socio-technical system is a major issue. Diverse methods should be applied to achieve an adequate assessment of this aspect. In particular the reliability of the human is important.
The MMOTION roadmap must provide a set of MMO research areas defined as coherent clusters of research topics identified and assessed during the project with respect to their significance and their priority for a five year's reference period. It shall include proposals for the next steps in view of implementing the proposed European MMO research.
Timeframe for research
Present day strategic planning for nuclear energy research generally relates to a longer time frame covering the operation of the current fleet of nuclear power plants (Gen II plants) including the extension of their operational lives as well as future reactor generations which are under construction and/or under development.
In the latter categories, two main families are distinguished:
- Gen III reactors are essentially based on the proven technology of the most advanced current plants with additional 'evolutionary' improvements mainly aimed at improving safety features and at reducing costs.
- Gen IV reactors are based on innovative concepts requiring more time for technological development and are assumed to be available for the market at a later stage. Depending on the technology use, deployment of those reactors may start in about three decades.
Regarding the MMO domain, the requirements for Gen II and Gen III plants are quite close: Both plant generations are using almost the same physical processes, and will be based on hybrid I&C technologies, as the refurbishment of Gen II plants is continuing.
According to the objectives of the MMOTION project, the roadmap shall focus on a medium term research covering a period of approximately five years starting about one year after completion of the MMOTION project.
According to these technical and organisational considerations the attention of the MMOTION project is mainly on topics related to the design and the operation of (refurbished) Gen II and on Gen III plants. However, the knowledge developed within these projects should also be relevant for Gen IV plants.
Project results:
The significance of MMO aspects and research
Explanation of the MMO domain
The performance of technical systems depends on three main factors:
- the behaviour and attitudes of the human beings using the facility;
- the technical design;
- the organisation of people and processes involved in the system's operation and maintenance.
These factors and their interaction must be a key consideration for designing and operating every large technical system and even more nuclear power plants needing a high level of safety. Examples of such factors are plant automation, information systems, human-system interfaces, staffing, work practices, plant organisation, management of change, management of operating experience feedback.
Traditionally many of these aspects were considered separately by specific communities of experts. With increasing demands on safety and economy, it is more and more important to proceed to a more integrated approach considering the many interactions between the various aspects and bridging the different expert communities. In this perspective, the nuclear power plant is understood as a technical system interacting with the humans and the organisational provisions involved in the plant operation. These are linked to a number of external factors such as actions and attitudes of regulators and other external stakeholders, market forces, national and international standards and regulations, and education and training programmes.
Drivers for research
As explained above, the functioning of a nuclear power plant as an MMO system depends on the interaction of many factors which are generally themselves subject of technological evolution and/or other kinds of change. Some of these developments pose challenges for the safe operation of the plants whilst others offer opportunities to strengthen the economical performance and/or the operational safety. In many cases, those developments call for research in view of identifying the most appropriate responses.
The following developments have been identified to be particular drivers for the near term research needs in the MMO domain:
- There are important forces in the energy market resulting in an increased drive for productivity and organisational changes in the NPP such as outsourcing and reduction of personnel. Balancing productivity and safety is becoming an increasingly challenging practical issue.
- New digital technology is arriving and its implementation needs a better understanding of all the aspects related to its use including its integration with conventional technology. We have to consider that human factors play an even larger role for those hybrid solutions raising new issues in terms of individual and team performance.
- Trend towards more international engagements of the operating organisations and the resulting need for standardised operation, e.g. by harmonisation of operating practices, within Europe. In parallel, there is a clear tendency towards international cooperation of regulators and the development international regulatory standards.
- Due to the small size of the nuclear market and the high level of technical requirements for systems, vendors may not be interested in developing I&C equipment if there is not more international standardisation of product requirements.
- The new generations of experts and plant personnel joining the workforce are from different demographics, have different educational backgrounds, different approaches to cooperative working, and adapt different behaviours for facing novel digital technology.
It is recognised that meeting the specific needs deriving from those drivers requires continuous efforts in fundamental research on human and organisational factors.
The MMOTION roadmapping process
The MMOTION roadmapping has been conducted in the spirit of the broader European R&D in the area of nuclear power plant technology and safety, which aims at the evolution of proven technology by combining lessons learned from experience with technological innovation capable to increase the safety and economics of nuclear energy production. Within this approach, technological innovation is appraised less as absolute value and more in proportion to its contributions to improving the operation of nuclear power plants, to the refurbishments of Gen II NPPs and to the design of Gen III plants. This needs to be kept in mind, for instance, when comparing the MMOTION roadmap to roadmaps developed in the US with the focus on Gen IV reactors.
An essential objective of the MMOTION approach is achieving a closer integration of the different scientific communities involved in MMO related to nuclear facilities, i.e. human factor specialists, I&C engineers, and managers. Particular attention has been paid to the potential benefits of that integration for strengthening safety of existing and new power plants in a European context striving for common understanding of essential safety issues and for a harmonisation of the related practices.
The MMOTION project's road mapping exercise has been based on the following steps:
- Brainstorming on the overall view of the MMO considering the choices made in each country to reach an acceptable equilibrium point between man machine and organisation. Existing studies and standards were considered to establish the relevant questions and to provide a better view to each partner of how each partner is organised and to give the necessary background for the remaining work (Work package (WP) 1);
- Identification of the research topics which are considered most relevant for Gen II/III plants in the medium term considering the relevant MMO-related needs and their European dimension for three major themes: 'design of human technology systems', 'operation', and 'evaluation and assessment'. The topics identified are described in section 3.1 and in Annex A (WP2);
- A pilot exercise has been performed dealing with the feasibility of implementing new R&D methods discussed in WP2. It focuses on the evaluation of a methodology to support the Human Factors evaluation of an innovative technical concept (WP 3);
- Grouping of the research topics identified into four clusters to be addressed in a coordinated way and definition of RPs related to the clusters by considering different stages of research and the related costs (WP 4).
In view of consistently structuring the working process and the results of the discussions among the MMOTION partners in the various areas to be covered by the roadmap, a large part of the work, in particular the work within the WPs 1 and 2, has been based on templates. This approach made it possible to have the necessary interdisciplinary discussions in plenary sessions or sub-groups and to produce the results in a structured way between meetings.
Special regard has been paid to avoiding inconsistencies between the MMO roadmap developed within the MMOTION project and the broader research prioritisation activities which are planned under the umbrella of the SNETP. Thus the MMO roadmap presented in this report can serve as a building block for the MMO area within a more general roadmap defining the needs and the priorities of European research related to nuclear fission energy.
Starting with the identification of issues, the work continues to identifying and organising research topics to build various research programmes proposed for implementation as part of future European nuclear fission research activities.
Clustering of research topics (RTs) and definition of RPs
RTs
The following RTs have been singled out by the project partners as most relevant and promising for MMO related European research in a time frame of five years:
- RT 1.1.1: Classification and evaluation of automation types
The main result of the work is a tentative classification framework to be tested out in use within several of the other research topics.
- RT 1.1.2: Harmonisation of operational principles
This research topic deals with the identification of benefits, drawbacks and limitations of different operational principles and the feasibility of harmonising operation principles across Europe, for all plant situations including normal operation and emergency conditions.
- RT 1.1.3: Solutions for balancing I&C reliability and functionality
The objective of this research topic is to establish coherent design principles for safety-related and non safety-related I&C functions, enabling the design and construction of more coherent and integrated operation systems.
- RT 1.1.4: Man in the loop
Automation may force the operator out of the loop with consequences in plant efficiency and/or safety. Concepts and requirements for the automation system and the system complexity should be defined to keep the operator in the loop.
- RT 1.1.5: Operation support
This research topic focuses on technological solutions to enhance operator performance during plant operation. Systems for alarm filtering, computerised procedures, critical safety function monitoring are examples. The research aims at developing approaches, methods and tools for designing and maintaining such systems in a way avoiding HF problems such as information overload and lack of system transparency.
- RT 1.1.6: Managing the life-cycle of I&C at the European level
I&C systems, especially digital, have a much shorter lifecycle than nuclear power plants, making I&C modernisation programmes necessary at least once during the operational lifetime of a NPP. This research topic aims at developing sustainable I&C specifications and design methods which can be shared across Europe in order to ease future I&C modernisation programmes.
- RT 1.2.1: Innovative human-system interaction concepts
The industry will provide modern HSI solutions based on new hardware and software. Then it becomes necessary to understand the potential for improving operation. The research will elaborate different operational concepts and bring empirically-based evidence to predict the impact of different HSI solutions on the different operation concepts.
- RT 1.2.2: Advanced interaction technologies and their applicability in the nuclear field
This topic deals with the use of off-the shelf products such as touch screens and voice recognition for basic applications in the nuclear field. It aims at qualification of such products and the underlying technologies and intends to produce guidelines for their nuclear application.
- RT 1.2.3: Usability of HSI solutions
Usability is a crucial issue for HSI solutions. The research topic deals with both how to assess the usability during the design process and how to validate the usability of the final product in its context of use. It aims at developing relevant methods and tools.
- RT 1.3.1: Development of shared representations supporting integrated design
The purpose of this research is to improve the communication and mutual understanding within multi-disciplinary design teams, by the use of a modelling framework supporting and connecting the viewpoints of the various categories of professionals involved in the design of future nuclear installations.
- RT 1.3.2: Managing socio-technical systems complexity at the design level
The purpose of this research topic is to identify the origins of the complexity of socio-technical systems in view of making the design teams able to manage it better and to minimise negative impacts on operation and safety.
- RT 1.3.3: Proactive task analysis as part of design
The objective of this research is to develop new types of task analyses that are capable of predicting demands of future work. These methods should be applicable in early phases of the design process, and they should elaborate the domain-related control and psychological work demands, define constraints and possibilities for acting, and use these foundations in formulating and testing hypotheses concerning optional solutions for joint technological and human functions.
- RT 1.3.4: Integrated design of socio-technical systems
The purpose of this research is to define a design organisation that is able to integrate the 'non technical' design requirements (e.g. human and organisational aspects) more effectively into the design process by anticipating future work situations at very early design stages.
- RT 2.1: Safety culture
Safety culture is a key area within the nuclear industry. The research will produce a common European framework creating a basis for the development of harmonised techniques for measuring and assessing safety culture and the impact of change on it as well as producing methods and guidelines to strengthen safety culture of utilities and further relevant stakeholders across the EU and beyond.
- RT 2.2: Robustness and vulnerability of organisations
Changes in the nuclear environment (e.g. in the organisation's external conditions and/or in supporting technologies) potentially results in new vulnerabilities jeopardising the effectiveness of organisational provisions. The research aims at acquiring better knowledge of the impacts of such changes and at developing a European approach to measure the impact of organisational factors on safety.
- RT 2.3: Safety management practices
Safety management depends on management practices influencing among others, decision making processes, employees motivation to deal with safety and efficiency issues, cooperation and mutual trust between managers and teams and the balance between autonomy and prescriptions. The research will be established by comparisons of management practices in different NPP's, teams and European countries in order to develop knowledge and evaluate the generic strengths and weaknesses of their practices.
- RT 2.4: Risk management
The research topic deals with the development of risk management approaches tailored to MMO related decision making for the design and the operation of nuclear power plants. The objective is to identify MMO related risk management approaches capable to achieve broad acceptance across various EU Member States and to provide a basis for a European harmonisation of respective approaches.
- RT 2.5: Staffing
Staffing refers to the determination of human resource needs, including the amount of work assigned to each employee, the professional competencies required, and the duration of experience demanded. The research aims at better understanding the potential effects of new technologies on staffing requirements, the different functional staffing models and the possibilities to use them in NPPs, and at better predicting the staffing requirements throughout the plant's lifecycle.
- RT 2.6: Analysis of work practices
The research topic deals with generating empirical evidence of individual and collective behaviour in nuclear power plant work settings. A major objective is to evaluate HSI technologies from the work practice perspective and to proactively influence their development.
- RT 2.7: Human performance tools
The object of this research topic is to assess the impact of INPO human performance tools on NPP operations across Europe. Assessment will be made of the differences in effectiveness of the tools between countries, in different professions, and in comparison with technological aids. Consideration will be given to the financial implications of using human performance tools as compared to engineered solutions.
- RT 2.8: Teamwork
The objective of this research topic is to better understand how teams function and what the critical factors influencing performance and safety are. New forms of spatial and temporal distributed teamwork should be investigated as well the role of the technical system supporting efficient collaborations between people.
- RT 2.9: Occupational health
The object of this research topic is to develop an understanding of the connections and potential synergies that may be exploited between occupational health and safety (OHS) and nuclear safety across multiple European operators. Specifically, the topic will address the issue of the impact of shift patterns and working hours upon OHS and other factors specifically within a nuclear context, and in different countries.
- RT 3.1: Human reliability analysis methods
The objective of this research is to develop an advanced understanding of the performance, strengths, and weaknesses of different human reliability analysis methods used to model human response to adverse conditions in applications of risk-based approaches to nuclear power plant safety and to provide recommendations regarding solutions of weak points in the estimation of the human failure potential.
- RT 3.2: Verification and validation
The object of this research is to improve methods for the verification and validation of complex socio-technical systems. The major objective is to develop methods that can support early phases of the design process by producing relevant knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of the operational concept. There is urgent need for improved methods in this area as existing plants undergo upgrades, and new operational concepts are being developed for future plants.
- RT 3.3: Operating experience on human and organisational factors
The research topic deals with human and organisational aspects of operational experience feedback (OEF) for nuclear facilities. It particularly aims at developing advanced, harmonised methods, solutions and tools for evaluation of operating experience (OE) linked to human and organisational factors, for communication and the dissemination of OE, and for assessing the efficiency of relevant OEF processes.
- RT 3.4: Tools and methods for assessing individuals and crews
The object of this research topic is to assess a wide range of performance measures that could be used to gauge the impact of human factors interventions in the nuclear industry. The topic will specifically address the issue of how best to assess workload in complex control room tasks with multiple operators engaged in multiple, complex and potentially conflicting sub-tasks. The output of the work is expected to provide guidance for HF practitioners who have to assess the impact of their interventions in control room practices or design.
Clustering of RTs and definition of RPs
The definition of RPs has been based on a clustering process with the following objectives in mind:
- subdivide the set of research topics into manageable packages called clusters;
- attribute those topics with the closest thematic links to one cluster;
- limit the thematic links between clusters and provide their coordinated treatment within the same research framework;
- have a balanced relationship between the clusters and the viewpoints;
- achieve visible results for major needs.
As a result of this process, four research clusters been defined each of them building the basis of an RP:
- RP1 'Risk informed decision making in design and operation'
The programme is dedicated to balance human and technological contributions to minimising the risk in the operation of nuclear installations.
- RP2 'Culture and practices for safety
The programme aims at better understanding the conditions for achieving robustness in the organisation of nuclear installations operation.
- RP3 'Integrated design approaches'
The programme aims at better integrating human and organisational factors within the design of future nuclear installations or the renewal of existing I&C systems.
- RP4 'Technological requirements in nuclear and other high risk industries'
The programme aims at achieving coherence between the products offered by the industry for I&C systems and the specific needs of the nuclear and other high risk industries.
Potential impact:
MMOTION is the first EURATOM project dealing with the human dimension.
It is not a collection of RPs proposed by different organisations, with different goals (suppliers, research institutes, utilities, engineering centres), it is really a consensus, strongly negotiated during a two years program. This consensus is now shared and promoted by all the MMOTION members. Thus, the implementation of the proposed programmes or RTs should not pose major issue of understanding; most of the work has already been achieved.
Compared to other research programs on MMO, MMOTION has the particularity to avoid separating technical and human aspects. Instead, the proposal insists on the fact that a power plant has to be designed and operated as a complex technical and human system. Based on this, the potential impact on design and operation could be particularly important. Business plans, methods of design, project management, etc. could be impacted, on a middle term, by MMOTION proposals.
Regarding the implementation of the RPs, it is proposed to build on the structure of European nuclear fission research which is emerging under the SNETP umbrella. The following implementation mechanisms are considered most appropriate:
- Future calls of the EURATOM Framework Programmes for RP1 and RP2 as these programmes are strongly related to safety issues of high public interest.
- The industrial initiatives emerging under the SNETP umbrella for RP3 and RP4 because these programmes mainly respond to needs of the industry with respect to the long term operation of Gen II plants and to Gen III developments.
The MMOTION project also considered non-European MMO research initiatives related to nuclear fission energy. As some of those activities are very significant, especially in the US, it is proposed to share part of the proposed research with non-European and international organisations. In view of the relatively small number of European research organisations with a focus on MMO challenges in nuclear facilities, a networking approach for MMO is considered useful in view of sharing parts of the research programmes established and to initiate negotiations with the relevant organisations.
Project website: http://www.mmotion.org(si apre in una nuova finestra)
