A study on the systematic framework to develop effective diagnosis procedures of nuclear power plants

In complex systems such as the nuclear and chemical industry, the importance of a diagnosis procedure has been well recognized, since identifying the nature of an on-going event should be preceded to determine successful countermeasures or remedial actions. Unfortunately, a systematic framework that can suggest a unified and consistent process for constructing useful diagnosis procedures seems to be scant. In this paper, the systematic framework that can provide a sound way in constructing a diagnosis procedure is suggested based on two kinds of technical bases, such as the decision-making strategies of human and the test sequencing technique. To demonstrate the appropriateness of suggested framework, the diagnosis procedure of the reference nuclear power plant is reformed based on it. Subjective ratings are conducted to compare reformed procedure with the original one, and results support that operatorsʹ performance in an event diagnosis could be improved. Thus, although well designed experiments are needed to draw a reliable conclusion, it is expected that suggested framework could be applied to provide a consistent process in constructing useful diagnosis procedures.