The Customer:

Members of the CSR have performed work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Division of Facility Operations and Division of Systems Technology since the early 1980s.

The Work:

For the most part the work has involved developing methods to quantitatively estimate the human reliability of operators and workers in nuclear power plants. The most extensively used technique, the technique for human error rate prediction (THERP) was developed by Sandia in the early 1980s. In the mid-to-late 1980s, Sandia and its contractors developed a human error data bank for the NRC, which later was implemented by the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Sandia and the CSR are currently managing the refinement of ATHEANA (A Technique for Human Event Analysis), which enhances the ability to analyze and predict human errors of commission.

 
Key Benefits:

• Accurately assess the safety on nuclear power operations
• Provide engineers quantitative estimates of human error for probabilistic risk assessments
• Identify weaknesses in control room designs and other human-system interfaces
• Comparatively assess the relative benefits of two or more design alternatives

Results:

• Provided THERP, an internationally renown technique for addressing human error
• Provided the first generation human error databank for nuclear power
• Provided ATHEANA, the next generation HRA technique

References:

1. Miller, D.P. and A.D. Swain, Human error and human reliability. Chap. 2.8 in G. Salvendy (Ed.), Handbook of Human Factors, New York: Wiley, 1987.

2. Miller, D.P., and M.K. Comer, Process evaluation of the Human Reliability Data Bank. Twelfth Water Reactor Safety Research Information Meeting, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD, Oct. 22-26, 1984 , NUREG/CP-0058, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Wash. DC, January 1985.

3. Comer, M.K., D.P. Miller, and M.D. Donovan, Human reliability data bank: Feasibility study.  In Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 28th Annual Meeting. Human Factors Society, Santa Monica, October 1984.

4. Miller, D.P., Concept development of the Human Reliability Data Bank. In Vol. 6 of Eleventh Water Reactor Safety Research Information Meeting, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD, Oct. 24-28, 1983, NUREG/CP-0048, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Wash., DC, January 1984.