The First Decade of the Human Systems Simulation Laboratory: A Brief History of Human Factors Research in Support of Nuclear Power Plants

The Human Systems Simulation Laboratory (HSSL) was established as a research simulator at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for control room modernization of U.S. nuclear power plants. The effort began in 2010 with the initial identification of the needs to provide support to utilities for instrumentation and control (I&C) system upgrades and for human factors of emerging human-system interaction (HSI) concepts. By 2011, working with nuclear energy utilities and simulator vendors, the first full-scope training simulator was acquired for the HSSL, which enabled direct design and evaluation work on the same I&C and HSI that were found at plants. By 2012, the first glasstop bays were acquired, allowing crews to operate the simulator in a full-scale representation of their home plants. Additional plant models were acquired, and a dedicated purpose-built lab space was established in 2014. That same year, the first functional HSI prototypes were developed, allowing operator-in-the-loop benchmark studies of existing and modernized control room concepts. Specific control systems were designed, prototyped, and evaluated across full-scope studies. New technologies were added and tested such as overview displays, prognostic HSIs, computer-based procedures, and microworld simulators for advanced reactor types. Novel human factors evaluation methods were developed and tested encompassing formative evaluation techniques in support of safety cases, wearable eye tracking, and microtask studies. In 2020, the HSSL received a significant facility and hardware upgrade. The purpose of the HSSL remains to conduct research that supports a wide range of human factors needs related to control rooms.