EVALUATION OF GENERAL FAILURE TYPES IN SAFETY ANALYSIS

THIS WORK IS TO DEVELOP A METHOD TO IMPROVE THE ABILITY OF THE USNRC TO EVALUATE THE OPERATIONAL SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE OF OCCURANCES AT NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. PERHAPS THE AREA OF GREATEST SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE IS HUMAN PERFORMANCE, BUT THE TECHNIQUES USED BY NRC DO NOT EVALUATE HUMAN PERFORMANCE IN ANY SYSTEMIC WAY. THE WORK IS PROPOSED TO BE PERFORMED IN THREE STAGES, AND BUILDS ON METHODS THAT HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN ONE NRC PROGRAM. THE FOCUS OF THE METHOD IS TO EVALUATE WHAT HAVE BEEN TERMED GENERAL FAILURE TYPES (GFTS). THESE GFTS ARE HIGH-LEVEL INFLUENCES ON HUMAN PERFORMANCE THAT ARE COMPARABLE BETWEEN PLANTS AND OPERATIONAL EVENTS. THE THREE STAGES ARE: (1) TO EVALUATE A SPECTRUM OF OPERATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE GFTS; (2) TO EVALUATE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THERE ARE PROFILES OF GFT CONTRIBUTIONS ACCORDING TO THE SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EVENTS; AND (3) TO DEVELOP AN OUTLINE SPECIFICATION FOR AN EVALUATION TOOL TO BE USED IN MONITORING PLANT PERFORMANCE PROACTIVELY. FINAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS T0OL WOULD BE PROPOSED IN A FUTURE PHASE II PROJECT.