Multidisciplinary Framework for Human Reliability Analysis with an Application to Errors of Commission and Dependency (NUREG/CR-6265, BNL-NUREG-52431)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: July 1995
Date Published: August 1995

Prepared by:
M.T. Barriere, BNL, J. Wreathall, JW&Co., S.E. Cooper, SAlC,
D.C. Bley, PLG, W.J. Luckas, Jr., BNL, A. Ramey-Smith, NRC

Contractor
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton, NY 11973

Subcontractors
John Wreathall and Company
Dublin, OH 43017

Science Applications International Corporation
Reston, VA 22090

PLG, Incorporated,
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Prepared for:
Division of Systems Technology
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
NRC Job Code L2415

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Abstract

Since the early 1970s, human reliability analysis (HRA) has been considered to be an integral part of probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs). Nuclear power plant (NPP) events, from Three Mile Island through the mid-1980s, showed the importance of human performance to NPP risk. Recent events demonstrate that human performance continues to be a dominant source of risk. In light of these observations, the current limitations of existing HRA approaches become apparent when the role of humans is examined explicitly in the context of real NPP events. The development of new or improved HRA methodologies to more realistically represent human performance is recognized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as a necessary means to increase the utility of PRAs. To accomplish this objective, an Improved HRA Project, sponsored by the NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES), was initiated in late February, 1992, at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to develop an improved method for HRA that more realistically assesses the human contribution to plant risk and can be fully integrated with PRA. This report describes the research efforts including the development of a multidisciplinary HRA framework, the characterization and representation of errors of commission, and an approach for addressing human dependencies. The implications of the research and necessary requirements for further development also are discussed.