The nuclear power industry´s approach to human factors

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a ´Human Factors Regulatory Research Program Plan´ to address the research needs of the NRC regulatory users and many of the broader NRC research recommendations. The program plan lists five current regulatory issues associated with human factors in the nuclear power generation system. These issues include: personnel performance measurements: the personnel subystem; human-system interface; organization and management; and reliability assessment. The author discusses the efforts of the Nuclear Management and Resources Council (NUMARC) to become the coordinating organization that would bring industry expertise to bear on the specific issues related to the NRC Human Factors Research Program.<>