Visual Style Elements in Human-System Interface Design for Nuclear Power Operations: Does Style Affect Performance and Preference?

Objective: As the world increasingly adopts renewable and sustainable energy systems, transitionary solutions include nuclear power, which currently provides 20% of the United States' electricity and is the largest single source of carbon-free electricity generation. Advanced reactors are a critical component of a carbon-free mixed energy portfolio that require careful design of first-of-a-kind control rooms.

Background: The application of Human Factors Engineering (HFE) is essential for scientific and iterative testing of novel human-system interface (HSI) concepts to ensure effective, efficient, and safe plant operations.

Elaborating the Human Aspect of the NIST Framework for Cyber-Physical Systems.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a Framework for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS Framework) that supports system engineering analysis, design, development, operation, validation and assurance of CPS. Cyber-physical systems (CPS) comprise interacting digital, analog, physical, and human components engineered for function through integrated physics and logic. For instance, a city implementing an advanced traffic management system including real-time predictive analytics and adaptation/optimization must consider all aspects of such a CPS system of systems' functioning and integrations with other systems, including interactions with humans.