ABSTRACT
One of the classic human-factors studies was precipitated by the confusion pilots experienced when operating controls that had identical round knobs. The selection of nuclear-power-plant operators, as well as operators of fossil fuel and hydroelectric plants, is being studied by a consulting firm, Personnel Decisions Research Institute with support from an industry research organization, the Edison Electric Institute. The training of nuclear-power-plant operators is an extension of the informal training traditionally given to operators in the less complicated fossil fuel plants. The operators of nuclear-power plants are required to pass a federal licensing procedure administered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The design of the typical control room evinces little consideration for the interaction between the operators and the dials and indicators from which they receive information and the switches with which they control the power plant. The accident at Three Mile Island has forced the nuclear industry to acknowledge a badly neglected aspect of nuclear-power-plant safety-the human equation.
