Analysis of human performance differences between students and operators when using the Rancor Microworld simulator

Abstract

From within the umbrella of the Simplified Human Error Experimental Program (SHEEP) framework, this paper analyzes human performance differences between professional and student operators when using a simplified simulator (i.e., Rancor Microworld). This paper represents a crucial step in understanding the fidelity of the simplified simulators and student operators within the SHEEP study. This paper explores a randomized factorial experimental design that features two independent variables: participant type and event class. Six human per-formance measurements are considered in the experiment. The experiment is conducted using 20 professional reactor operators employed at actual nuclear power plants (NPPs), along with 20 trained students. The exper-imental data are analyzed via statistical analysis methods. Lastly, this paper examines the differences in human performance between actual operators and students when using Rancor Microworld.