Use of Large Screen Displays in Nuclear Control Room

Technical industries have been growing in size and complexity the last decades, and the monitoring task has been facing new challenges. The influence of human factors in technical systems is critical for the safety, and a well-designed human-system interface (HSI) is of great importance. To support operators in control rooms, the HSI needs to be designed considering the cognitive functions and its possibilities and constraints. Modernised HSIs have resulted in more computer-based control rooms in order to meet the new demands in controlling systems in a safe and effective way. The intentions and appliances of large screen displays, as a part of the digital HSI, are somewhat still unclear. This thesis includes a literature study and a case study that aim to describe how the situation looks today for large screens implemented in nuclear control rooms, in research and empirically. The study covers the intentions of the large screens, how they are implemented and used, and the interface design of the large screens. The literature and empirical results agree that an overview function is the most important for large screens in control rooms. A large screen provides shared information, is viewable for every one in the control room and should be a permanent information source for the operators. In addition, it enhances teamwork. However there is still a lack of specific designs for large screens. If todays shortages of large screen implementions were better considered, more of their possible benefits could be utilized in control room work. Introducing new technology into a system implies a risk for new problems to arise and should therefore be carefully considered