Systematic Analysis of Dependent Human Errors From the Maintenance History at Finnish NPPs - A Status Report
Activity Acronym:
SOS-2.2
Authors:
Kari Laakso
Abstract:
Operating experience has shown missed detection events, where faults have
passed inspections and functional tests to operating periods after the maintenance
activities during the outage. The causes of these failures have often been
complex event sequences, involving human and organisational factors. Especially
common cause and other dependent failures of safety systems may significantly
contribute to the reactor core damage risk. The topic has been addressed
in the Finnish studies of human common cause failures, where experiences on
latent human errors have been searched and analysed in detail from the maintenance
history.
The review of the bulk of the analysis results of the Olkiluoto and Loviisa plant
sites shows that the instrumentation & control and electrical equipment is more
prone to human error caused failure events than the other maintenance and that
plant modifications and also predetermined preventive maintenance are significant
sources of common cause failures. Most errors stem from the refuelling and
maintenance outage period at the both sites, and less than half of the dependent
errors were identified during the same outage. The dependent human errors
originating from modifications could be reduced by a more tailored specification
and coverage of their start-up testing programs. Improvements could also be
achieved by a more case specific planning of the installation inspection and functional
testing of complicated maintenance works or work objects of higher plant
safety and availability importance. A better use and analysis of condition monitoring
information for maintenance steering could also help. The feedback from
discussions of the analysis results with plant experts and professionals is still
crucial in developing the final conclusions and recommendations that meet the
specific development needs at the plants.