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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
NRC updating GEIS rule for new nuclear technology
The Nuclear Regulatory Agency is issuing a proposed generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) for use in reviewing applications for new nuclear reactors.
In an April 17 memo, NRC secretary Carrie Safford wrote that the commission approved NRC staff’s recommendation to publish in the Federal Register a proposed rule amending 10 CFR Part 51, “Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.”
Michael T. Rowland, Lee T. Maccarone, Andrew J. Clark
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 3 | March 2023 | Pages 471-487
Technical Paper—Instrumentation and Controls | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2087841
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Information Harm Triangle (IHT) is a novel approach that aims to adapt intuitive engineering concepts to simplify defense in depth for instrumentation and control (I&C) systems at nuclear power plants. This approach combines digital harm, real-world harm, and unsafe control actions (UCAs) into a single graph named “Information Harm Triangle.” The IHT is based on the postulation that the consequences of cyberattacks targeting I&C systems can be expressed in terms of two orthogonal components: a component representing the magnitude of data harm (DH) (i.e., digital information harm) and a component representing physical information harm (PIH) (i.e., real-world harm, e.g., an inadvertent plant trip). The magnitude of the severity of the physical consequence is the aspect of risk that is of concern. The sum of these two components represents the total information harm.
The IHT intuitively informs risk-informed cybersecurity strategies that employ independent measures that either act to prevent, reduce, or mitigate DH or PIH. Another aspect of the IHT is that the DH can result in cyber-initiated UCAs that result in severe physical consequences. The orthogonality of DH and PIH provides insights into designing effective defense in depth. The IHT can also represent cyberattacks that have the potential to impede, evade, or compromise countermeasures from taking appropriate action to reduce, stop, or mitigate the harm caused by such UCAs. Cyber-initiated UCAs transform DH to PIH.