ITER Human Factors Integration Framework
ITER
background
ITER is a large scientific project that is aiming to demonstrate that commercial energy production from fusion is possible. Many believe that fusion has the potential to offer clean and sustainable source of energy. The ITER project was born as a multi-national collaboration between the EU, the USA, Russia, China, India and Korea. The ITER facility is being built at the CEA site in Cadarache, France. The project plans to be producing the first plasma around 2019.
project
With a project of the size and complexity of ITER the engineering challenges are massive. But ITER and the French regulators recognise that the design and operation must also pay close attention to the humans in the system. To this end, CCD was commissioned to develop a project-wide Human Factors Integration Plan
implementation
The initial phases of the project required developing an understanding of the different elements of the system, the structure of the ITER organisation and the views of key stakeholders.
The Plan describes how Human Factors sits within the ITER organisation, the responsibilities and competencies required for those providing Human Factors input and how Human Factors would be considered in the design process. The HFIP described a number of procedures related to the various stages of the ITER lifecycle.
OUTCOME
The HFIP was delivered to the project and now sits as a formal process in the project for consideration by the ITER team and all suppliers. Work packages that emerge from the project are now including consideration of human factors as a key element to the programme.