Publications

A framework for understanding operator decision making in simulated nuclear power plant cyber attacks

Adams, Susan S.; Hendrickson, Stacey M.; Turner, Phillip L.

Malicious cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly prominent due to the advance of technology and methods over the last decade. These attacks have the potential to bring down critical infrastructures, such as nuclear power plants (NPP’s), which are so vital to the country that their incapacitation would have debilitating effects on national security, public health, or safety. Despite the devastating effects a cyber-attack could have on NPP’s, there is a lack of understanding as to the effects on the plant from a discreet failure or surreptitious sabotage of components and a lack of knowledge in how the control room operators would react to such a situation. In this project, the authors are collaborating with NPP operators to discern the impact of cyber-attacks on control room operations and lay out a framework to better understand the control room operators’ tasks and decision points.