Report 4: Operational Scenarios — Summary¶
Report 4 presents nine conceptual design scenarios grounding the architectural concepts from Reports 1-3 in specific nuclear control room situations. It also covers tool architecture, HSI architecture, procedure-AI interaction, and human/organisational factors.
The Nine Scenarios¶
| # | Scenario | Reactor | Pattern | Primary Concept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | scenario-shift-handover | SMR | Pattern 7 | Heartbeat, SA continuity, memory |
| 2 | scenario-rcs-temperature | PWR | 0 vs 9 | epistemic-independence |
| 3 | scenario-concurrent-alarms | PWR | 9 (5 agents) | Flooding, delivery-modes, context divergence |
| 4 | scenario-safety-verification | PWR | 9 + diversity | common-cause-failure, KG guardrails |
| 5 | scenario-loca | PWR | 9 (7 agents) | Full role deployment, LOCA response |
| 6 | scenario-fuel-monitoring | SMR | 9 + KG | KG grounding, simulator coupling |
| 7 | scenario-instrument-failure | PWR | 9 (3 agents) | Threading, attentional tunnelling |
| 8 | scenario-multi-unit-smr | SMR | 9 (9 agents) | Multi-unit SA scaling |
| 9 | scenario-compound-event | PWR | 9 + diversity | AI failure under compound event, operator override |
Key Design Elements¶
Tool Architecture (Section 11): Defines the tool interfaces agents use to query plant data, retrieve procedures, invoke simulations, and access operating experience databases.
HSI Architecture (Section 12): AI advisory displays must be visually distinct from qualified instrumentation. Typed artefacts provide structured output. The SA Bridge translates agent communication for operator displays.
Procedure-AI Interaction (Section 13): How AI systems interact with EOPs, AOPs, and Tech Specs — procedure as knowledge graph, AI as interpretation layer.
Significance¶
The scenarios are thought experiments, not deployment proposals. They demonstrate why the architectural distinctions between patterns carry practical consequences. Scenario 2 directly compares Pattern 0 vs Pattern 9, showing where single-agent simulation fails and multi-agent operation is required.