NUKEFACT #15

THE PERSONAL COMPUTER - A POWERFUL EDUCATIONAL TOOL

last update April 8, 1997

Many Training Departments successfully employ special hardware, in the form of equipment, tools, and components, to supplement ClassRoom training. Electrical panels are common, as are Instrumentation & Control Panels. Control drive mechanisms are popular for student mechanical exercises. Scale models of reactor vessel internals see widespread usage. Excessed valves, motors, pumps, etc. are recycled as valuable training aids. And there are other examples. Besides their proven worth to learning effectiveness, these devices offer the student a welcome relief from the never ending ClassRoom lecture.

Only a few years ago the Personal Computer (PC) was being touted as the salvation of modern day education. It was called CAT, Computer Assisted Training, or CAE, Computer Assisted Education. It has certainly taken its time benefitting nuclear training, although there are a few outstanding applications of multimedia. As it turns out, the computer is an ideal vehicle for demonstrating reactor behavior in the ClassRoom, sans radiation, except from the monitor.

In fact, all example graphics presented in these NUKEFACTs are derived from a PC reactor kinetics program, called The Reactor Trainer. This program was originally designed and customized for teaching of reactor behavior ... either via a PWR version or a BWR version. By supporting topics extending from basic behavioral concepts to realistic operational transients, the Trainer has seen use for a wide variety of educational needs, including initial License training, Requalification training, Shift Technical Advisor training, and other advanced or specialized training.

Examples of how this technology energizes the ClassRoom are as many, all of which offer major advantage over the standard lecture or textbook study.

• Instructor ClassRoom Demonstration - using an overhead computer-projector or a computer-TV convertor.
• Instructor WorkShop - with each student operating a PC, the Instructor leads the class through selected exercises.
• Small Group Demonstration - if overhead projection or TV conversion is not available, the Instructor may opt to demonstrate selected evolutions on the PC monitor to groups of 2 or 3 students.
• Instructor Supervised Student Operation - the Instructor may choose to oversee an individual student or a small group, as selected exercises are performed by the students.
• Student Independent Practice - each student may be assigned a set of evolutions to perform and then to explain and discuss with the class as a whole.
• Student Self-Study and Learning - the student may elect to spend additional hands-on time to enhance his understanding or to experiment.

CONCEPTS
A. Delayed Neutron Characteristics
B. The Power, Source, and Multiplication Diagrams
C. The Reactor Rate Diagrams

REAL TIME GRAPHICS
D. Basic Transients - Reactor Rate versus Time
E. The PWR (BWR) Real Time Graphics
F. The PWR (BWR) Control Panel

The neutronics consist of a point kinetics model with six-delay groups and a non-fission neutron source. The range of operation extends from shutdown to full power. The model operates in real time and exhibits behavior that is representative of an actual PWR or BWR. Many special features are provided for flexibility of application. These include:

• adjustable ramp reactivity rate; alterable during transient
• scram capability
• B-10 poison control (PWR)
• negative,zero, or positive temperature coefficient; alterable during transient
• negative and zero doppler coefficient; alterable during transient
• void coefficient (BWR)
• a selection of beta values
• a random number generator sets an unknown critical rod position for reactor startup
• steam control (and flow control - BWR)
• a time accelerator expedites demonstration of extended evolutions
• simultaneous display relates graphic and meter response
  
• a digital display of supplementary parameters is available
  
• hardcopy of completed transient exercise is optional
  

It is widely recognized that worker productivity is limited by the tools available to do the job. In the ClassRoom this "productivity" translates into teaching and learning effectiveness. Capital investment, as required to keep abreast of today's rapidly evolving technology, is a must for such advanced productivity. We now have instructional tools, such as The Reactor Trainer, that give a boost to conventional ClassRoom teaching and learning ... and do so in a spectacular fashion.