THE XENON TRAINER. This PC program neatly compliments The Reactor Trainer by illustrating key factors that effect reactor control, and safety, over the longer term, from hours to months.
“The Xenon Trainer” program is a dynamic and powerful educational tool for demonstrating and experiencing xenon, samarium, and core cycle behavior. Selections from The Xenon Trainer can be molded to fit a wide variety of educational needs, including initial operator training, requalification training, Shift Technical Advisor training, and other advanced or specialized training.
The Xenon Trainer assumes that the student user has a minimal introduction to the subject of fission product poisons and core depletion behavior - or to selected topics as appropriate to each module. Ideally this prerequisite knowledge would be acquired through ClassRoom teaching and demonstration by an Instructor, which would then be followed by student hands-on exercise.
The Xenon Trainer model employs the conventional equations for xenon and samarium behavior. The range of operation extends from shutdown to full power. The model operates in accelerated time and exhibits behavior that is representative of a commercial PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) or a BWR (Boiling Water Reactor).
It is also important to recognize what The Xenon Trainer is not. It is not a self-contained educational device. The Xenon Trainer is not specific to a particular plant. There will be differences between it and your plant The Trainer demonstrates many important basic concepts of fission product poison behavior and core depletion behavior. Differences unique to your plant are then easily identifiable by the Instructor.
The Xenon Trainer consists of six modules, three pertaining to fission product poisons, namely xenon, samarium, and decay heat and three pertaining to core depletion effects, namely cross sections and thermal flux, power contributors, and burnable poison effects.The module to be used is chosen from a Module Selection menu . The specification sheet on each module provides a detailed listing of suggested Exercises.
| TRANSIENT FP POISONS | CORE DEPLETION |
| Iodine-Xenon Graphic | Lifetime Cross Sections Graphic |
| Promethium-Samarium Graphic | Power Contributors Graphic |
| Decay Heat Graphic | Burnable Poison Effects Graphic |
The Xenon Trainer incorporates many special features to provide flexibility. These include:
TRAINER CONTROLS and PARAMETER SELECTION
All controls for THE XENON TRAINER are on-screen displays located below the graphic. There are three basic controls, in frames, which are identified by red titles. These are power ramp controls, power step controls, and run/freeze controls. Parameter selections and other options are also located in this screen area. Certain controls and parameter selections are disabled under conditions where there use is not appropriate. When disabled, the frame title or control identification are blurred.
Power Ramp Controls
Power change is linear with time, at a rate selected on the Ramp Rate frame (see options selection).
INC increases power at a specified rate, between zero% and 100% rated. The cursor must be moved to the Power Ramp INC control button and the left mouse button pressed and held for the duration of the power increase. The power increase terminates when the mouse button is released.
DEC decreases power at a specified rate, between 100% and zero% rated. The cursor must be moved to the Power Ramp DEC control button and the left mouse button pressed and held for the duration of the power decrease. The power decrease terminates when the mouse button is released.
Power Step Controls
Power change is instantaneous when an option button selection is made from the Power Step Frame. Selection is made by clicking the desired option button.
This is the primary control for initiating the transient, after parameter selections have been made, and for freezing the transient in mid course, for ClassRoom discussion or study. A transient may be frozen and resumed any number of times during its evolution.
RUN immediately initiates the transient. Transient will not begin until this option button is clicked. Also used to resume transient after freeze.
FREEZE immediately halts transient in mid course. Transient will stop when the FREEZE option button is clicked and will not resume until RUN option button is clicked.
EQN immediately halts transient in mid course. Transient will stop when the EQN option button is clicked and will not resume until return from the Equations (via clicking on GRAPHIC on menu bar) and RUN option button is clicked on Graphic. The Equation displays are shown in Appendix A.
Parameter and Option Selection
Ramp Rate: option buttons for selection of linear rate of power change with time, in units of percent rated power per hour. Rate change can be made at any time during transient. The default value is indicated by the active button (usually the top button).
DEMO : option button selections in the DEMO frame accelerate preset time clock by the factor indicated, for ClassRoom demonstration. Click on the desired option button to accelerate time. Acceleration factor may be changed at any time during transient.
Pm-149: Clicking on this check-box suspends further tracking of the Promethium-149 potential reactivity on the graphic. Subsequent Click resumes tracking. This option, which applies to the Promethium-Samarium Graphic, may be employed at any time during a transient.
Line Width: Clicking on this check-box broadens subsequent line tracks on the graphics. Subsequent Click resumes normal line width. This option may be employed at any time during the transient. This option is useful for large ClassRooms where distant viewing is difficult.
EOC: Clicking on this check-box changes core parameters to End-of-Cycle to illustrate the change in xenon and samarium transient behavior with core life. This option is only available before the transient is initiated.
Shutdown Margin: offers a choice of three burnable poison loadings for tracking keff for the shutdown margin condition. These options are only available on the Depletion: Burnable Poison Effects graphic.
All Rods Out : offers a choice of three burnable poison loadings for tracking keff for the determination of cycle endurance. These options are only available on the Depletion: Burnable Poison Effects graphic.
Not all controls or parameter options are utilized (or appropriate) in every module but, with few exceptions, assignments are consistent between modules.
THE TRAINER MENU BAR
The Menu Bar is used for four purposes, namely, for terminating a transient, for printing a transient displayed on the video screen, for restarting a transient, and/or for returning to the Selection Menu. The menu selections are, from left to right (see page 15 and Appendix A):
RESTART: Clicking on this menu item terminates the current transient, resets time to zero, and offers two options
SELECT: After ending a transient by clicking END, clicking on this menu item returns the program to the Selection Menu.
PRINT:Prints the transient displayed on the screen, using two choices:
END: Ends the transient. Two choices are then available on the Menu Bar ... PRINT the transient or SELECT to return to the Selection Menu. The END option is not included on the Equation display.
GRAPHIC: is on the Equation Menu bar to return to the transient displayed on the Graphic.
EXAMPLE EXERCISES
The following listing includes examples of the types of transients that can be created and examined on The Xenon Trainer:
EXAMPLE SCREEN DISPLAYS - THE XENON TRAINER
Click on any one of the following selections for example screen displays from The Xenon Trainer.
The Xenon Trainer Selection Menu
Steady-State and Peak Xenon Transients
Steady-State and Maximum Samarium Transients