Authors:

Jonah Lau

Date Created:

Not specified

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About Paper:

The nuclear industry has struggled to bridge the generational gap in technological fluency, an issue illuminated by the 2019 "NSUF University Research Reactor Fitness Study Report" which saw a 60% decrease in research reactors nationwide. This problem threatens the industry's contribution to global decarbonization efforts amidst climate change as research reactors contribute to the bulk development and operation of advanced nuclear technology. Addressing the challenge, this research group has been working on a research project that leverages immersion with the use of contextualized spaces to create Virtual Laboratories (Virtual Labs) for nuclear engineering education, basing this approach on the concepts of Bloom's Affective Domain and Kolb's Experiential Learning Loop. Having developed Matlab scripts that model the physics behind Nuclear engineering Undergraduate Laboratories such as the Geiger Counter, Neutron Detector, and Nuclear Reactor labs, these scripts were then translated to C# and then built into the Unity game engine which powers the Virtual Labs' framework. The Neutron Detection Virtual Lab offers customizable procedures for nuclear electronics and constructing a radiation detection setup, with additional modularity planned. The Geiger counter lab simulates radiation detection using a handheld detector(Geiger Counter), with a move to 3D augmented reality representation in the works. The Virtual Reactor Lab simulates Purdue University's PUR-1 light water open pool reactor, benchmarked with available reactor data. The promise for advancements in technological fluency brought about by these Virtual Labs within the Nuclear Industry could aid in the industry's decarbonization and training efforts as a whole, propelling the sector forward.

Source:

Purdue University / 2023

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Jonah Lau