"Teaching and Learning Enhancement on Nuclear Reactor Safety with Three Dimensional Visualization and Display"

Description

"Nuclear reactor safety has become more concerned by the public and the students since Fukushima nuclear accident happened in Japan in 2011, and is very important for the current nuclear reactor operation and future nuclear energy development. Nuclear reactor safety is also a major component for the students’ learning processes in nuclear engineering studies. However, due to the complex nature of nuclear power systems, it’s difficult for the students to understand the technology and phenomena involving multiphysics of neutronics, thermal hydraulics and nuclear materials performance. With the three dimensional visualization, it will definitely help the students’ understanding of the fundamentals and applications of nuclear reactor safety, and thus enhance the students’ learning and innovation. The project aims to utilize three dimensional immersive visualization and display technologies to achieve teaching and learning enhancement on nuclear reactor safety (MBE4105 Nuclear Reactor Safety). The project will use three dimensional immersive visualization and display technologies to visualize the main reactor safety related components, for example, nuclear reactor core, control rods, pressure vessel, containment, steam generator, pressurizer, cooling system and safety system. The nuclear reactor system’s thermodynamic performance under normal operation and accident scenarios will also be visualized. Through the visualization of the major components, systems, and their performance under normal operation and accident scenarios, the students will develop much deeper understanding of nuclear reactor safety, will be able to relate the theories to the real applications, and will develop advanced computer simulation and visualization skills in addition to the skills in nuclear engineering. This project team will work together with Prof Jerrfey Shaw’s team to better use the expertise of both nuclear engineering and 3-D immersive display on campus. "