Virtual reality: At the service of GEN-IV, and V, and.⋯

Generation II nuclear reactors have benefited significantly from experience gained over the last few decades. In the United States, average down time of these reactors has dropped significantly, leading to an increase of total electricity output despite an almost stagnant number of units. Both, planned (re-fueling) outages as well as unplanned outage times have dropped. Next to longer core life, better training and operator experience are the prime reasons behind this improvement. Nuclear engineers are factoring these experiences into the design of most of the next generation of nuclear reactors. However, with the help of virtual reality representation of these new designs, additional optimization at the design time as well as personnel training after the completion of the reactors is possible. Virtual reality systems can help in optimized layout for operational as well as component replacement exercises. In addition, these systems can also be used for operator training. Furthermore, re-fueling personnel may also be trained on these systems to reduce the downtime. Since GEN-IV designs are still in development stages, the best approach would be to develop a general framework of virtual reality system that can be tailored to specific designs, as needed. As a first step toward this direction, a virtual reality framework is being developed for a generic nuclear reactor. A four-walled CAVE, operating at the National Center of Supercomputing Applications at UIUC campus, is being utilized for this development. Some background material and results of the initial stages of development are presented here.