As the nuclear power generation industry’s
workforce ages and retires and as
newcomer countries pursue nuclear power,
a new breed of workers need to be educated
and trained. With this new audience,
existing training methods and support tools
should be enhanced to facilitate learning
and to achieve higher retention rates. The
combination of interactive visualizations
and simulation provides a modern medium
that will not only meet the students’need for
technology and engagement—both in the
classroom and outside the classroom—but
also provide rich and valuable information
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L-3 MAPPS has devised several learning
tools that address these issues and challenges
by allowing the use of “practice by doing”
earlier in the conventional training cycle.
These learning tools are Learning Modules,
System Knowledge Modules and Learning
Simulators. L-3 MAPPS has coupled 2-D
and 3-D computer visualizations with
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simulation-driven animated equipment
and systems to life, allowing immersive
and participatory individual and classroom
learning. L-3 MAPPS is making it possible
to increase student retention rates by
making the learning experience richer,
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Learning Modules
With the Learning Modules, students can
explore how plant equipment is built and
how it works. The external casings can be
dissolved. Components can be rotated and
zoomed to display their inner workings.
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but the physical operation is animated,
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mentally picture equipment operation from
traditional, static 2-D representations.
Learning Modules run within most popular
web browsers, removing the need to
purchase and learn new enabling software.
This makes access to the Learning Modules
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installed locally on the computer used or
on a central server that can be accessed by
all teachers and students. They can access
the modules directly or through simple web
links added to existing courseware such as
PDF documents, PowerPoint presentations,
etc. The user interface is simple, clean and
intuitive, removing technological barriers
between the students and better learning.
System Knowledge Modules
With System Knowledge Modules,
students can explore how systems are built
and how they work. The system graphical
representation (i.e., active diagram) has
the look and feel of a plant drawing (e.g.
piping and instrumentation diagram). A
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system runs behind the scenes to calculate
all the system parameters (e.g. pressures,
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the active diagram. System Knowledge
Modules are fully interactive, allowing
students to operate plant equipment and
monitor the associated system’s real-time
response. Examples of System Knowledge
Modules include plant heating/cooling
systems, level control loops, pump and
motor breaker logic, etc.
Learning Simulators
Learning Simulators have been designed to
assist teaching and learning of major plant
transients and the associated power plant
systems and behavior, by coupling 2-D and
3-D interactive visualizations with high-
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the Nuclear Steam Supply System, the goal
is to increase the student’s understanding
and retention of system behavior and major
plant events by capitalizing on important
teaching principles such as “seeing is
understanding” and “interacting helps
remember.”
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Simulator is that of the containment
building, populated to scale with the major
components of the reactor, reactor coolant
system and the emergency core cooling
systems. This 3-D view helps the student
understand the system’s spatial orientation
and geometry. Students can even look inside
the equipment to see equipment internals
and can turn on and off labels naming the
various equipment or components. The
same 3-D models are then used to show
and explain the equipment and system’s
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simulation. The Learning Simulator takes
simulator-calculated nodal properties
such as temperature, pressure and void
fraction, and displays them within 3-D
models of the plant piping and equipment
using color maps. As system properties
change, colors change accordingly,
translating simulator data into changing
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driven 3-D visualization provides a new
way of looking at a system’s behavior by
presenting a comprehensive graphical
representation of the complete system’s
state. Capitalizing on the concept of
“seeing is understanding,” the Learning
Simulator converts thousands of data
points into a simple, easy-to-understand
dynamic image. To complete the picture,
the Learning Simulator is also provided
with an Analysis Screen that conveys
additional engineering information on a
2-D representation of the system, a mass
and energy balance bar-graph as well
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understand the evolutions of the system’s
properties and behavior.
Making Nuclear
Learning Better
For more information, visit
or
contact us at:
Globe Valve Learning Module
4-Loop PWR Learning Simulator
Plant Heating System Knowledge Module
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