MEPhI has successfully completed a demonstration launch of a virtual nuclear reactor, which is a digital twin of the IRT MEPhI research reactor located on the territory of the university. The development of the digital reactor was implemented with the support of the Priority-2030 program.
The demonstration launch was attended by MEPhI employees involved in the development of the IRT digital twin, and students of the Belarusian State University, who have an annual practice at our university. Guests from Belarus were able to see the work of the reactor operator at the control panel and ask questions. Explanations were given to the students by the developers of the digital twin under the guidance of the Deputy Director of the Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering (INPhE) of the MEPhI, Professor Georgy Tikhomirov.
The role of the operator was performed by Pavel Kiryukhin, an engineer at the Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering, who worked in a virtual reality helmet. This allowed him to be, as it were, inside the control room of the reactor, his movements accurately reflected the actions of the operator. By turning his head, the operator could demonstrate on the computer screen not only the room of the control room and instrument readings, but also the Cherenkov glow over the active zone of the virtual reactor when the nominal power was reached.
The reactor start-up took place in full compliance with the regulations established for IRT MEPhI. The audience could observe the change in the indicators of devices on the remote control. At the same time, the operator deliberately made mistakes twice in order to demonstrate the reset of emergency protection rods.
The operation of the virtual reactor is based on mathematical models that have been validated using data obtained over 40 years of operation of the IRT MEPhI reactor.
Several scientific groups are currently working on the creation of a digital twin of the reactor. Specialists of the Laboratory of Virtual and Augmented Reality and the Department of Theoretical and Experimental Physics of Nuclear Reactors develop mathematical models of the physical processes occurring inside the reactor and design scenarios for the operation of a virtual reactor. The operational staff of IRT MEPhI provides advisory assistance. The employees of the Higher Engineering School undertook the creation of geometric models of all material elements of the reactor.
According to Georgy Tikhomirov, the created digital twin is a new generation simulator, the development, operation, and most importantly, the scaling of which can be done cheaper and faster than in the case of traditional full-scale simulators “in metal”. In particular, it is relatively easy to organize remote work on a virtual simulator.
In 2023, a series of laboratory works and training materials will be developed for the digital facility, assuming various scenarios for the operation of a research reactor. At the same time, it is planned to consider not only normal operation modes, but also extreme situations associated with equipment failure. In the future, it is planned to create a virtual nuclear installation, which can be used not only for educational, but also for research purposes.
