Startup and shutdown thermal modeling of a pressurized water reactor simulator

The field of nuclear engineering is being revitalized after several decades of decreased activity. This new development has resulted in nearly a factor of three increase in enrollment in nuclear engineering programs throughout the Unites States. It is important that this new group of engineers has an opportunity to acquire fundamental reactor operation skills and to have advanced tools that facilitate this component of their education. The capability for use of this pressurized water reactor (PWR) simulator in nuclear engineering education is being implemented as a developmental tool, and initial tests for data acquisition are completed. The first of these experiments involves the startup and shutdown procedures of for a PWR simulator. Subsequent student experiments will involve validation of static and dynamic system models based on data obtained from over twenty measurements of temperature, pressure and flow in the system. Several experiments that use this system will be implemented in the fall 2008 lab curriculum of the University of Tennessee - Nuclear Engineering department.