Education and Training Series #85: Revolutionising Nuclear Engineering Education: Developing Virtual Labs for Neutron Detection, Geiger Counter, and Reactor Experiments
Part of a webinar series hosted by the GIF Education and Training Working Group since 2016.
Who should attend?
Policymakers, industry professionals, regulators, researchers, students, the general public.
About the "GIF Education and Training" Webinars
These webinars, organised by the GIF Education and Training Working Group are streamed live monthly. The recordings and slide decks are accessible after the webinar on this website. These webinars cover a very broad range of technical and policy related topics. At the end of 2023 they have been viewed by more than 15000 people (approximately half of the views during the live streams and the other half views being of the archives on the public GIF website). In total, the GIF webinars have reached Generation IV enthusiasts, scientists, and engineers in more than 80 countries.
These webinars are organised and hosted by the GIF Education and Training Working Group (ETWG).
About this Webinar
In recent years, the Nuclear Industry has been facing the challenge to bridge the gap in technological fluency between generations, as highlighted in the “NSUF University Research Reactor Fitness Study Report” (2019) conducted by Idaho National Labs in collaboration with research reactors in the United States. This gap poses a significant threat to the industry, especially as the world is striving towards global decbarbonization to combat climate change. This urgency prompted our research group to develop a project with the potential to revolutionize the industry and address this challenge by bringing about a nuclear energy renaissance globally. This research project involves developing Virtual Laboratories (Virtual Labs) for nuclear engineering, which will greatly enhance the training experience of students and engineers in the industry. With the math parameterized on Matlab scripts with respect to the physics behind the neutron detector lab, Geiger counter lab, and reactor lab, the scripts could then be converted and developed in C# using the Unity game engine. The Neutron detection Virtual Lab offers instructor-tailored procedures for setting up and plugging of nuclear electronics and aims to develop modular virtual lab electronics for broader applications. The Geiger counter lab simulates radiation detection using the dose rate equation and gamma attenuation equation, with plans to move from 2D to an augmented reality 3D representation. The virtual reactor lab uses point kinetics (PKE) to simulate the PUR-1 light water open pool reactor located at Purdue University, with actual reactor data for benchmarking. The development of these virtual labs not only has the means of bridging the technological fluency and generational gap thus identified in the nuclear industry and assisting in decarbonization efforts but also the potential to integrate with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and take our industry to that next level.
Presentation made during the webinar
Meet the presenter
Mr. Jonah Lau is an undergraduate Nuclear Engineering researcher and student at Purdue University with hopes of starting his own company. In the past, Jonah has worked at a UAS startup called Avetics, in their R&D department, developing drone applications contracted by companies such as Shell O&G, Petronas, etc. His current aim is to deliver Nuclear Engineering places where it is needed the most. He likes to read on game theory, metaphysics, and SSRN.