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Nuclear Reactor Simulator

dalton-nrs.manchester.ac.uk

31–40 of 139 posts

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#31
My favorite classic NPP simulator is SIMULA-C by Ralph Reuhl. I'm only finding this report [1] (from my comment history, hah), but both the C source code as well as MS-DOS executables were available. Back when I knew what the URL is, the Wayback Machine could fetch the .exe files but not the source archive.

Anyone remember this one? A screenshot can be found in the PDF at the end.

[1] https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:29043408

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#32

It's neat. What exactly am I controlling with the steam generator lever, the pump at the bottom? With the control rods it's more obvious since they move on the diagram.

You're controlling the flow of water through the steam generator.

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#33

Seems impossible to make it meltdown and explode. Shutting off the coolant just makes it automatically SCRAM. No incoming tsunamis threaten to swamp your diesel generators, no xenon pits to slowly climb out of. Booooring. ;-)

There are some user-submitted levels in The Powder Toy that cover a subset of your requirements: https://powdertoy.co.uk/Browse/View.html?ID=5170

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#34

Seems impossible to make it meltdown and explode. Shutting off the coolant just makes it automatically SCRAM. No incoming tsunamis threaten to swamp your diesel generators, no xenon pits to slowly climb out of. Booooring. ;-)

[deleted]

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#35

I must seem completely seem out of place nowadays, but I actually learned that in school in Germany. Not to the nitty gritty detail, of course, but we spent a double lesson on every reactor type. What I've taken from it and remember to this day is that you usually can determine the reactor type from the shape of the building.

Here's the BBC's revision guide for 16 year olds in England and Wales. Only one reactor type:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zyqnrwx/revision/2

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#36

Seems impossible to make it meltdown and explode. Shutting off the coolant just makes it automatically SCRAM. No incoming tsunamis threaten to swamp your diesel generators, no xenon pits to slowly climb out of. Booooring. ;-)

They should have a "Chernobyl mode" where it CAN happen. Add graphite tips to the control rods (or whatever else was the problem)

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#37
This reminds me of a game idea I have.

I want to build a game where players assemble various components into engines or systems. Building the required system is itself a bit of a puzzle, but then players must also demonstrate that they can control the system using sensors and switches, etc, despite failures of various components. Can you build a reactor? If something breaks, can you figure out what broke using the sensors you placed? Can you fix the system with the switches you placed?

My favorite thing about flight simulators was always the simulated avionics. I get to click simulated buttons and watch simulated gauges, I love it.

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#38

Seems impossible to make it meltdown and explode. Shutting off the coolant just makes it automatically SCRAM. No incoming tsunamis threaten to swamp your diesel generators, no xenon pits to slowly climb out of. Booooring. ;-)

My biggest beef with nuclear (and I've always said this) is its just so unsexy. No mushroom shapes, no passionate explosions followed by restful oblivion at the end. Its just reliable and faithful and keeps on pluggin' away. I like to live a little dangerously, and you should too!

I'm not so sure. There was a news article today about a leaky storage site for nuclear waste, coincidentally not too far from Manchester. [0] There are more ways than explosions to cause ecological devastation.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/05/sellafield-...

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#39
How bizarre! Me and a colleague ( who's still a good friend ) wrote this in like, 2012-2013! Well, more accurately we ported this from a older Delphi/Pascal program that was using raw OpenGL calls ( a legitimately very impressive bit of code for what it was written in ) into WebGL ( a relatively new piece of technology at the time )

The primary reason for porting this to a modern platform was ( as far as I understood ) so that it could be run on interactive events for schools and such. It's definitely more optimised for fun than realism. I remember a few good memories of various people who were actually nuclear engineers complaining that realistically the demand would never change that fast on any commercial nuclear power plant!

Re: Nuclear Reactor Simulator

#40

The very first nuclear plant simulator I ever played with was a primitive text-based program, running on a DEC 11/780. To win the game you had to average a certain number of MWh over each turn (days). It seemed easy, just turn it on and let it run, but there was a catch. The game simulated normal fatigue, meaning that the longer it ran, the more likely something would go wrong. Also, the higher power you ran, the fas…

Might it have been Oakflat Nuclear Power Plant Simulator[1] you're thinking of? I'm not aware of a version that ran on the DEC but it might very well have existed and it sounds quite similar. I can certainly credit it for developing my unhealthy fascination with nuclear power. Also perhaps my unhealthy tendency to push buttons and see what happens! [1] https://www.mobygames.com/game/62490/the-oakflat-nuclear-pow...

Nope, much more primitive than that. I played it on paper terminal in the late 70s/early 80s.
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