Virtual reality based nuclear steam generator ageing and life management systems

Abstract

Steam Generator (SG) is the barrier between primary loop and second loop in a nuclear power plant. As an important device, once SG fails to work due to the aging problem, the safety, economic and reliability of the nuclear power plant will be affected seriously. An important issue in the ageing and life management of SG is the understanding of its structure, operation mechanism and its ageing mechanism. Virtual reality is an advanced human-computer interface that simulates a realistic environment. Virtual environment technologies have been shown to provide invaluable training in the performance of complex procedural tasks. Of paramount importance to the success of any VR is realism; entities must move and behave believably and approximate to the complexity of the real world.A PC (Personal Computer)-based visualization system of SG is developed. The physical structures and the internal interactions of SG in various conditions, even those are invisible in the real world, can be visually demonstrated in detail by this system. This development system can provide vital indications of the equipments' ageing condition, integral evaluation of SG tube and also be useful for the staff training in the Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.