Belarusian State University to use VR to train nuclear power plant specialists

MINSK, 8 April (BelTA) – Students of the Belarusian State University majoring in nuclear and radiation safety will be trained using a modern virtual simulator Atomic Keeper Education. The simulator will allow practicing skills in the area of accounting and control of nuclear materials in addition to responding to emergencies that may be encountered in the course of the process, the press service of the Belarusian State University (BSU) told BelTA.

Such specialists are in demand because the Belarusian nuclear power plant has adopted a unique automated system for accounting, control, and monitoring of nuclear materials. Dubbed as Atomic Keeper, the system is also designed to prepare prompt reports. The documents can be automatically filled in and compiled into a report intended for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The creation of the simulator is in the final phase. Students will be able to use it to practice handling real situation at a nuclear power plant in addition to studying its user interface. For instance, students will be invited to prepare a report for the International Atomic Energy Agency on their own and describe a complicated sequence of actions involved in the handling of nuclear fuel. The results will be compared to a genuine report in order to see errors and shortcomings right away. Professors will be able to observe how the students do the job from a PC, a phone, or any other mobile device. The simulator will also be used for advanced training of Belarusian nuclear power plant specialists. About 30 students will be trained every year in addition to up to ten specialists.

The simulator has been designed by the industrial software development company Applied Systems under the leadership of Yevgeny Khadzhinov and Olga Khadzhinova, who are professors with the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the International Sakharov Environmental Institute of the Belarusian State University.