Students gain hands-on experience in nuclear plant management
A Texas A&M lab offers unique opportunities for undergraduate students to experience managing nuclear power plants through full computer simulations.
Undergraduate nuclear engineering students gather around digital simulations of nuclear power plant control systems.
Nuclear engineering students at Texas A&M University recently stepped into the roles of licensed reactor operators, gaining hands-on experience with the systems and decision-making processes that power nuclear energy facilities.
In April, junior and senior undergraduate students in nuclear engineering professor Dr. Cable Kurwitz’s Nuclear Plant Systems and Transients course visited the department’s Reactor Simulator Lab, part of the Advanced Energy Systems Laboratory. The lab features a full-scope generic pressurized water reactor (PWR) simulator provided by GSE Solutions, a leading developer of reactor simulation technology in the United States.
“This was our first time bringing students back into the simulator lab since the pandemic,” said Tyler Gates, a Ph.D. candidate in nuclear engineering who manages the simulator facility. “Our goal is to expand these experiences so that students regularly engage with realistic plant operations as part of their coursework.”
The simulator models nearly every component in a nuclear power plant and replicates the control room panels used by licensed operators. The generic PWR simulation is based on a Westinghouse three-loop design — one of the most common reactor types in operation that has provided clean, reliable electricity to the U.S. grid for more than 50 years.
Full-scope simulators are a cornerstone of nuclear operator training. U.S. nuclear power plants are required to maintain plant-referenced simulators to train and qualify operators. Before earning a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), operators typically complete up to 18 months of classroom and simulator-based instruction.
The Texas A&M simulator lab mirrors, on a smaller physical scale, the capabilities of premier nuclear human factors research facilities such as Idaho National Laboratory, the NRC’s technical training centers and Norway’s Institute for Energy Technology’s Halden Human Technology Organisation Project. While more compact, the lab uses the same class of simulation software found in these leading research environments, making it a uniquely powerful educational tool.
While a handful of universities maintain similar simulators, Texas A&M is among the few to actively integrate full-scope simulator experiences into undergraduate coursework.
“The purpose of the simulator is to give our students unique hands-on experiences not only observing how nuclear power units operate, but also stepping into reactor operator roles,” said nuclear engineering professor Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov, who oversees the lab. “Only the use of these simulators makes that possible for our students.”
Students worked directly with the simulator to explore plant operating modes and analyze real-time data from simulated plant instruments. They were divided into teams and assigned industry-relevant roles, such as senior reactor operator, reactor operator at the controls and balance of plant operator. Each team worked collaboratively in a time-constrained environment to gather and interpret critical data, mirroring the teamwork and communication required in an actual nuclear plant control room.
“Several students commented on how the simulator provided them with a new perspective on the complexity of the nuclear plant,” Kurwitz said. “Others indicated how the activity cemented how the various systems worked together to produce power.”
The department plans to build on this effort by incorporating additional simulator-based labs and activities. Future exercises will include working with real plant procedures, including reactor startup operations and accident response scenarios using emergency operating procedures.
Undergraduate researchers have already begun developing new exercises that will allow students to perform full reactor startups using authentic plant procedures.
Researchers believe experiences like these play a critical role in preparing students for the nuclear workforce. Graduates who develop practical, team-based operational skills are better equipped to enter the industry — not only as reactor operators, but as engineers, technicians and future leaders in nuclear energy.
