Experience with the AECL digital console

At the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), it is believed that nuclear engineering students should have the opportunity to operate a nuclear reactor, perform experiments with reactor and radiation instrumentation, and perform a series of reactor physics experiments. These activities are done at the Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR), a General Atomic Mark III TRIGA reactor. The PSBR, which is part of the Penn State Radiation Science and Engineering Center, is the longest operating university reactor in the US. Through periodic upgrades over its 34-yr lifetime, the facility has enabled the nuclear engineering department to familiarize students with the current instrumentation technology that they would expect to find in industry. The present reactor instrumentation and control system is >25 yr old and is no longer representative of current reactor instrumentation and control technology. The new reactor console was designed to provide the PSBR with safe and reliable operation in four different modes: manual, automatic, square wave, and pulse. It utilizes a reliable hardwired analog system for safety-related functions. All nonsafety-related functions are implemented with computer technology