Development of Input/Output System for the Reactor Transient Analysis System (RETAS)

A Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety Reactor Transient Analysis System (KINS-RETAS) aims at providing a realistic prediction of core and RCS response to the potential or actual event scenarios in Korean nuclear power plants (NPPs). A thermal hydraulic system code MARS is a pivot code of the RETAS, and used to predict thermal hydraulic (TH) behaviors in the core and associated systems. MARS alone can be applied to many types of transients, but is sometimes coupled with the other codes developed for different objectives. Many tools have been developed to aid users in preparing input and displaying the transient information and output data. Output file and Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) that help prepare input decks, as seen in SNAP (Gitnick, 1998), VISA (K.D. Kim, 2007) and display aids include the eFAST (KINS, 2007). The tools listed above are graphical interfaces. The input deck builders allow the user to create a functional diagram of the plant, pictorially on the screen. The functional diagram, when annotated with control volume and junction numbers, is a nodalization diagram. Data required for an input deck is entered for volumes and junctions through a mouse-driven menu and pop-up dialog; after the information is complete, an input deck is generated. Display GUIs show data from MARS calculations, either during or after the transient. The RETAS requires the user to first generate a set of 'input', two dimensional pictures of the plant on which some of the data is displayed either numerically or with a color map. The RETAS can generate XY-plots of the data. Time histories of plant conditions can be seen via the plots or through the RETAS's replay mode. The user input was combined with design input from MARS developers and experts from both the GUI and ergonomics fields. A partial list of capabilities follows. - 3D display for neutronics. - Easier method (less user time and effort) to generate 'input' for the 3D displays. - Detailed view of data at volume or junction with just a mouse click on the screen. - Interactive MARS run control (start, pause, restart, replay and stop). - Easy access to MARS peripherals. - Easy access to helpful applications such as text editor and spreadsheet. - Portability across workstations (UNIX) and PCs (Windows 98, Me, Xp, 2003 or Vista). - Window/menu/ mouse interfaces. These ideas were used as the basis for the design of RETAS. The result is a fundamentally new kind of GUI in the nuclear power plant analysis field. MARS is no longer the central focus, but rather, the focus becomes doing nuclear safety analyses from a central workspace with an arsenal of tools at the analyst's disposal. The workspace is the same on any PC, but with the native look and feel of the platform. MARS is the principal application; but others are accessible through the workspace and can be used simultaneously and in conjunction with one another to enhance the user's ability to do complicated analyses