MNRSIM: A Research and Training Model of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor




User Manual



MNRSIM needs more than 64Megs of memory to run correctly. It may work on a machine with less memory than this, but it can't be guaranteed to. MNRSIM was designed to work with a screen resolution of 1024x768. If your screen resolution is set to 800x600, probably the windows will be crowded and overlapping, if it is greater than 1024x768 the fonts may appear small. To get reasonable performance from the simulation models at least a 400Mhz machine should be used. MNRSIM is capable of modeling 1 minute of reactor time in 1 second of real time on a 1Ghz machine.

The simulator normally takes 5-15 seconds to initialize itself. The reactor schematic (shown above) presents the main menu choices for the user. MNRSIM loads a default configuration each time it runs. The default configuration that is included with the package has a core which is configured in such a way that it will readily converge.



VCR type buttons appear just above the schematic. These are used to start, stop and rewind the simulation. Each time the simulation is paused a variable snapshot taken. This allows the user to review changes in the model. Normally if the simulation is rewound and then restarted the future timeline must be destroyed. By clicking on the red Rec button, the record feature can be turned off, allowing various branches from the timeline to be explored.



To open one of the four main modules use the mouse pointer to click on one of the four underlined terms in the schematic. Each are described in the following links:

Therm Hyd L1
Therm Hyd L2
Core
Control