Demonstration linked three sites including PUR1 nuclear plant in Indiana
For the first time, researchers from Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Purdue University in the US have remotely and automatically adjusted the power of a research reactor in real time, with the reactor’s own safety systems retaining full control throughout.
Working with PUR1, a low-power research reactor at Purdue, the team first demonstrated remote power adjustments through an automatic adjustment system called a digital control loop. The team then made the loop further autonomous using a reinforcement learning model running in software that simulates how physical forces interact within the reactor.
The demonstration linked three sites operating together in real time: high-performance computing systems in Idaho, the PUR1 reactor in Indiana, and a Microsoft Azure cloud environment in Virginia.
“Researching autonomous operations is essential to the future of nuclear energy; it’s a key component of making future nuclear power plants safer, more efficient, and more reliable,” said Chris Ritter, scientific computing and AI division director at INL.
“The idea is that if you can model a reactor with enough fidelity, you can eventually let AI safely assist in operating it.
“The safety case is what makes this real: the system analyses, predicts, and adjusts, but the reactor’s own safety controls always have the final say in this experiment.”
During the demonstration, the team calculated and delivered instructions for the movement of an auxiliary control rod through INL’s DeepLynx, an advanced data and control platform, using cloud-based connectivity with the PUR1 digital twin, and INL high-performance computing systems.
From Idaho Falls, Idaho, the team fine-tuned reactor power to minimize small power fluctuations and maintained steady reactor operation. The team demonstrated these live autonomous reactor adjustments without any manual control-rod manipulation on site.
“This advancement greatly expands the kinds of experiments and control system research we can perform at PUR1,” said Stylianos Chatzidakis, assistant professor in the School of Nuclear Engineering and associate reactor director of PUR1 at Purdue.
“Collaborations with national laboratories strengthen our ability to explore innovative reactor technologies and train the next generation of nuclear engineers.”
