[en] With experience from many years of data collection in the Man - Machine and Virtual Reality Laboratories at the OECD Halden Reactor Project, an evident need for more efficient handling of questionnaire data was documented. A working prototype on-line system for World Wide Web (www) questionnaire generation and data collection was developed and tested. This paper discusses the use of www-based data collection and the need for system functionality in experiments and surveys. Insights from the development of the system are reported together with experiences using such tools in simulation and realistic field experimentation. (Author)

[en] The Fugen Nuclear Power Station (NPS) was shut down permanently in March 2003, and preparatory activities are underway to decommission the Fugen NPS. It is necessary to accomplish the decommissioning economically and rationally by optimizing the workload, exposure dose and waste mass. This is important at the planning stage of the decommissioning. Virtual reality (VR) technology may prove beneficial to this process with regard to minimizing the workers' radiation exposure as well as contributing towards achieving efficient use of manpower. It could also be a valuable tool in the actual dismantling phase. In addition to this, VR provides an effective medium in presentations for public acceptance as well as for communication with relevant engineers. The VRdose project conducted by Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) and Halden Virtual Reality Centre is doing research and development of VR technology for use in the decommissioning process at the Fugen NPS. This is technically an extensive project, touching on many of the present challenges in the VR area such as visual simulation and animation, interaction with objects in a virtual environment and scenario generation and optimisation. This paper describes the present status and future of the system. (Author)

[en] In the VRdose R5 version the connection with the dynamic radiation evaluation system (DRES) was the main task. DRES can calculate the dose rate field of the Fugen plant in detail. By inserting special markers into the scenario, VRdose tells DRES what changes have been made to the model. The changes are about objects that are inserted, removed, cut or moved. DRES will then calculate new dose rate fields reflecting these changes. VRdose uses the new dose rate fields in the dose calculation of the workers in the scenario. The dose rate fields are switched automatically as VRdose plays the scenario and in the dose calculation. To minimize the calculation needed for DRES, VRdose can provide a volume enclosing only the area of interest for a given scenario and give the resolution of the calculation in all axes. In addition to the DRES connection, version R5 retrieves information about the objects in the model from the Fugen object database. Among the large amount of information available, are size, weight and surface contamination of co-60 used. The wizard uses the size and weight information in the calculation of the man-work required. The surface contamination is used in a new feature that colonizes the objects after the contamination value. This makes it easier for workers to become aware of the contamination of pipes and pumps etc. R5 has been internationalized on all menus, buttons, messages and other text. VRdose can therefore be translated into any desired language. A feasibility study has been made into using Japanese characters in names and properties in the scenario. Printing of the 3D view has been implemented, which is useful for documenting. The scenario can also be printed, both as a graphical representation and in a textual report format. Other functionality that can be mentioned is output from the wizard to Cosmard and the saving of viewpoints. The manikins wear different protection masks and in version R5 the efficiency of the protection can be changed for each nuclide. A special database administrator program has been developed to increase the security of the VRdose database. Several other minor changes have been made, such as the ability to switch between extern dose and nuclide intake in the dose graph panels. (author)

[en] The paper presents a subset of the research and development performed over the last decade by the OECD Halden Reactor Project (HRP) using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in design, operation, maintenance and decommissioning to solve real world problems in the nuclear plant lifecycle. The use of VR in training at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (LNPP) in Russia started in 1999 with the introduction of VR technology developed by Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) for the training and presentation of procedures related to safe operation and maintenance of the refuelling machine. At Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) in Ukraine, the establishment of the Chernobyl Decommissioning Visualisation Centre (CDVC) was started in 2007. The CDVC will be used for planning, training and presentation of dismantling procedures. In the future, the CDVC will also offer calculation of the occupational dose. VR has proven to be an effective technology for better communicating the layout of project proposals in design of control rooms. AR can be used to supplement reality by blending the physical and the virtual in the actual physical environment. IFE has developed a practical solution for using the AR technology. The paper also discusses how and for what areas the VR and AR applications can contribute to the nuclear safety for symbiosis and sustainability. Finally, IFE's plans for future use of VR and AR technologies in a nuclear plant lifecycle perspective are discussed. (author)

[en] The Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) is an international research foundation for energy and nuclear technology. IFE is also the host for the international OECD Halden Reactor Project. The Software Engineering Department in the Man Technology Organisation at IFE is a leading international centre of competence for the development and evaluation of human-centred technologies, process visualisation, and the lifecycle of high integrity software important to safety. This paper is an attempt to give a general overview of the current, and some of the foreseen, research and development of human-centred radiological software technologies at the Software Engineering department to meet with the need of improved radiological safety for not only nuclear industry but also other industries around the world. (author)

[en] The Fugen Nuclear Power Station (NPS) was shut down permanently in March 2003, and preparatory activities are underway to decommission the Fugen NPS. An engineering system to support the decommissioning is being developed to create a dismantling plan using state-of-art software such as 3-dimensional computer aided design (3D-CAD) and virtual reality (VR). In particular, an exposure dose evaluation system using VR has been developed and tested. The total system can be used to quantify radioactive waste, to visualize radioactive inventory, to simulate the dismantling plan, to evaluate workload in radiation environments and to optimize the decommissioning plan. The system will also be useful for educating and training workers and for gaining public acceptance. (author)

[en] The Halden Reactor Project (HRP) is a jointly sponsored international cooperation, under the aegis of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Nuclear Energy Agency. Extensive and valuable guidance and tools, connected to safe and reliable operation of nuclear facilities, has been elaborated throughout the years within the frame of this programme. The HRP has particularly high level results in virtual-reality based tools for real-time areal and personal monitoring. The techniques, developed earlier, are now being supplemented to enhance the planning and monitoring capabilities, and support general radiological characterisation connected to nuclear sites and facilities. Due to the complexity and abundance of the input information required, software tools, dedicated to the radiological characterization of contaminated materials, buildings, land and groundwater, are applied to review, evaluate and visualize the data. Characterisation of the radiation situation in a realistic environment can be very complex, and efficient visualisation of the data to the user is not straight forward. The monitoring and planning tools elaborated in the frame of the HRP feature very sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) high definition visualisation and user interfaces to promote easy interpretation of the input data. The visualisation tools permit dynamic visualisation of radiation fields in virtual or augmented reality by various techniques and real-time personal monitoring of humanoid models. In addition new techniques are being elaborated to visualise the 3D distribution of activities in structures and materials. The dosimetric algorithms, feeding information to the visualisation and user interface of these planning tools, include deterministic radiation transport techniques suitable for fast photon dose estimates, in case physical and radio- and spectrometric characteristics of the gamma sources are known. The basic deterministic model, implemented in earlier versions of these tools, is suitable for quick estimates in simple irradiation situations. Through joint research of member institutions of the HRP, an additional deterministic Point Kernel based dosimetric algorithm has been developed and implemented, to supplement the basic approach. The new model is more accurate and suitable for better estimates in more complex environments. Furthermore, additional methods dedicated to the geostatistical analysis and processing (kriging) of the data measured, and other dosimetric methods are being added, to extend the software tools for cases when less other type on input information is provided. In this paper, the visualisation and dosimetric algorithms implemented in the complex software tools, developed within the HRP, for radiological panning, monitoring and characterisation are presented. (author)