Applied Research
Associates, Inc. (ARA) and its Virtual
Heroes Division (VHD) in the United States support a broad spectrum of
clients in the Federal System vertical market, among them Nuclear Security
Clients.
In 2012, the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) applied safeguards for 179 States with safeguards agreements in
force, implementing safeguards at 692 facilities. To support the IAEA mission,
the Safeguards Training Section of the IAEA Department of Safeguards holds over
100 training courses yearly to help safeguards inspectors and analysts develop
the necessary knowledge and skills.
Serious Games provide the opportunity to train
under different scenarios not possible in real facilities. In order to take
full advantage of Serious Games, the Safeguards Training Section has
collaborated with IAEA Member States to develop and evaluate virtual facilities
and interactive training tools.
ARA’s Virtual Models of Nuclear Facilities
are a great example of Serious Games for Nuclear Security and Safeguards,
comprehending two virtual nuclear facility environments — a Pressurized
Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) facility and a Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant
(GCEP) facility.
Both virtual facilities provide a unique
approach for training inspectors in a cost-effective manner.
The PHWR model was built through a
contract supported by the US Safeguards Support Program (USSP) to create a
“virtual” nuclear power facility. This
application is being used by IAEA as a
facility familiarization training tool for new safeguards inspectors.
The GCEP facility simulation was built
for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to aid in training inspectors
supporting treaty verification activities and certain military operations. In combination with a visually impressive 3D
rendering of a GCEP, the model also incorporates state-of-the-art physics
calculations to aid users in identifying the radiation hazards in the
uranium-enrichment facility.
External view
of the PHWR and dry storage area
The Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) is a virtual-environment simulation of a nuclear power plant. PHWR is used to train IAEA safety inspectors, helping trainees understand the flow, processes and handling of nuclear material inside the facility; visualize the basic operations/layout of the facility; and identify principle safeguards measures applied throughout the facility.
Trainees navigate seven distinct areas in the
PHWR facility. Via an automated fly-through or a self-guided walk, users follow
the path of fuel—from its arrival, to its placement in the reactor, to its
deposit into long-term dry storage. All
seven areas feature highlighted points of interest. When selected, these
provide specific information about the area and the various operational and
safeguards equipment.
The development team (IAEA, ARA, and USSP) consisted
of experts in the fields of nuclear engineering, 3D modeling, video game
programming, and cognitive task analyses. IAEA provided input on a number of
levels drawing significantly on senior staff with cumulatively over 1000
inspection days at PHWRs.
About ARA
Applied Research
Associates, Inc. (ARA) is an international research and engineering company
that was founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979. ARA has over 1200 employees with
sixty-two offices throughout the United States and one in Canada. The company
provides a broad range of technical expertise in defense and aerospace
technologies, civil technologies, computer software and simulation, systems
analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. ARA also
provides sophisticated technical products for environmental site
characterization, pavement analysis and specialized robotic vehicles.
As a complement to its existing computer
software and simulation capabilities, ARA acquired Virtual Heroes Inc. in 2009. Virtual
Heroes creates collaborative interactive learning solutions for the healthcare,
federal systems and corporate training markets and specializes in creating immersive
3D serious games with realistic 3D simulations and models to accelerate
learning, increase user proficiency and reduce training costs. Virtual Heroes
has quickly become one of ARA's key divisions and has been an important element
in establishing ARA as an industry recognized leader in immersive,
high-fidelity simulations for learning, serious games and virtual worlds
training and education. ARA's Virtual Heroes Division has an outstanding record
of success with previously released games, training, educational content, and
virtual worlds including; Zero Hour-America's Medic, 3DiTeams, Pivotal
Decision, Adaptive Thinking and Leadership, America's Army, Pamoja Mtaani,
Virtual Peace and Ultimate Team Play.