Virtual Reality Visualization of Dose Rate Fields for Dose and Decommissioning Planning using ADEPT-PSIM

Abstract

This paper presents a workflow being developed in collaboration between Kinectrics Inc. and Cavendish Nuclear Ltd. to utilize swarming techniques for source estimation in dose and activity calculations which are then visualized in Virtual Reality (VR).

This work is intended to demonstrate the utility of the ADEPT-PSIM workflow for use in planning and optimizing activities and facility layouts where elevated dose rates fields will be expected. This included the generation of a 3D model that can be used in commonly available VR software to visualize dose rate fields and dose accrual as the user is navigating through the model, as well as allow for simple shield slabs to be placed by the user, resulting in real-time changes to the dose rate field. This is demonstrated specifically through a case study of a generic facility containing multiple source terms and shielding arrangements.

A generic facility was designed in CAD and simulated source terms were generated by the Cavendish Nuclear Particle Swarm Imaging (PSIM) software. This data was imported into the Attila deterministic radiation transport software for meshing and dose field calculation. The results from Attila were in the format of a mesh tally which was imported into the Kinectrics Advanced Dose & Exposure Planning Tool (ADEPT) software along with the CAD geometry to generate a user-navigable 3D VR model

The estimated sources generated with PSIM, and the VR models created by ADEPT, will allow for easy visualization of the radiation fields within a facility that can assist in dose planning, shielding design, as well as the optimization of radioactive waste transportation routes and optimization of radioactive waste storage configurations within the facility.