Skip to main content
Image
A typical first responder training visualization that employs simulated gamma-ray and neutron radiation interactions within a virtual scenario. (Images by Ryan Chen.)

To address the need for realistic and high-fidelity first responder training, a multidisciplinary team at LLNL has worked to establish the new gold standard simulator called TARANTULA (Tactical Augmented Reality Applications for Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) Training using Livermore Analytics). TARANTULA is a scientifically accurate, fully functional, field-deployable simulator that…

Image
Cross Section of the High-Voltage Insulator Joint

The approach is to build a high voltage insulator consisting of two materials:  Poly-Ether-Ether-Ketone (“PEEK”) and Machinable Ceramic (“MACOR”).  PEEK has a high stress tolerance but cannot withstand high temperatures, while MACOR has high heat tolerance but is difficult to machine and can be brittle.  MACOR is used for the plasma-facing surface, while PEEK will handle the stresses and high…

Image
An artist’s concept rendering of a 3.5-meter linear induction accelerator (LIA) with four lines-of-sight toward a patient. The blue elements magnetically focus and direct the LIA’s electron beams.

LLNL’s approach is to use their patented Photoconductive Charge Trapping Apparatus (U.S. Patent No. 11,366,401) as the active switch needed to discharge voltage across a vacuum gap in a particle accelerator, like the one described in their other patent (U.S. Patent No.

Image
Radiation Training Field Simulator (RaFTS).

There are three main components to the RaFTS system: 1) the radiation detector, which can be of any type and from any manufacturer; 2) the RaFTS electronics, which produce the electronic pulses that are injected into the electronics of the radiation detector through a (to be) standardized port interface; and 3) the exercise scenario, which defines the synthetic radiation field and time-varying…