Maryland-based GSE Systems said Wednesday that it had received orders for mission-critical updates to multi-unit nuclear site simulator platforms for customers in the United Kingdom and Japan, pushing their order backlog to over $6 million. These two projects include options that could grow backlog significantly further, the company said.
In the UK, GSE's customer is committed to providing top-notch, accredited training programs to its operators and engineers. The scope of GSE's work includes the deployment of a state-of-the-art nuclear plant simulation system to replace legacy simulation models and computer hardware that has been in place since the early 1990s.
The project also includes modeling a second unit of the plant so that site-wide event training can be conducted. The modeling also provides greater access to a high-fidelity training environment to more operators and engineers at the plant. The company is a leading real-time, high-fidelity simulation systems provider.
In Japan, GSE will provide an unnamed nuclear plant operator with a modern simulator so that the customer can deliver more comprehensive training to personnel in the post-Fukushima Daiichi era. The scope of the work includes replacing all existing models of the current simulators at the plant. This is considered a major upgrade and the package includes long-term maintenance of the new simulators, considered an important service that allows for continued upgrades, as needed.
Both projects utilize GSE's JADE simulation software, a leading high-fidelity nuclear plant simulation system used for plant design and operations training. JADE provides a simplified model of plant configuration that is adaptable to plant upgrades through capital improvements.
GSE Chief Executive Officer and President Kyle Loudermilk said that nuclear power was an increasingly important part of the energy mix in Britain. The awards “illustrate the growing importance of nuclear power as the world develops economically viable sources of carbon-free electricity,” Loudermilk said.