I remember my first day at NuScale back in the fall of 2014. I had just come from an operating nuclear plant as a senior reactor operator in the control room. It was strange to transition from days of problem-solving equipment that smelled of oil and hot steam to a quiet office environment where design problems existed only on paper. As I completed my onboarding training, I became aware of an incredible room near my desk where these paper designs came to life on computer screens: the NuScale control room simulator.
I knew on that first day that I wanted to spend my days ‘seeing’ an SMR plant operate. That dream became a reality in 2019 when I became supervisor of the simulator team.
Ryan Flamand giving a live demonstration at the University of Bucharest E2 Center
NuScale’s simulator team combines technical precision with human judgment to build the most accurate digital twin possible.
Our on-site simulator, which is the foundation for our Energy Exploration (E2) Centers, uses the industry’s best modeling products. It accurately models the reactor core, fluid heat transfer, and other dynamic behaviors. It also incorporates vast amounts of design information from our engineering groups and partners.
For parts of the design that aren’t yet finalized, we use best engineering judgment to bridge the gap until that information becomes available. A great example is the turbine/generator. We know the generic controls it will have and can assume many features based on what’s currently on the market. This allows us to model it fairly accurately, and once a specific component is selected, we incorporate that component’s exact details.
One of the most exciting developments has been watching the growth and reach of our E2 Centers. When we started this journey in 2019, the idea was to give universities, and future customers, access to high-fidelity training environments built on the foundation of our on-site simulator. Think of a pilot training on a flight simulator. We want pilots to train in a facility that matches the look and feel of the real cockpit for a seamless transition. The same principle applies to nuclear operator training.
Now, there are 11 E2 Centers worldwide, making state-of-the-art SMR plant training far more accessible for students and future operators. Each new E2 Center brings its own energy and unique group of learners, and I’m proud to see how our original vision is supporting nuclear education beyond our headquarters. Being part of this expansion and seeing firsthand the impact these centers are making has been incredibly rewarding.
We will soon release a new version of the simulator that incorporates the latest design documents from a full-plant perspective, supporting our recently approved Standard Design Approval (SDA) application. From here, we will continue to update the simulator to match the specific configurations our customers purchase, including details like the number of units, water-cooled condensers, or other site-specific designs.
Our team also works hand-in-hand with the operations training team to ensure all training materials and operational procedures work together seamlessly. The simulator informs the plant design itself, helping us create the most intuitive, user-friendly, and integrated controls for our new operators. We do this not just because we think it's awesome (which it is), but to help reduce human errors, make operations more predictable, and ultimately lower the operational costs of the facility.
I’m excited for the updates to come, and to see the first live control rooms in action at the recently announced ENTRA1 Energy Plants™ in Tennessee. It’s a powerful reminder that what began as paper designs has grown into a real-world innovation that will shape how we generate clean, safe energy for decades to come.