Abstract
The impact of nuclear accidents has been a topic of debate since the construction of the first nuclear reactor, and still stands as a key issue of public concern. Several codes and simulators have been used to study the transient progression in pressurized water reactors, and to evaluate the technical measures adopted to scale down the risk of accidents. However, some of these codes are not suitable for multipurpose research and training as they require significant user expertise, leading to analysis uncertainties largely from the code user effect. This paper presents a bird-eye view of one of the most widely used nuclear reactor transient analyzer — the Personal Computer Transient Analyzer (PCTRAN). This paper discusses the comparative advantages of the simulator from the users’ perspective, with specific attention to its utilization both for research and training. The paper also demonstrates the ease of usage by simulating common transient in a pressurized water reactor. Finally, observations and possible improvements to the code to increase its usability in research, education and training are discussed. This work aims to evaluate the robustness of the simulator towards better utilization for research and training, especially in nuclear newcomer countries.