Aerojet General Nucleonics 201 (AGN-201) Research Reactor Model Description

The Aerojet General Nucleonics 201 (AGN-201) Research Reactor Model is a digital twin of the physical reactor built at Idaho State University. The AGN-201 design is a low power, very safe, solid-core reactor that has been used by Idaho State University, the University of New Mexico, and Texas A&M University to teach students. The reactor was developed in the 1950's by AGN to satisfy universities's nuclear engineering departments' needs for a safe, flexible, and relatively low cost reactor with a long design life . The solid-core design requires no active cooling system and uses a simple shielding arrangement. This design results in a very low operating power which results in limited burnup, providing an operating lifetime exceeding many decades Pope and Pheonix (2022).

Due to the growing popularity of nuclear power, the use of digital twins to monitor reactors and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their safeguards has become more and more utilized throughout the field. By using geometric and material data from the physical asset, a surrogate model of the AGN-201 was created that "preserves basic physical qualities while significantly cutting down on computation costs" Quinton J. Williams and Ritter (2024).