Lessons Learned and Potential Paths Forward in Virtual Reality Developments for the nternational Atomic Energy Agency Member States Support Programs Supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency

The United States Support Program (USSP) to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards sponsored Applied Research Associates (ARA) to develop a virtual reality (VR) training tool for potential use by the IAEA. The IAEA selected a Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) as the basis for this VR development. The IAEA, USSP, and ARA also worked with the Canadian Safeguards Support Program (CSSP), which provided additional technical expertise and previously developed Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactor training materials. Throughout the planning, execution, and follow up to this development several obstacles were discovered, discussed, and many overcome. Several ideas were posited to increase the efficiency of future VR developments, minimizing the cost to Member States Support Programs while maximizing the benefit to the IAEA. These obstacles, solutions, and ideas to streamline future VR developments will be presented in this paper.