Dynamic Training Simulator for the VAR Oven at Framatome Ugine

CORYS has been awarded a contract by Framatome to develop a dynamic training simulator for the Vacuum Arc Remelting (VAR) oven at the Ugine site.

The simulator will model a complete zirconium ingot melting session and will be built on INDISS PLUS®, CORYS’s dynamic simulation software. The simulator will reproduce the behaviour of the VAR oven in real time to support operator training. The modelling approach leverages INDISS PLUS®, standard library components, including heat exchange services, thermodynamic equilibrium of capacities, process equipment models (pumps, valves), and control-command functions. Components specific to the VAR oven process will be developed specifically for this project.

The project is structured in two phases:

Phase 1, before summer: Development of a driving simulator for a first-melt operation on oven. The simulation covers nominal (non-accidental) operation, with the rod control panel simulated as a software operator panel on a dedicated operator view.

Phase 2, year-end: Once the nominal driving simulator is validated, accident scenarios will be added, the software control panel will be replaced by a hardware panel, and instructor training on the simulation software will be delivered.

This contract builds on CORYS’s existing expertise in zirconium process simulation for the nuclear industry. CORYS previously delivered a digital twin simulator to Framatome’s Jarrie site, dedicated to the zirconium purification process. The Ugine VAR simulator extends this collaboration along the zirconium production chain, reinforcing CORYS’s position as a trusted simulation partner for nuclear materials manufacturing.