The main function of ACCERT (The Algorithm for the Capital Cost Estimation of Reactor Technologies) is to provide an item-by-item estimate of the cost of a facility, at present a nuclear reactor complex, primarily nuclear power stations. The core of ACCERT is the large number of algorithms that have been developed and will continue to be developed. ACCERT is also a general methodology for identifying and organizing the individual items that are estimated using the ACCERT algorithms. ACCERT also summarize status and results; to save results and pull information from previous analyses; and to provide an interactive dynamic graphical user interface for a wide range of functions and visualizations.
The software comprises three major components:
- Relational Database
- Creation, editing, and linking of different element types
- Report generation (queries)
- Search
- Equation solvers (extraction of information from elements and evaluation/updating of fields in the database)
- Algorithms
- Escalation
- Cost aggregation
- Interactive Graphical User Interface
- Dynamic windows
ACCERT is designed for integration with the NEAMS Workbench and relies on input files using Workbench's SON format. Instructions for installing ACCERT both with and without Workbench are provided in this README.
-
For Windows user, obtain and install the Git bash
-
Open a terminal window and cd into the folder where you want to install ACCERT (e.g., CODE)
[~]> mkdir CODE [~]> cd CODE [~/CODE]> git clone https://github.com/accert-dev/ACCERT.git [~/CODE]> cd ACCERT
-
Obtain the MySQL Community Server
-
Install MySQL Community Server
[NOTE] You'll need to enter a strong password under Root Account Password. Don't forget your password! It's extremely important that you keep track of your root password for MySQL, as it's difficult to reset. Write it down somewhere easily accessible, or add it to a password manager to keep it secure.
- Obtain and install the NEAMS Workbench
- Run NEAMS Workbench before install ACCERT
-
Change into the src folder
[~/ACCERT]> cd src
-
Edit the workbench.sh file, provide workbench_path to your NEAMS workbench location, do not include '/' at the end.
-
For Mac the default location is:
workbench_path="/Applications/workbench-<version-number>.app/Contents"
-
For Windows:
workbench_path="/c/Workbench-<version-number>"
-
For Unix:
workbench_path="/home/<USERNAME>/Workbench-<version-number>"
-
-
Run setup_accert.sh
[~/src]> ./setup_accert.sh
-
Edit or create the file
install.conf
insrc
folder and change "yourpassword" to your MySQL root password.[INSTALL] PASSWD = yourpassword # NOTE: ALL OTHER information should be set up later # INSTALL_PATH = /usr/local # DATADIR =/mysql/data # INSTALL_PACKAGE = # EXP_DIR =
-
Change "yourpassword" to your MySQL root password.
-
Run
database_install.py
to install the accertdb database.[~/src]> python database_install.py
- Test ACCERT
[~/src]> cd ../test [~/test]> pytest
-
For Windows user only:
- Go to
ACCERT/src
folder and right-click on theMain.py
file and selectProperties
from the context menu. - In the Properties window, select the
Security
tab. - Click on the
Edit
button to change the permissions. - Click on
Add
to add a new user or group to the permissions list. - Enter your username or group name and click on
Check Names
to verify it. - Click on
OK
to add the user or group to the list. - Select the user or group that you just added from the list.
- In the
Permissions
section, check the box next toFull Control
to grant full control permissions to the user or group. - Click on
OK
to save the changes and close the Properties window.
- Go to
-
Open workbench, and open
Workbench/Configurations
hitadd
on the top -
Select
Accert
from the drop-down menu, hitOK
-
In
executable
: give full path to the directory containing ACCERT/src/Main.py -
In configuration, hit
load gramma
ACCERT can be executed both through the Workbench interface by pressing run
or through the command lines:
python ACCERT/src/Main.py -i myinput.son
- A new tool has been developed to simulate different pathways to reduce the costs of advanced nuclear power plants when constructed through large order books. This tool inputs various levers that represent high-level decision-making and outputs the capital costs and construction duration, starting from the first plant to the last plant in the order book.
-The methodology and assumptions behind this tool are documented here
- There are two versions of this tool available,
- A Python Jupyter Notebook in the folder "Cost_Reduction."
- An excel spreadsheet that can be found here
As currently implemented, this cost reduction tool is separate from the ACCERT cost estimation tool. In the future, the ACCERT cost estimation and cost reduction tools may be integrated, allowing users to estimate the costs of their own design using the estimation tool and use the cost reduction tool to simulate the evolution of its capital costs from FOAK to NOAK plants.