Our project was heavily inspired by the Chernobyl Visually Explained video. We aimed to recreate all parts of the simulation on the RP2040 using the 4-bit color VGA library. The simulation models the Soviet-era RBMK nuclear fission reactor. The nuclear fission of Uranium-235 is represented by the following equation:

We simulate a representative section of the fission reactor, including Uranium fuel, neutrons, and various other moderators. All decayed materials are represented as non-fissile nuclei in our simulation.

In addition to the simulation and real time statistics, we designed and implemented a user interface that can adjust various parameters of the simulation, including toggling automatic/manual control, adjusting the reactor cooling, target power, simulation speed, etc. Through this control panel, we are able to simulate both controlled and uncontrolled chain reactions.

Core 0 and Core 1 Threads

Our program is organized as follows: The main simulation and animation takes place on core 0 of the RP2040. In addition, it draws timing sensitive statistics like the frame timing. Core 1 handles the peripheral logic like creating and drawing the graphs in the lower half of the screen. Core 1 also contains additional threads that poll the various hardware inputs. This organizaiton takes advantage of the multi-core architecture of the RP2040.