The non-local photopolymerization driven diffusion (NPDD) model predicts that a reduction in
the non-local response length within a photopolymer material will improve its high spatial
frequency response. The introduction of a chain transfer agent reduces the average molecular
weight of polymer chains formed during free radical polymerization. Therefore a chain transfer
agent (CTA) provides a practical method to reduce the non-local response length. An extended
NPDD model is presented, which includes the chain transfer reaction and most major
photochemical processes. The addition of a chain transfer agent into an acrylamide/polyvinyl
alcohol photopolymer material is simulated and the predictions of the model are examined. The
predictions of the model are experimentally examined in part II of this paper
