February 28, 2011, from 4-5pm 3105 Etcheverry Hall
Georgia Institute of Technology
A new coarse-mesh radiation transport (COMET) method for modeling and simulation of realistic reactor cores (e.g., operating water reactors) is presented at this colloquium. This innovative method has Monte Carlo accuracy while having computational efficiency that is several orders of magnitude better than achievable by stochastic and fine-mesh deterministic transport methods. Benchmark results in several whole-core problems typical of operating reactors are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficient of the method.
The new method overcomes many of the limitations inherent in current whole-core (loosely coupled transport/diffusion theory) methods used in the industry. Notable limitations/approximations are single lattice transport theory calculations with approximate boundary conditions (e.g., full specular reflection), cross section homogenization, ad hoc de-homogenization (fuel pin reconstruction) and whole-core homogenized diffusion theory calculations. These approximations breakdown with increasing assembly and core heterogeneities, features encountered in advanced and next generation reactor designs.
We first present an overview of current industry methods, research directions and critical gaps in the context of advanced and Generation IV nuclear reactors. The limitations of current methods and reactor design trends are highlighted as motivation for the developments of the advanced radiation transport methods by the Computational Reactor and Medical Physics Group (CRMPG) at Georgia Tech.
Dr. Shinya Nagasak
