Abstract
High-fidelity nuclear reactor calculations have become increasingly important when considering lifetime extensions of the current nuclear fleet. The need for performing large calculations has led to development of advanced, novel methods for faster and more efficient computing system use. Under the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), we have enabled the capability to perform high-fidelity ex-core calculations in the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) by coupling with the Shift Monte Carlo (MC) radiation transport package. The codes are coupled inmemory, allowing for the pin-by-pin fission source from the core simulator to be used by Shift. This unique capability allows the user to obtain both in-core and ex-core quantities by running a single simulation. Examples of ex-core calculations that can be performed include multicycle vessel fluence, detector response during reactor start-up and operation, and coupon fluence. One main advantage of the VERA ex-core capability is its flexibility and ease of use; users can select default settings with the standard VERA input for typical calculations or create their own ex-core geometry for specific cases. Also, Shift takes advantage of hybrid deterministic-MC methods to reduce variance and computational time. This paper details the full suite of VERA ex-core capabilities and provides input examples, simulation results, and computing resource use suggestions. These new capabilities have the potential to impact a wide user group in the nuclear community by enhancing and enabling high-fidelity light water reactor (LWR) ex-core calculations.
Highlights
This was achieved by coupling Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) with the Shift Monte Carlo (MC) radiation transport package developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) [2]
A separate HDF5 file for each state point is output with material compositions as well as an HDF5 file with a raytrace of the geometry at each axial level requested in the VERA input file, which can be used for advanced problem geometry visualization
New parameters in the common VERA input allow for the user to perform ex-core calculations with minimal additional effort
Summary
The Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) [1] created under the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) enables pin-resolved radiation transport. High-fidelity reactor calculations become increasingly important in the context of lifetime extensions of the current nuclear fleet, CASL has expanded VERA’s capabilities to include high-fidelity ex-core calculations. This was achieved by coupling VERA with the Shift Monte Carlo (MC) radiation transport package developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) [2]. This paper builds on previous work on coupon fluence calculations with VERA [3] by detailing the full suite of VERA ex-core capabilities and providing input examples, example simulation results, and computing resource use suggestions.
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