Abstract

This article presents an overview of the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) developed at CEA/SERMA (Service d’Études des Réacteurs et de Mathématiques Appliquées) in Saclay, France, which have been used for over forty years by engineers and scientists to build geometries and meshes for general-purpose lattice transport calculations (neutrons and photons). Several applications make use of these calculations, from fuel assembly to full core design, criticality and safety, needing consistency check of the geometry and input properties before starting any lattice calculation. The software pattern design of the GUIs is briefly discussed, showing also the rationale behind the two interfaces for the construction of the geometries for simple fuel assemblies and complex motifs including the reflector (colorsets). The new GUI, ALAMOS, specifically developed for APOLLO3® with a Python Application Programming Interface (API), is here presented as the successor of Silène, which was the first GUI released in the 1990s to serve APOLLO2 calculations. The considerable experience gained by Silène over the years with plenty of various applications has provided a crucial support for the development of ALAMOS.

Highlights

  • In recent years, lattice transport computer codes have been able to treat larger and larger problems in size thanks to the great advancements in computational power and the algorithms’ efficiency

  • The purpose of this work is to give an overview of the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) developed at SERMA for over forty years in order to support many engineering applications with lattice transport computer codes

  • Both GUIs offer mesh generators based on triangles and quadrangles that are capable of treating any closed surface

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Summary

Introduction

Lattice transport computer codes have been able to treat larger and larger problems in size thanks to the great advancements in computational power and the algorithms’ efficiency. The complex geometry of heterogeneous heavy reflector problems provides significant examples of application Both deterministic and Monte Carlo computer codes solving the Boltzmann transport equation need thorough geometry and mesh design work. Silène extended the support of geometry and mesh generation to the Monte Carlo code TRIPOLI4® [4]. The production of geometry and material input data for Monte Carlo codes was motivated initially by verification and validation needs. Both Silène and ALAMOS can setup input data for TRIPOLI4® calculations [4]. The purpose of this work is to give an overview of the GUIs developed at SERMA for over forty years in order to support many engineering applications with lattice transport computer codes.

Geometry and Problem Definition
Software Architecture
Data Models
The Model of Silène
The Model of ALAMOS
Examples of Typical
Partial representation of the core section the RHF
Conclusions
Methods
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