Reactor Physics and Fuel Cycle Analysis
Overview
Reactor physics and fuel cycle analysis is a core competency of the Nuclear Engineering (NE) Division. The Division has played a major role in the design and analysis of advanced reactors, particularly liquid-metal-cooled reactors. NE researchers have concentrated on developing computer codes for the assessment of reactor performance and safety characteristics, validating computer models by using experimental information obtained at critical facilities and power reactors, and applying these models in analyses that support core design and fuel cycle optimization.
Since the termination of the U.S. liquid-metal reactor development program in 1994, the Division has placed increased emphasis on such current national priorities as optimizing the operation of existing nuclear power plants, improving capabilities for confirming reactor safety, addressing problems associated with the safe disposition of spent fuels and excess weapons materials, and transmutation of transuranics and long-lived fission products. At the same time, the Division continues to enhance its core capabilities in advanced reactor design and is well positioned to play a leading role in developing advanced nuclear energy systems.
Additional Information:
[Current
Projects] | [Computer Codes]
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In the Spotlight
Booting up a New Nuclear Age
When
it was founded in 1946, Argonne was charged with developing the technology to
enable peacetime uses of nuclear energy. Now, more than 60 years later, Argonne
again stands at the forefront of nuclear research as it brings its new
high-performance computing facilities to bear on reactor design, enabling safer,
cheaper and more efficient generation of electricity. A feature article in the
Spring issue of "Argonne Now" explains how Argonne's newly
acquired access to petascale-capable hardware, combined with three decades of
accumulated scientific expertise, will revolutionize how scientists and
engineers model nuclear reactors. NE's director Hussein Khalil and physicist
Won-Sik Yang (Nuclear Systems Analysis Dept., Simulation & Methods Section) were
interviewed for this article…
Read the article
Booting up a new nuclear age — High-performance computing will lead to
safer, cheaper nuclear reactors that generate electricity more
efficiently.
"Argonne Now", Spring 2008
COMPUTER
CODES
