High Fidelity Whole Core Reactor Eigenvalue Calculation using the Hybrid Deterministic and Monte Carlo RAPID Code System

with Brian Stroh, PhD Candiate, Virginia Tech Nuclear Engineering
Friday, Jan. 31 at 9:30 a.m.
Goodwin 440

This work examines the accuracy and performance of the RAPID (Real-time Analysis for Particle transport and In-situ Detection) code system for whole core reactor simulation. The RAPID code is an implementation of the Multistage Response function Transport (MRT) methodology resulting in a hybrid deterministicand Monte Carlo technique. This work utilizes the Watts Bar Unit 1 benchmark as the computational model to exam the accuracy and efficiency of RAPID compared to Serpent. The RAPID calculated eigenvalue and 3-D fission density distribution are compared to the results from Serpent. This work shows that RAPID is able to obtain pin-wise, axially-dependent fission density in 7 minutes using one computer core, as opposed to assembly-wise, axially dependent fission density in 8 days on 40 computer core. Additionally, RAPID-2 is in development which will incorporate several of the original RAPID algorithms, pre-processing scripts, and introduce additional functionality. RAPID-2 is able to complete the same calculations as RAPID, but with a significant improvement in the calculation time.

Brian Stroh has an MS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, an MS in Software Engineering from George Mason University, and a BS in Physics from Western Michigan University. A certified health physicist by the American Board of Health Physicists for more than 10 years, his experience includes working in radiation safety, detection, and analysis for the Department of Defense. He is currently in his fourth year of the PhD program at Virginia Tech.