Supporting efficiency and reliability in the nuclear fuel cycle for today’s commercial fleet and tomorrow’s advanced reactor systems.
As new reactor concepts with advanced fuels move toward deployment, accurate models and simulations are crucial tools for effectively evaluating reactor designs and performing safety assessments.
ORNL’s Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Cycle Analysis group is a computational leader in nuclear reactor physics and fuel cycle modeling. Using state-of-the-art modeling and simulation tools and methods to analyze, design, optimize, safeguard, and deploy nuclear reactors, the group is focused on supporting current and future nuclear reactors.
Modeling the future using trusted tools and methods
Modeling the future using trusted tools and methods
The group’s modeling and simulation capabilities and versatile expertise in several nuclear codes address a full spectrum of nuclear reactor and fuel cycle challenges, including:
- Modeling reactor physics and radiation transport and shielding in SCALE, in addition to running depletion and inventory calculations, and conducting uncertainty analyses.
- Conducting detailed radiation transport and neutronics analyses using Monte Carlo codes (Shift, MCNP, Serpent, OpenMC), and ADVANTG for variance reduction and shielding calculations.
- Performing multiphysics simulations using MOOSE for molten salt, fast, and pebble-bed reactors.
- Modeling and scenario assessments for fuel cycles including, material mass flow, cost evaluation, and used fuel inventory tracking using Cyclus and STANDARDS codes.
- Conducting uncertainty quantification, detector modeling, and safeguards analyses using DAKOTA and GADRAS.
- Analyzing space radiation environment using OLTARIS and SPENVIS,
- Design and qualification of irradiation experiments using HFIRCON, an in-house simulation tool to support irradiation experiments at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR).
Advancing reactor and fuel cycle analysis
The group has delivered analysis to support several research campaigns, including:
- Using SCALE to support non-LWR reactor development.
- HFIR in-core irradiation and experiment support for isotope production, materials irradiation, and fuels experimentation.
- Performing joint Multiphysics simulations with Idaho National Lab and Argonne National Lab using MOOSE for molten salt and fast reactors.
- Assessing fuel-cycle facility deployment needs for various nuclear demand scenarios in the future, and nuclear supply chain evaluation and visualization.
- Developing Fusion Reactor Design and Assessment (FREDA) framework to enable Multiphysics coupling for neutronics.
- Assessing technical challenges in safeguards measurements of fresh advanced reactor fuels.
- Evaluating nuclear data impact on advanced reactors.
- Developing shielding models using SCALE to analyze dose rates during storage, transport and transfer of spent nuclear fuel casks.
Looking ahead
The group works closely with federal sponsors and research partners across the DOE complex, industry, and academia, spanning nearly every area of reactor and fuel cycle research. This continuing collaborative approach leverages the group’s unique expertise to maximize impact and accelerate progress.
The Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Cycle Analysis group is shaping the future of nuclear energy—pioneering advanced simulations, safeguards, and fuel cycle analyses to keep today’s reactors running at peak performance while accelerating the deployment of tomorrow’s innovative systems.