Computational Reactor Physics Methods to Support I&C

Description:

This panel engage in a broad discussion about what can happen at the intersection of instrumentation and controls (I&C) and reactor physics. They will provide perspectives of how current I&C engineers make use of reactor physics calculations, and to what level of information they are used to. Conversely, the panel will also discuss how reactor physicists interface with I&C systems. What models, if any, do reactor physicists have for computing things measured in a plant? Finally, perspectives will be shared about potential opportunities to do better in either discipline. For example, could computational reactor physics tools be more rigorously validated with better I&C systems, and is it possible for I&C systems to perform better from better reactor physics calculations? For any potential opportunities the panel will also discuss some potential challenges to meeting those opportunities.

Panelist Biographies:

Dr. Vivek Agarwal is a research scientist specializing in crosscutting applications and advancements of sensors research to enable resilient real-time measurement and control of process variables within the nuclear and other critical industries. Current research advances sensor technologies and big data analytic techniques in (1) development of a non-intrusive and wireless telemetry infrastructure for investigation of in-pile reactor phenomena during operation in extreme harsh environment; (2) performance of online monitoring of plant structures, systems, and components to develop diagnostic and prognostic models; and (3) performance of risk-informed predictive evaluation. His research expertise includes applications of pattern recognition and machine learning techniques, instrumentation and controls, battery modeling, risk and reliability, digital signal processing, acoustic telemetry, diagnosis/prognosis using Wavelets and empirical mode decomposition, time series analysis, power management, wireless communication protocols, and wireless sensor networks.

Dr. N Dianne Bull Ezell is the group leader of the Nuclear and Extreme Environment Measurements Group within the Nuclear Fuel Development Section at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dianne also serves as the lab lead for the DOE-NE NEET-ASI program with research covering fiber optic sensing, power inferencing modeling, radiation detector modeling/simulation, passive sensor development for irradiations, and radiation hardened electronics for nuclear instrumentation. Dianne has a PhD from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in electrical engineering focused on Johnson Noise Thermometry for Small Modular Reactors.

Shawn Stafford is a Lead Engineer at Westinghouse Electric Co. and has been at Westinghouse since 2009. He has a background in remote status monitoring and instrumentation for the telecommunications industry before joining Westinghouse. Previous roles at Westinghouse include I&C where he designed sub-components for the Nuclear Instrumentation Safety System electronics, conducted qualification testing of I&C systems and detectors, and supported plant I&C and detector operations. For the past 7 years Shawn has been involved in the design of advanced sensors and instrumentation including remote integral fuel rod sensors, remote commercial dry cask sensors, test reactor spent fuel canisters, molten salt reactor sensors and novel self-powered neutron detectors. Shawn is co-inventor on multiple patents for advanced in-core sensors and have individual patents on I&C component designs. He earned his BS in Physics/Pre-Engineering from Juniata College and his BS in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University.

Dr. Richard Vilim has over 35 years R&D experience modeling and simulating power plants, designing power plant instrumentation and control systems, and developing new equipment monitoring applications for the process and power industries. More recently his work has focused on the cost competitiveness of nuclear power operating in an electric grid with renewables and in integrated energy systems. This work involves the development of AI/ML algorithms for enabling autonomous operation and includes digital twin and automated reasoning methods for the diagnosis of incipient equipment degradation in process systems and signal-processing methods for detecting sensor failure. Dr. Vilim has over 300 publications and nine U.S. patents. He has developed several computer codes in use by others including General Plant Analyzer and System Simulator (GPASS) and Parameter-Free Reasoning Operator for Automated Identification and Diagnosis (PRO-AID). He is one of four Argonne inventors whose patents formed the intellectual property basis for Smart Signal Corporation, a technology startup company with revenues of $30M, recently acquired by General Electric.

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