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60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
Miriam A. Kreher, Samuel Shaner, Benoit Forget, Kord Smith
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 2 | February 2023 | Pages 279-290
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2067739
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Frequency Transform method is used for the first time to efficiently model a multiple-second transient problem with Monte Carlo (MC). This is achieved by coupling MC with a time-dependent coarse mesh finite difference (TD-CMFD) diffusion solver. TD-CMFD presents a large advantage over commonly used point kinetics equations since it preserves spatial resolution during the transient and provides equivalence with the high-order method through nonlinear diffusion coefficients. As TD-CMFD computes time-dependent and spatially dependent neutronics information, it also computes frequencies that describe the rate of change of neutron and delayed precursor concentrations. These frequencies are used in MC shape function calculations as an approximation for the time derivatives. As the simulation proceeds, MC calculations update the multigroup cross sections, currents, and diffusion coefficients that are needed in TD-CMFD, and in turn, TD-CMFD updates the frequencies. Our results show the success of the Frequency Transform method in prescribed transient problems on the C5G7 geometry and on a fuel pin geometry. The Frequency Transform method showed significant improvement compared to the Adiabatic approximation, which does not use any frequency information in the MC calculation. The improvements in spatial resolution are shown to be a direct result of frequencies. Additionally, a study of how TD-CMFD’s nonlinear diffusion coefficients behave in time provides a first-of-its-kind study of how equivalence factors are impacted by transients.