Mr. Brian Stroh, PhD Candidate, VT Nuclear Engineering, will give a talk entitled High Fidelity Whole Core Reactor Eigenvalue Calculation using the Hybrid Deterministic and Monte Carlo RAPID Code System

January 31, 2025

@ 10:10 am, Arlington, 6-051, VTRC (in-person); Blacksburg, 440 Goodwin Hall
For remote access, register here

Abstract:
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 deterministic and 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.

Bio:
I have 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. I have been certified as a health physicist by the American Board of Health Physicists for over 10 years. I have over 10 years of experience working in radiation safety, detection, and analysis for the Department of Defense, and I am currently in my fourth year of the PhD program at Virginia Tech.