Reactor modeling is largely limited by the computational time required to perform accurate full core calculations. There are many different methods and techniques employed in different reactor simulation codes, but properly modeling all of the physics that takes place in the system requires extensive computational effort. The Coarse Mesh Finite...
The research objective is to assess the performance of the SPN transport method, with a traditional finite volume spatial discretization in Cartesian geometry, on source detector problems relevant to urban detonation of an improvised nuclear device. In particular, we observe the character of the solution as a function of the...
Detection of reactor antineutrinos for non-proliferation applications has been researched extensively across the globe and is considered as a potential technology to remotely monitor reactor operations without any intrusions to reactor components. Reactor antineutrino detection experiments have been conducted in the past and have proven successful in detecting the changes...
The Hydro-Mechanical Fuel Test Facility (HMFTF) is being built at Oregon State University to evaluate fluid flow through plate-type fuel assemblies. The first plate assembly that will be examined in the facility is the Generic Test Plate Assembly (GTPA). The GTPA consists of an array of six parallel flat plates,...
The objective of this thesis was to investigate the use of the Jacobian Free Newton Krylov Method (JFNK) with physics based preconditioning for solving coupled radiative transport and material energy balance. Modeling of these physics is important in inertial confinement fusion and other high energy density systems. In this thesis,...
Of the major players in the birth and growth of nuclear technology, France and the United States are two of the biggest. Their glaring differences in culture and political regimes, therefore, have resulted in two very different attitudes toward adoption and implementation of nuclear power. Through extensive literary research, cultural...
Of the major players in the birth and growth of nuclear technology, France and the United States are two of the biggest. Their glaring differences in culture and political regimes, therefore, have resulted in two very different attitudes toward adoption and implementation of nuclear power. Through extensive literary research, cultural...
A hybrid Quasi-diffusion/Monte Carlo Method for solving multigroup criticality problems in slab geometry was investigated. Analog Monte Carlo was used to calculate functionals (Eddington Factors) that were then used in solution of the quasi-diffusion equations. The hybrid method was shown to accurately and precisely predict the k-eigenvalue and fission source...
This thesis presents methods for treating annihilation photon pairs in deterministic pulse height distribution (PHD) simulations. The methods are applied in PHD simulations for monoenergtic sources of 1.6 and 2.6 MeV photons incident on 5 and 10 cm 1-D slabs of germanium, sodium iodide, and lead and the results are...
Adjoint-derived weight windowing is a hybrid deterministic/Monte Carlo method to simulate radiation transport. In adjoint-derived weight windowing, a deterministic adjoint solution is used to create weight windows for a Monte Carlo simulation. The intent of this work is to identify factors that reduce the Figure of Merit (FOM) of Monte...
In a Modular High Temperature Gas Reactor (MHTGR), the Depressurized Conduction Cooldown (DCC) event can be separated into three distinct stages: 1) depressurization, 2) air ingress and, 3) natural circulation. During normal operations, the HTGR utilizes forced convection to move the helium coolant through the reactor core. Thus, during normal...
We investigate several aspects of the numerical solution of the radiative transfer
equation in the context of coal combustion: the parallel efficiency of two commonly used
opacity models, the sensitivity of turbulent radiation interaction (TRI) effects
to the presence of coal particulate, and an improvement of the order of temporal...
The Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor (MASLWR) is a small natural circulation pressurized light water reactor design that was developed by Oregon State University (OSU) and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) under the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) program to address the growing demand for energy and electricity....