Nuclear energy is responsible for approximately one-fifth of total electricity used in the U.S., and nearly half of the country's renewable electricity. Most of the reactors generating this electricity were built decades ago. The construction of new nuclear reactors that use advanced technologies and processes could help grow the amount of carbon-free electricity the nuclear power industry produces and help the U.S. progress toward a net zero economy.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are preparing to use Aurora, the laboratory's upcoming exascale supercomputer, to delve into the inner mechanics of a variety of nuclear reactor models. These simulations promise an unprecedented level of detail, offering insights that could revolutionize reactor design by improving understanding of the intricate heat flows within nuclear fuel rods.
"Fidelity means the amount of detail you can capture," Shaver said."We can simulate an entire core, but to do so at high fidelity really requires an exascale machine to compute all the physics on the finest length scales." By simulating the turbulence in the reactor—the whirls and eddies of heat that circulate around the fuel pins—researchers like Shaver can effectively model the reactor's heat transfer properties."Generally, and to an extent, the more turbulence you have, the more heat transfer you have," Shaver said."However, to get more turbulence, you have to pump your reactor harder and faster, which requires more energy.
The basic code underpinning the multiphysics simulations is the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment, better known as MOOSE, which makes modeling and simulation more accessible to a wide range of scientists. Developed by DOE's Idaho National Laboratory, MOOSE enables simulations to be developed in a fraction of the time previously required.
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