Engineering Commons^™

Parallelization Of Geant4 Using Top-C And Marshalgen, Gene D. Cooperman, Viet Ha Nguyen, Igor Maliutov

Gene D. Cooperman

Geant4 is a very large, highly accurate toolkit for Monte Carlo simulation of particle-matter interaction. It has been applied to high-energy physics, cosmic ray modeling, radiation shields, radiation therapy, mine detection, and other areas. Geant4 is being used to help design some high energy physics experiments (notably CMS and Atlas) to be run on the future large hadron collider: the largest particle collider in the world. The parallelization, ParGeant4, represents a challenge due to the unique characteristics of Geant4: (i) complex object-oriented design; (ii) intrinsic use of templates and abstract classes to be instantiated later by the end user; (iii) …

Geant4 Developments And Applications, J. Allison, K. Amako, J. Apostolakis, H. Araujo, P. Arce Dubois, M. Asai, G. Barrand, R. Capra, S. Chauvie, R. Chytracek, G. A. P. Cirrone, Gene D. Cooperman, G. Cosmo, G. Cuttone, G. G. Daquino, M. Donszelmann, M. Dressel, G. Folger, F. Foppiano, J. Generowicz, V. Grichine, S. Guatelli, P. Gumplinger, A. Heikkinen, I. Hrivnacova, A. Howard, S. Incerti, V. Ivanchenko, T. Johnson, F. Jones, T. Koi, R. Kokoulin, M. Kossov, H. Kurashige, V. Lara, S. Larsson, F. Lei, O. Link, F. Longo, M. Maire, A. Mantero, B. Mascialino, I. Mclaren, P. Mendez Lorenzo, K. Minamimoto, K. Murakami, P. Nieminen, L. Pandola, S. Parlati, L. Peralta, J. Perl, A. Pfeiffer, M. G. Pia, A. Ribon, P. Rodrigues, G. Russo, S. Sadilov, G. Santin, T. Sasaki, D. Smith, N. Starkov, S. Tanaka, E. Tcherniaev, B. Tomé, A. Trindade, P. Truscott, L. Urban, M. Verderi, A. Walkden, J. P. Wellisch, D. C. Williams, D. Wright, H. Yoshida

Gene D. Cooperman

Geant4 is a software toolkit for the simulation of the passage of particles through matter. It is used by a large number of experiments and projects in a variety of application domains, including high energy physics, astrophysics and space science, medical physics and radiation protection. Its functionality and modeling capabilities continue to be extended, while its performance is enhanced. An overview of recent developments in diverse areas of the toolkit is presented. These include performance optimization for complex setups; improvements for the propagation in fields; new options for event biasing; and additions and improvements in geometry, physics processes and interactive …

Pin-Wise Loading Optimization And Lattice–To-Core Coupling For Isotopic Management In Light Water Reactors, Hermilo Hernandez Noyola

Doctoral Dissertations

A generalized software capability has been developed for the pin-wise loading optimization of light water reactor (LWR) fuel lattices with the enhanced flexibility of control variables that characterize heterogeneous or blended target pins loaded with non-standard compositions, such as minor actinides (MAs). Furthermore, this study has developed the software coupling to evaluate the performance of optimized lattices outside their reflective boundary conditions and within the realistic three-dimensional core-wide environment of a LWR.

The illustration of the methodologies and software tools developed helps provide a deeper understanding of the behavior of optimized lattices within a full core environment. The practical applications …

Multivariate Optimization Of Neutron Detectors Through Modeling, Martin Rodney Williamson

Doctoral Dissertations

Due to the eminent shortage of 3He, there exists a significant need to develop a new (or optimize an existing) neutron detection system which would reduce the dependency on the current 3He-based detectors for Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) applications. The purpose of this research is to develop a novel methodology for optimizing candidate neutron detector designs using multivariate statistical analysis of Monte Carlo radiation transport code (MCNPX) models. The developed methodology allows the simultaneous optimization of multiple detector parameters with respect to multiple response parameters which measure the overall performance of a candidate neutron detector. This is achieved by …

Multi-Modular Integral Pressurized Water Reactor Control And Operational Reconfiguration For A Flow Control Loop, Sergio Ricardo Pereira Perillo

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focused on the IRIS design since this will likely be one of the designs of choice for future deployment in the U.S and developing countries. With a net 335 MWe output IRIS novel design falls in the “medium” size category and it is a potential candidate for the so called modular reactors, which may be appropriate for base load electricity generation, especially in regions with smaller electricity grids, but especially well suited for more specialized non-electrical energy applications such as district heating and process steam for desalination. The first objective of this dissertation is to evaluate and quantify …

The Effect Of Bonner Sphere Borehole Orientation On Neutron Detector Response, John Macdougall Brittingham

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the differences in Bonner Sphere detector response for anisotropic neutron fields as a function of borehole orientation. Monte Carlo simulations using MCNPX were used to calculate the difference for a borehole oriented directly behind a unidirectional neutron field and one in which the borehole is normal to the neutron flux. The differences in detector response depend on the size of the Bonner Sphere and the energy of the incident flux, which could introduce significant error in the determination of the neutron field’s energy spectrum.

Pressure Measurement Instrumentation In A High Temperature Molten Salt Test Loop, John Andrew Ritchie

Masters Theses

A high temperature molten salt test loop that utilizes FLiNaK (LiF-NaF-KF) at 700ºC has been proposed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to study molten salt flow characteristics through a pebble bed for applications in high temperature thermal systems, in particular the Pebble Bed – Advanced High Temperature Reactor (PB-AHTR). The University of Tennessee Nuclear Engineering Department has been tasked with developing and testing pressure instrumentation for direct measurements inside the high temperature environment. A nickel diaphragm based direct contact pressure sensor is developed for use in the salt. Capacitive and interferometric methods are used to infer the displacement of …

Performance Testing And Validation Plan Of The Holdup Measurement System 4 For The K-25 East Side Process Gas Piping, Mark G. Jadick

Masters Theses

This thesis addresses the calibration and testing of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education's (ORISE) Holdup Measurement System 4 (HMS4) for use in quantifying U-235 holdup contained within the Process Gas Piping (PGP) of the K-25 Building. In addition to the calibration and testing performed the feasibility of measuring U-238 as a surrogate for U-235 quantification was conducted. A Performance Testing and Validation Plan (PTVP) was developed for confirming the calibration of the system and collecting test data to qualify the HMS4 system for the intended application (ORISE 2009). Tests performed were in accordance with the PTVP and …

Triso Fuel Compact Thermal Conductivity Measurement Instrument Development, Colby Jensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Thermal conductivity is an important thermophysical property needed for effectively predicting fuel performance. As part of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) program, the thermal conductivity of tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel needs to be measured over a temperature range characteristic of its usage. The composite nature of TRISO fuel requires that measurement be performed over the entire length of the compact in a non-destructive manner. No existing measurement system is capable of performing such a measurement.

A measurement system has been designed based on the steady-state, guarded-comparative-longitudinal heat flow technique. The system as currently designed is capable of measuring cylindrical samples …

Application Of Ultrasound For Bubble Measurement In Water And Mercury, Hiraku Nakamura

Masters Theses

Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a neutron source operating with a liquid mercury target. Pulsed energy deposition in the target from the proton beam causes pressure waves that limit operation due to cavitation damage on the target container. Damage mitigation is proposed through the introduction of a 0.5 per cent gas volume fraction of small diameter bubbles to create compressibility in mercury. Desired bubble diameter is 30 microns, and two ultrasonic methods are studied for detection and characterization of such bubbles. These methods are tested first in water, and then in mercury. Ultrasound Doppler velocity profiler …

Analyzing The Impact Of Reactive Transport On The Repository Performance Of Triso Fuel, Gregory Schmidt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the largest determiners of the amount of electricity generated by current nuclear reactors is the efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle used for power generation. Current light water reactors (LWR) have an efficiency of 35% or less for the conversion of heat energy generated by the reactor to electrical energy. If this efficiency could be improved, more power could be generated from equivalent volumes of nuclear fuel. One method of improving this efficiency is to use a coolant flow that operates at a much higher temperature for electricity production. A reactor design that is currently proposed to take advantage …

Impact Investigation Of Reactor Fuel Operating Parameters On Reactivity For Use In Burnup Credit Applications, Tanya N. Sloma

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

When representing the behavior of commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF), credit is sought for the reduced reactivity associated with the net depletion of fissile isotopes and the creation of neutron-absorbing isotopes, a process that begins when a commercial nuclear reactor is first operated at power. Burnup credit accounts for the reduced reactivity potential of a fuel assembly and varies with the fuel burnup, cooling time, and the initial enrichment of fissile material in the fuel. With regard to long-term SNF disposal and transportation, tremendous benefits, such as increased capacity, flexibility of design and system operations, and reduced overall costs, provide …

Energetyka Niskoemisyjna, Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

Management Tool For Assessment Of Alternative Fuel Cycles, Jeffrey R. Preston

Doctoral Dissertations

A new approach to fuel cycle uncertainty analysis and optimization is presented that combines reactor physics information, spent fuel management, and economic forecasting, which may be used to investigate effects of decisions in the design of advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The Matlab-based simulation includes isotopic mass and integral decay heat data produced by reactor physics codes in the SCALE package (SAS2, ORIGEN-ARP, and ORIGEN-S). Reactor physics data for Light Water Reactor (LWR), and metal- and oxide-fueled Liquid Metal-cooled Fast Burner Reactor (LMFBR) designs are stored in databases that the code uses as needed. Detailed models of the once through and …

Boiling Water Reactor Core Simulation With Generalized Isotopic Inventory Tracking For Actinide Management, Jack Douglas Galloway

Doctoral Dissertations

The computational ability to accurately simulate boiling water reactor operation under the full range of standard steady-state operation, along with the capability to fully track the isotopic distribution of any fueled region in any location in the core has been developed. This new three-dimensional node-by-node capability can help designers track, for example, a full suite of minor and major actinides, fission products, and even light elements that result from depletion, decay, or transmutations. This isotopic tracking capability is not restricted to BWRs and can be employed in the modeling of PWRs, CANDUs, and other reactor types that can be modeled …

Radioisotopic Impurities In Promethium-147 Produced At The Ornl High Flux Isotope Reactor, James Howard Hinderer

Masters Theses

There is an intense interest in the availability of radioactive isotopes that could be developed into nuclear batteries. Promethium-147 is one of the isotopes of interest for use in nuclear batteries as well as in other compact low power applications. Pm-147 is a pure beta (β-) emitter with a half-life of 2.62 years. For this research, Pm-147 was produced from enriched Nd-146 via the neutron capture method in the Hydraulic Tube facility of HFIR at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Radioisotopic impurities produced via the neutron capture method have significant effects on its potential final use for nuclear battery applications. …

A Safeguards Design Strategy For Domestic Nuclear Materials Processing Facilities., Jonathan Long

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The outdated and oversized nuclear manufacturing complex within the United States requires its transformation into a smaller, safe, and secure enterprise. Health and safety risks, environmental concerns, and the end of the Cold War have all contributed to this necessity. The events of September 11, 2001, emphasized the protection requirements for nuclear materials within the U.S. as well as abroad.

Current Nuclear Safeguards regulations contain minimal prescriptive requirements relating to the design of new production facilities. Project management and engineering design guides require that design documents contain specific and measureable statements relating to systems requirements. The systems engineering process evaluates …

The Development Of A Parameterized Scatter Removal Algorithm For Nuclear Materials Identification System Imaging, Brandon Robert Grogan

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a novel method for removing scattering effects from Nuclear Materials Identification System (NMIS) imaging. The NMIS uses fast neutron radiography to generate images of the internal structure of objects non-intrusively. If the correct attenuation through the object is measured, the positions and macroscopic cross-sections of features inside the object can be determined. The cross sections can then be used to identify the materials and a 3D map of the interior of the object can be reconstructed. Unfortunately, the measured attenuation values are always too low because scattered neutrons contribute to the unattenuated neutron signal. Previous efforts to …

Merging Data Sources To Predict Remaining Useful Life – An Automated Method To Identify Prognostic Parameters, Jamie Baalis Coble

Doctoral Dissertations

The ultimate goal of most prognostic systems is accurate prediction of the remaining useful life (RUL) of individual systems or components based on their use and performance. This class of prognostic algorithms is termed Degradation-Based, or Type III Prognostics. As equipment degrades, measured parameters of the system tend to change; these sensed measurements, or appropriate transformations thereof, may be used to characterize degradation. Traditionally, individual-based prognostic methods use a measure of degradation to make RUL estimates. Degradation measures may include sensed measurements, such as temperature or vibration level, or inferred measurements, such as model residuals or physics-based model predictions. Often, …

An Adaptive Nonparametric Modeling Technique For Expanded Condition Monitoring Of Processes, Matthew John Humberstone

Doctoral Dissertations

New reactor designs and the license extensions of the current reactors has created new condition monitoring challenges. A major challenge is the creation of a data-based model for a reactor that has never been built or operated and has no historical data. This is the motivation behind the creation of a hybrid modeling technique based on first principle models that adapts to include operating reactor data as it becomes available.

An Adaptive Non-Parametric Model (ANPM) was developed for adaptive monitoring of small to medium size reactors (SMR) but would be applicable to all designs. Ideally, an adaptive model should have …

In-Pile Thermal Conductivity Measurement Methods For Nuclear Fuels, Brandon S. Fox

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Measuring nuclear fuel thermal conductivity in-pile can provide much needed data for understanding fuel performance during irradiation and yield thermophysical property data needed for simulation codes and fuel databases. The objective of this research is to develop and compare two in-pile thermal conductivity methods in a laboratory setting using surrogate fuel materials.

A steady-state radial heat flow method was investigated to understand its viability as an in-pile steady-state thermal conductivity technique. By using Joule heating to simulate volumetric heat generation within a surrogate fuel rod, thermal conductivity was measured with two thermocouples at different radial positions within the rod. Examinations …

Flow Rate Measurement In A High Temperature, Radioactive, And Corrosive Environment, Taleb Moazzeni

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Accurate measurement of coolant flow rate is essential for determining the maximum power required by the nuclear plant operation and critical for monitoring its operation safety. However, no practical off-the-shelf flowmeter is available to satisfy all the pressing multidimensional operation requirements (i. e., high temperature, high irradiation, and high corrosion). This work thus deals with the development of a new flowmeter for nuclear power plant/reactor process-monitoring and real time analysis; this proposed flowmeter shall be able to continuously conduct robust measurements under extremely harsh environment with high irradiation, high pressure, high temperature and corrosive media. We investigate a transit-time based …

Gadolinium Oxide/Silicon Thin Film Heterojunction Solid-State Neutron Detector, Christopher M. Young

Theses and Dissertations

The internal conversion electron emission from the de-excitation of the Gd-158m nucleus was explored as a means for neutron detection. Thin film gadolinium oxide (Gd₂O₃) and p-type silicon heterojunction diodes were produced using a supercritical water deposition process. Pulse height spectroscopy was conducted on the novel diodes while they were subjected to a moderated plutonium-beryllium (PuBe) source flux of 10⁴ thermal neutrons/cm² s. Coincident gamma spectroscopy was employed to verify the 1107.6 keV photon emissions from the diode indicative of successful neutron capture by Gd-157 and the subsequent de-excitation of the Gd-158m nucleus. Neutron …

Bennett Clocking Of Nanomagnetic Logic Using Multiferroic Single-Domain Nanomagnets, Jayasimha Atulasimha, Supriyo Bandyopadhyay

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Publications

The authors show that it is possible to rotate the magnetization of a multiferroic (strain-coupled two-layer magnetostrictive-piezoelectric)nanomagnet by a large angle with a small electrostatic potential. This can implement Bennett clocking [Int. J. Theor. Phys.21, 905 (1982)] in nanomagnetic logic arrays resulting in unidirectional propagation of logic bits from one stage to another. This method is potentially more energy efficient than using spin-transfer torque for magnetization rotation. For realistic parameters, it is shown that a potential of ∼0.2 V applied to a multiferroicnanomagnet can rotate magnetization by nearly 90° to implement Bennett clocking.

Research Highlights, Haitao Liao

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Industrial & Information Engineering

No abstract provided.

Grafika Inżynierska Ćw., Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

Projektowanie Procesów Biotechnologicznych Proj., Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

Projektowanie I Optymalizacja Procesów Proj., Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

Metody Numeryczne Lab., Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

Odnawialne Źródła Energii W., Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.