Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the 2003 International RERTR Meeting
MATHEMATICA AS A VERSATILE
TOOL TO
SET-UP AND ANALYZE NEUTRONIC
CALCULATIONS FOR RESEARCH REACTORS
Alexander Glaser and
Christoph Pistner
Interdisciplinary
Research Group in Science, Technology, and Security (IANUS)
Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany
Modern technical computing
environments, such as Mathematica or Matlab, provide powerful
tools and techniques for research reactor analysis combined with advanced
graphical user interfaces. In addition, reactor calculations can now be efficiently
supported by neutronics codes based on the Monte Carlo method due to the
dramatic increase of computer performance in recent years. In particular for
the analysis of very compact reactor cores, where an accurate
three-dimensional model of the core becomes almost indispensable, Monte Carlo
techniques are a very valuable asset.
In combining these approaches, we present a system that emphasizes an
interactive interface based on Mathematica, while using standard
burnup and Monte Carlo neutronics codes in the background (ORIGEN and MCNP).
As an example, a generic single element reactor is discussed. The
computational system is used to set up a complete MCNP model of the core, to
optimize and prepare the input for burnup calculations, and finally to analyze
the results of the calculations.