Development of Serpent/CTF External Coupling for the OECD/NEA TVA-WB1 Benchmark Activities.
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| Title: | Development of Serpent/CTF External Coupling for the OECD/NEA TVA-WB1 Benchmark Activities. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Albagami, T.1 (AUTHOR) talbaga@ncsu.edu, Rouxelin, P.1 (AUTHOR), Abarca, A.1 (AUTHOR), Palmtag, S.1 (AUTHOR), Avramova, M.1 (AUTHOR), Ivanov, K.1 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Nuclear Science & Engineering. 2026 Suppl 1, Vol. 200, pS595-S610. 16p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Monte Carlo method, *Pressurized water reactors, *Computer simulation, *Nuclear reactors |
| Company/Entity: | Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development |
| Abstract: | The paper aims to provide an update on the development of multi-physics coupling for the Monte Carlo code Serpent with the subchannel thermal-hydraulic solver CTF for multi-physics modeling and simulation of pressurized water reactors in principal and as part of the activities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Watts Bar Unit 1 (WB1) multi-physics, multi-cycle depletion benchmark team in particular. Serpent/CTF are coupled to perform steady-state and cycle depletion exercises of the benchmark. Serpent/CTF is an external coupling based on Picard iteration, and it utilizes the Serpent capabilities to communicate with an external solver via the signal library in Python. Serpent/CTF coupling is tested on a three-dimensional (3D) assembly-level problem at nominal conditions as well as on a full-core problem at nominal conditions with xenon equilibrium and verified against the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) code system. The test cases include Problem 6 from the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors VERA Core Physics Benchmark Progression Problem Specifications and Exercise 2 of the OECD/NEA TVA-WB1 benchmark. The compared integral parameters are keff, critical boron concentration and local distributions of power, fuel temperature, channel liquid temperature, and channel liquid density. The comparative analysis shows good agreement, with a keff difference of −74 pcm, critical boron concentration of −8.86 ppm, mean difference of 0.01 for the corewise normalized pin power, 0.17 K for the channel liquid temperature, and 0.45 kg/m3 for the channel liquid density. Serpent/CTF calculations face difficulties in pin fuel temperature convergence below 1% and in overestimating the pin fuel temperature in a few locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Database: | Energy & Power Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: enr DbLabel: Energy & Power Source An: 192155922 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Development of Serpent/CTF External Coupling for the OECD/NEA TVA-WB1 Benchmark Activities. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Albagami%2C+T%2E%22">Albagami, T.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> talbaga@ncsu.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rouxelin%2C+P%2E%22">Rouxelin, P.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Abarca%2C+A%2E%22">Abarca, A.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Palmtag%2C+S%2E%22">Palmtag, S.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Avramova%2C+M%2E%22">Avramova, M.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ivanov%2C+K%2E%22">Ivanov, K.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Nuclear+Science+%26+Engineering%22">Nuclear Science & Engineering</searchLink>. 2026 Suppl 1, Vol. 200, pS595-S610. 16p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Monte+Carlo+method%22">Monte Carlo method</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pressurized+water+reactors%22">Pressurized water reactors</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+simulation%22">Computer simulation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nuclear+reactors%22">Nuclear reactors</searchLink> – Name: SubjectCompany Label: Company/Entity Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Organisation+for+Economic+Co-operation+%26+Development%22">Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The paper aims to provide an update on the development of multi-physics coupling for the Monte Carlo code Serpent with the subchannel thermal-hydraulic solver CTF for multi-physics modeling and simulation of pressurized water reactors in principal and as part of the activities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Watts Bar Unit 1 (WB1) multi-physics, multi-cycle depletion benchmark team in particular. Serpent/CTF are coupled to perform steady-state and cycle depletion exercises of the benchmark. Serpent/CTF is an external coupling based on Picard iteration, and it utilizes the Serpent capabilities to communicate with an external solver via the signal library in Python. Serpent/CTF coupling is tested on a three-dimensional (3D) assembly-level problem at nominal conditions as well as on a full-core problem at nominal conditions with xenon equilibrium and verified against the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) code system. The test cases include Problem 6 from the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors VERA Core Physics Benchmark Progression Problem Specifications and Exercise 2 of the OECD/NEA TVA-WB1 benchmark. The compared integral parameters are keff, critical boron concentration and local distributions of power, fuel temperature, channel liquid temperature, and channel liquid density. The comparative analysis shows good agreement, with a keff difference of −74 pcm, critical boron concentration of −8.86 ppm, mean difference of 0.01 for the corewise normalized pin power, 0.17 K for the channel liquid temperature, and 0.45 kg/m3 for the channel liquid density. Serpent/CTF calculations face difficulties in pin fuel temperature convergence below 1% and in overestimating the pin fuel temperature in a few locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/00295639.2025.2475415 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 16 StartPage: S595 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Monte Carlo method Type: general – SubjectFull: Pressurized water reactors Type: general – SubjectFull: Computer simulation Type: general – SubjectFull: Nuclear reactors Type: general – SubjectFull: Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Development of Serpent/CTF External Coupling for the OECD/NEA TVA-WB1 Benchmark Activities. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Albagami, T. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Rouxelin, P. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Abarca, A. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Palmtag, S. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Avramova, M. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Ivanov, K. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 02 M: 02 Text: 2026 Suppl 1 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00295639 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 200 Titles: – TitleFull: Nuclear Science & Engineering Type: main |
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