Abstract

DireWolf is a multiphysics software driver application designed to simulate heat pipe–cooled nuclear microreactors. Developed under the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, the DireWolf software application’s objective is to provide the nuclear community with a design and safety analysis simulation capability. Based upon the NEAMS program Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) computational framework, DireWolf tightly couples nuclear microreactor physics, reactor physics, radiation transport, nuclear fuel performance, heat pipe thermal hydraulics, power generation, and structural mechanics to resolve the interdependent nonlinearities. DireWolf is capable of simulating both steady and transient normal reactor operation and several postulated failure scenarios. We will present the fundamental physics of heat pipe–cooled nuclear microreactors and the MOOSE-based software employed in DireWolf. Both steady and transient results for coupled reactor physics, radiation transport, and nuclear fuel performance are demonstrated.

摘要

DireWolf 是一种多物理场软件驱动程序应用程序，旨在模拟热管冷却核微反应器。DireWolf 软件应用程序由美国能源部核能高级建模和模拟办公室 (NEAMS) 计划开发，其目标是为核社区提供设计和安全分析模拟能力。DireWolf 基于 NEAMS 程序 Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) 计算框架，将核微反应堆物理、反应堆物理、辐射传输、核燃料性能、热管热力学、发电和结构力学紧密耦合，以解决相互依赖的非线性问题. DireWolf 能够模拟稳定和瞬态的正常反应堆运行以及几种假定的故障情况。我们将介绍热管冷却核微反应器的基本物理原理以及 DireWolf 中采用的基于 MOOSE 的软件。演示了耦合反应堆物理、辐射传输和核燃料性能的稳态和瞬态结果。