The NEA Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS) held a series of virtual workshops from 7 to 15 December 2020 with more than 100 participants from the international reactor modelling community.
The WPRS studies reactor physics, fuel performance, and radiation transport and shielding in present and future nuclear power systems. The working party also examines the uncertainties associated with the modelling of these phenomena, particularly the modelling of reactor transient events.
The December workshop series addressed the Light Water Reactor Uncertainty Analysis in Modelling (UAM-LWR) benchmark and the Deterministic Time-Dependent Neutron Transport Benchmark (C5G7-TD). Four recent benchmark initiatives also met: the Multi-physics Pellet Clad Mechanical Interaction Validation Benchmark (MPCMIV), the Blind Benchmark on McMaster Core Thermal-hydraulics (CTH), the multi-physics TVA Watts Bar Benchmark, and the multi-physics VVER-1000 benchmark (ROSTOV-2).
The growing number of participants in NEA uncertainty analysis activities highlights the increasing importance of uncertainty analysis in modelling to reactor scientists and the industry. These benchmarks help address the accuracy of modelling and simulation of multi-physics phenomena specific to nuclear reactors. They also allow for analysis of measurement and engineering uncertainties and uncertainty propagation from basic data.
The 2020 workshop series was hosted by North Carolina State University. The next series will be hosted by NINE Nuclear and INdustrial Engineering S.R.L. from 30 May to 5 June 2021, in conjunction with the Conference Best estimate Modelling Plus Uncertainties in Safety Analyses (BEPU 2021) in Sicily, Italy. For additional information, please contact the NEA Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS).
