Current Status and On-Going Development of VTT’s Kraken Core Physics Computational Framework

Jaakko Leppänen, Ville Valtavirta, Antti Rintala, Ville Hovi, Riku Tuominen, Jussi Peltonen, Markus Hirvensalo, Eric Dorval, Unna Lauranto and Rebekka Komu
Additional contact information
Jaakko Leppänen: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Ville Valtavirta: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Antti Rintala: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Ville Hovi: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Riku Tuominen: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Jussi Peltonen: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Markus Hirvensalo: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Eric Dorval: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Unna Lauranto: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland
Rebekka Komu: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., FI-02044 Espoo, Finland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-12

Abstract: The Kraken computational framework is a new modular calculation system designed for coupled core physics calculations. The development started at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland in 2017, with the aim to replace VTT’s outdated legacy codes used for the deterministic safety analyses of Finnish power reactors. In addition to conventional large PWRs and BWRs, Kraken is intended to be used for the modeling of SMRs and emerging non-LWR technologies. The main computational modules include the Serpent Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code, the Ants nodal neutronics solver, the FINIX fuel behavior module and the Kharon thermal hydraulics code, all developed at VTT. The core physics solution can be further coupled to system-scale simulations. In addition to development, significant effort has been devoted to verification and validation of the implemented methodologies. The reduced-order Ants code has been successfully used for steady-state, transient and burnup simulations of PWRs with rectangular and hexagonal core geometry. The Ants–Kharon–FINIX code sequence is actively used for the core design tasks in VTT’s district heating reactor project. This paper is a general overview on the background, functional description, current status and future plans for the Kraken framework. Due to the short history of development, Kraken has not yet been comprehensively validated or applied to full-scale core physics calculations. A review of previous studies is instead provided to exemplify the practical use.

Keywords: core physics; coupled simulation; neutronics; thermal hydraulics; fuel behavior; Kraken; Serpent; Ants; FINIX; Kharon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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