Full Core Pin-Level VVER-440 Simulation of a Rod Drop Experiment with the GPU-Based Monte Carlo Code GUARDYAN

David Legrady, Gabor Tolnai, Tamas Hajas, Elod Pazman, Tamas Parko and Istvan Pos
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David Legrady: Department of Nuclear Techniques, Institute of Nuclear Techniques, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Gabor Tolnai: Department of Nuclear Techniques, Institute of Nuclear Techniques, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Tamas Hajas: Department of Nuclear Techniques, Institute of Nuclear Techniques, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Elod Pazman: Wigner Research Center for Physics, H-1121 Budapest, Hungary
Tamas Parko: MVM Paks NPP Ltd., H-7030 Paks, Hungary
Istvan Pos: MVM Paks NPP Ltd., H-7030 Paks, Hungary

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Targeting ultimate fidelity reactor physics calculations the Dynamic Monte Carlo (DMC) method simulates reactor transients without resorting to static or quasistatic approximations. Due to the capability to harness the computing power of Graphics Processing Units, the GUARDYAN (GpU Assisted Reactor DYnamic ANalysis) code has been recently upscaled to perform pin-by-pin simulations of power plant scale systems as demonstrated in this paper. A recent rod drop experiment at a VVER-440/213 (vodo-vodyanoi enyergeticheskiy reaktor) type power plant at Paks NPP, Hungary, was considered and signals of ex-core detectors placed at three different positions were simulated successfully by GUARDYAN taking realistic fuel loading, including burn-up data into account. Results were also compared to the time-dependent Paks NPP in-house nodal diffusion code VERETINA (VERONA: VVER Online Analysis and RETINA: Reactor Thermo-hydraulics Interactive). Analysis is given of the temporal and spatial variance distribution of GUARDYAN fuel pin node-wise power estimates. We can conclude that full core, pin-wise DMC power plant simulations using realistic isotope concentrations are feasible in reasonable computing times down to 1–2% error of ex-core detector signals using current GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) High Performance Computing architectures, thereby demonstrating a technological breakthrough.

Keywords: Dynamic Monte Carlo; GPU; GUARDYAN; reactor dynamics; rod drop; nuclear power plant; VERETINA; C-PORCA (Code for Power Reactor Computamioral Analysis) (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
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