ALFRED: All particle in Fission Reactor - Energy Deposition

The Challenge

Understanding energy deposition in fission reactors is critical for accurate experimental analysis and safe reactor operation. Existing simulation tools like MCNP, Serpent, and OpenMC typically focus only on neutral particles or prompt emissions, limiting the precision needed for fast transient reactor experiments. This constraint impacts the accuracy of energy measurements and can lead to incomplete assessments of heat deposition. As reactor designs become more complex and demand precise heat management, a need for a detailed model that tracks all particles generated during fission events is essential for researchers and reactor operators.

How It Works

ALFRED (All particle in Fission Reactor - Energy Deposition) offers a refined approach to energy deposition analysis by leveraging the Monte Carlo Geant4 toolkit. Unlike other tools, ALFRED tracks both neutral particles (neutrons and gammas) and charged particles (fission fragments, electrons), ensuring a comprehensive analysis of all energy-contributing particles. The process begins with a k-eigenvalue module that tracks every particle generated and records all deposited energy. After each run, the neutron source is updated based on previous emissions, allowing the source distribution to converge to the reactor’s steady-state eigenvalue for a realistic view of particle behavior and energy distribution. This results in a high-fidelity, time-dependent energy deposition model, ideal for TREAT and other test reactors focused on fast transients.

Key Advantages

- High-precision energy deposition model accounting for all fission-generated particles, including delayed emissions.

- Time-dependent tracking provides a detailed analysis of particle behaviors, ensuring reliable energy calculations for complex experiments.

- An alternative for reactor physicists to evaluate heat deposition beyond conventional tools, minimizing model approximations and increasing result fidelity.

- Optimized for transient experiments, delivering accurate insights into energy behaviors in short-term, intense reactor tests.

Market Applications

- Test reactors such as TREAT can utilize ALFRED for detailed heat deposition evaluations in high-transient experiments.

- Broader applications in reactor physics, where precise modeling of fission products' energy impact is necessary.

- Potential for nuclear energy researchers and reactor designers to employ ALFRED for improved safety and efficiency in experimental setups.

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