PhD Candidate Taylor Kimball’s Introduces New Reactor Efficiencies
The 2024 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Annual Conference, a leading event for nuclear science and engineering professionals, took place in Las Vegas, NV from June 16-19, 2024. This year’s theme, “All In on Nuclear Deployment: The Stakes Have Never Been Higher,” emphasized the critical importance of nuclear technology in today’s world. The University of Utah’s Nuclear Engineering Program (UNEP) made a strong showing, with two PhD students presenting their groundbreaking research.
Taylor Kimball, one of the PhD candidates from UNEP, shared his innovative research on computational TRISO fuel simulations—an essential advancement for the future capabilities of nuclear power.
Standing for TRi-structural ISOtropic particle fuel, TRISO is an advanced type of nuclear fuel known for its high performance and safety features. In his presentation, Kimball introduced a new method for generating cross sections for these TRISO fuel simulations. Cross sections are essential data that describe how nuclear fuel interacts with neutrons, which is crucial for accurately simulating and analyzing nuclear reactors.
Kimball’s new method offers a practical way to create multi-group cross sections specifically for TRISO fuel applications. While TRISO fuel is known for its robust performance and high safety margins, it also requires precise simulation techniques to ensure its effectiveness. Kimball’s approach has shown promising results, particularly in system eigenvalues, which are critical parameters for reactor stability and performance, using a simple MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) TRISO fuel compact model.
In his future work, Kimball plans to refine these techniques further. Enhancements will include advanced methods like adjoint-weighted broad group energy structures and fully deterministic system eigenvalue calculations.
These improvements aim to develop a comprehensive and practical approach for deterministic TRISO reactor analysis, potentially leading to better reactor designs and safer, more efficient nuclear energy production.
Taylor Kimball, set to graduate next May, has been with UNEP since August 2022, focusing his research on computational radiation transport. His work specializes in fuel burnup and depletion calculations, as well as cross section generation, making significant contributions to the field.
The participation of UNEP students and faculty at the ANS Annual Conference highlights the program’s commitment to being at the forefront of nuclear science and engineering. Their research not only showcases the high level of scholarship within the program but also contributes to the broader nuclear engineering community.
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