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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
US, Korea sign MOU for nuclear cooperation
The U.S. departments of Energy and State have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Korea’s ministries of Trade, Industry and Energy and of Foreign Affairs for the two nations to partner on nuclear exports and cooperation.
Bin Zhang, Hongchun Wu, Yunzhao Li, Liangzhi Cao, Wei Shen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 186 | Number 2 | May 2017 | Pages 134-146
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2016.1273018
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In general, spatial homogenization, energy group condensation, and angular approximation are all included in the homogenization process. For the traditional pressurized water reactor (PWR) two-step calculation, the assembly homogenization with assembly discontinuity factors plus two-group (2G) neutron diffusion calculation have been proved to be a very efficient combination. However, this changes and becomes unsettled for the pin-by-pin calculation. Thus, this paper evaluates pin-cell homogenization techniques by comparison with the two-dimensional one-step whole-core transport calculation. For the homogenization, both the generalized equivalence theory (GET) and the superhomogenization (SPH) methods are studied. Considering the spectrum interference effect between different types of fuel pin cells, both 2G and 7-group (7G) structures are condensed from the 69-group WIMS-D4 library structure. For practical reactor core applications, the low-order angular approximations, including the diffusion and the SP3 methods, are compared with each other to determine which one is accurate enough for the PWR pin-by-pin calculation. Numerical results have demonstrated that both the GET and the SPH methods work effectively in pin-cell homogenization. In consideration of the spectrum interference effect, the 7G structure is sufficient for the pin-by-pin calculation. Compared with the diffusion method, the SP3 method can decrease the errors dramatically.
