Multiphysics Running-In Simulations for Pebble-Bed Reactors with Griffin

Hanophy, Joshua Thomas; Balestra, Paolo; Wang, Yaqi; Ortensi, Javier; Schunert, Sebastian

doi:10.1080/00295639.2025.2497025

Multiphysics Running-In Simulations for Pebble-Bed Reactors with Griffin

Journal Article · Mon Jun 02 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Nuclear Science and Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2497025· OSTI ID:2584165

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Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Griffin, a Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE)–based application targeting transient modeling of advanced reactors, has been used recently to model pebble-bed reactors (PBRs). The modeling effort has focused thus far on equilibrium core calculations. A new capability to simulate the running-in phase of PBR operation has been added to Griffin. This work demonstrates the new capability with a coupled multiphysics running-in simulation. Griffin computes power densities in the core at each time step of the running-in simulation and passes these to Pronghorn, which models fluid flow and heat transfer to calculate pebble surface temperatures. These surface temperatures are used along with the power densities in a heat conduction model to compute average fuel and moderator temperatures, which are passed back to Griffin and accounted for with temperature-dependent cross sections. This work also describes a novel methodology for determining appropriate pebble feed rates and control rod positioning during the running-in simulation. Furthermore, the RZ-geometry model used in this work requires minimal computational resources and can be used for optimization and uncertainty studies in future works.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 2584165

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU--24-79997-Rev000

Journal Information:: Nuclear Science and Engineering, Journal Name: Nuclear Science and Engineering Journal Issue: 2025; ISSN 0029-5639; ISSN 1943-748X

Publisher:: Taylor & FrancisCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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burning-in
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