AN INITIATIVE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF OPEN-SOURCE MULTI-PHYSICS SIMULATION IN SUPPORT OF R&D AND E&T IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

¹ EPFL, Laboratory for Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
² ANL, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL, USA
³ OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Data Bank, 2 rue André Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France
⁴ Texas A&M University, Nuclear Engineering, College Station, TX, USA
⁵ North Carolina State University, Department of Nuclear Engineering, 2500 Stinson Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
⁶ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
⁷ Wood, Kings Point House, Queen Mother Square, Poundbury, Dorchester, DT1 3BW, UK
⁸ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen Strasse, 52425 Juelich, Germany
⁹ University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
¹⁰ International Atomic Energy Agency, Department of Nuclear Energy, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria
¹¹ Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, via La Masa 34, 20156, Milan, Italy
¹² LPSC, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble INP, 53 rue des Martyrs, F-38026 Grenoble, France
¹³ Paul Scherrer Institut, Forschungsstrasse 111, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
¹⁴ Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSN-EXP/SNC/LN, Fontenay-aux-Roses, 92262, France

carlo.fiorina@epfl.ch
pshriwise@anl.gov
alice.dufresne@oecd-nea.org
jean.ragusa@tamu.edu
knivanov@ncsu.edu
valentinete@ornl.gov
ben.lindley@woodplc.com
s.kelm@fz-juelich.de
es607@cam.ac.uk
s.monti@iaea.org
c.batra@iaea.org
andreas.pautz@epfl.ch
stefano.lorenzi@polimi.it
pablo.rubiolo@lpsc.in2p3.fr
ivor.clifford@psi.ch
benjamin.dechenaux@irsn.fr

Published online: 22 February 2021

Abstract

Modelling and simulation (M&S) have gradually become irreplaceable tools in the field of Nuclear Science and Technology (NS&T), including nuclear energy systems. This is partly due to growing computational resources and advances in computational science and partly to the difficulties to finance, build and license new experimental facilities. However, the utilization of M&S for research and development (R&D) and education and training (E&T) applications is somewhat hampered by limited accessibility to controlled and sensitive nuclear M&S tools as well as by the desires of the developers of these tools to retain their intellectual property (IP). Open-source software and open-access data are growingly perceived as means to accelerate innovation by promoting synergistic collaborative developments while lowering the barriers associated to code distribution, modification, and sharing. Open-source software development is ideal for R&D and E&T purposes because it permits the enhancement of understanding, the use of advanced computational methods and it promotes the cooperation among researchers and scientists, without rigorous constraints on quality assurance or reliance on proprietary data for technology-specific validation. As a fundamental research tool, this helps to mitigate constraints related to dual use of such technology. It is in this context that an initiative is being launched under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to promote the development and application of open-source multi-physics simulation in support of R&D and E&T in NS&T. This paper presents scope and objectives of this initiative.