General information
Organisation
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.
Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.
The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
Reference
SL-DES-26-0211
Thesis topic details
Category
Engineering science
Thesis topics
High-Fidelity Monte Carlo Simulations of Neutron Noise in Nuclear Power Reactors
Contract
Thèse
Job description
Operating nuclear reactors are subject to a variety of perturbations. These can include vibrations of the fuel pins and fuel assemblies due to fluid-structure interactions with the moderator, or even vibrations of the core barrel, baffle, and pressure vessel. All of these perturbations can lead to small periodic fluctuations in the reactor power about the stable average power level. These power fluctuations are referred to as “neutron noise”. Being able to simulate different types of in-core perturbations allows reactor designers and operators to predict how the neutron flux could behave in the presence of such perturbations. In recent years, many different research groups have worked to develop computational models to simulate these sources of neutron noise, and their resulting effects on the neutron flux in the reactor. The primary objective of this PhD thesis will be to bring Monte Carlo neutron noise simulations to the scale of real-world industry calculations of nuclear reactor cores, with a high-fidelity continuous-energy physics representation. As part of this process, the student will add novel neutron noise simulation capabilities to TRIPOLI-5, the next-generation production Monte Carlo particle-transport code jointly developed by CEA and ASNR, with the support of EDF.
University / doctoral school
PHENIICS (PHENIICS)
Paris-Saclay
Thesis topic location
Site
Saclay
Requester
Position start date
01/10/2026
Person to be contacted by the applicant
Belanger Hunter
hunter.belanger@cea.fr
CEA
DES/DM2S/SERMA/LTSD
Bât 470 SERMA
Gif-sur-Yvette 91191
Tutor / Responsible thesis director
ZOIA Andrea
andrea.zoia@cea.fr
CEA
DES/DM2S/SERMA/LTSD
Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
Centre de Saclay
DES/ISAS/DM2S/SERMA/LTSD
Bat 470 - PC 212
91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France
01 69 08 89 49
En savoir plus
https://tripoli5.asnr.dev/documentation/index.html
https://www.cea.fr/energies/tripoli-4/Pages/Accueil.aspx