Pause
Read
CEA vacancy search engine

High-Fidelity Monte Carlo Simulations of Neutron Noise in Nuclear Power Reactors


Thesis topic details

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