Evaluation of power distribution calculation of the very high temperature reactor critical assembly (VHTRC) with Monte Carlo MVP3 code

Simanullang, I. L.*; Nakagawa, Naoki*; Ho, H. Q.; Nagasumi, Satoru; Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Fujimoto, Nozomu*

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 177, p.109314_1 - 109314_8, 2022/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109314

Uncertainty analysis of dynamic PRA using nested Monte Carlo simulations and multi-fidelity models

Zheng, X.; Tamaki, Hitoshi; Takahara, Shogo; Sugiyama, Tomoyuki; Maruyama, Yu

Proceedings of Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM16) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2022/09

https://www.iapsam.org/PSAM16/

A Scoping study on the use of direct quantification of fault tree using Monte Carlo simulation in seismic probabilistic risk assessments

Kubo, Kotaro; Fujiwara, Keita*; Tanaka, Yoichi; Hakuta, Yuto*; Arake, Daisuke*; Uchiyama, Tomoaki*; Muramatsu, Ken*

Proceedings of 29th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 29) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE29-88773

After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, the importance of conducting probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) of external events, especially seismic activities and tsunamis, was recognized. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been developing a computational methodology for seismic PRA, called the direct quantification of fault tree using Monte Carlo simulation (DQFM). When appropriate correlation matrices are available for seismic responses and capacities of components, the DQFM makes it possible to consider the effect of correlated failures of components connected through AND and/or OR gates in fault trees, which is practically difficult when methods using analytical solutions or multidimensional numerical integrations are used to obtain minimal cut set probabilities. The usefulness of DQFM has already been demonstrated. Nevertheless, a reduction of the computational time of DQFM would allow the large number of analyses required in PRAs conducted by regulators and/or operators. We; therefore, performed scoping calculations using three different approaches, namely quasi-Monte Carlo sampling, importance sampling, and parallel computing, to improve calculation efficiency. Quasi-Monte Carlo sampling, importance sampling, and parallel computing were applied when calculating the conditional core damage probability of a simplified PRA model of a pressurized water reactor, using the DQFM method. The results indicated that the quasi-Monte Carlo sampling works well at assumed medium and high ground motion levels, importance sampling is suitable for assumed low ground motion level, and that parallel computing enables practical uncertainty and importance analysis. The combined implementation of these improvements in a PRA code is expected to provide a significant acceleration of computation and offers the prospect of practical use of DQFM in risk-informed decision-making.

Adjoint-weighted correlated sampling for -eigenvalue perturbation in Monte Carlo calculation

Tuya, D.; Nagaya, Yasunobu

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 169, p.108919_1 - 108919_9, 2022/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108919

Estimating an effect of a perturbation in a fissile system on its -eigenvalue requires special technique called perturbation theory when the considered perturbation is small. In this study, we develop an adjoint-weighted correlated sampling (AWCS) method based on the exact perturbation theory without any approximation by combining the correlated sampling (CS) method with iterated-fission probability (IFP) based adjoint-weighting method. With the advantages of the CS method being good at providing very small uncertainty for small perturbations and the IFP-based adjoint-weighting method being suitable for continuous-energy Monte Carlo calculation, the developed AWCS method based on the exact perturbation theory offers a new rigorous approach for perturbation calculations. The obtained results by the developed AWCS method for verification problems involving Godiva and simplified STACY density perturbations showed good agreement with the reference calculations.

Quasi-Monte Carlo sampling method for simulation-based dynamic probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants

Kubo, Kotaro; Jang, S.*; Takata, Takashi*; Yamaguchi, Akira*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(3), p.357 - 367, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2021.1971119

Dynamic probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), which handles epistemic and aleatory uncertainties by coupling the thermal-hydraulics simulation and probabilistic sampling, enables a more realistic and detailed analysis than conventional PRA. However, enormous calculation costs are incurred by these improvements. One solution is to select an appropriate sampling method. In this paper, we applied the Monte Carlo, Latin hypercube, grid-point, and quasi-Monte Carlo sampling methods to the dynamic PRA of a station blackout sequence in a boiling water reactor and compared each method. The result indicated that quasi-Monte Carlo sampling method handles the uncertainties most effectively in the assumed scenario.

From recent RPT review articles; Medical application of particle and heavy ion transport code system PHITS

Furuta, Takuya

Igaku Butsuri, 41(4), P. 194, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.11323/jjmp.41.4_194

Number of medical uses of Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) has been increased due to the recent high demands of medical use of radiations. The summary of such research works was described in the review article on medical application of Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System PHITS published in Radiological Physics and Technology in 2021. There was a request from the editorial board of Japan Society of Medical Physics (JSMP) for writing an introductory article of this article in their internal journal. The research works on medical applications described in the review article, useful functions for medical application in PHITS, and newly opened user forum of PHITS have been introduced.

Medical application of Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System PHITS

Furuta, Takuya; Sato, Tatsuhiko

Radiological Physics and Technology, 14(3), p.215 - 225, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-021-00628-0

Number of the PHITS users has steadily increased since 2010 from when it is officially counted. Among them, increase of new users in medical physics is outstanding. Many research works in medical physics using PHITS have been published and the applications are widely spread in different fields such as applications to different types of radiotherapy, shielding calculations of medical facilities, application to radiation biology, and research and development of medical tools. In this article, we will introduce useful functions for medical application in PHITS by referring to examples of various medical applications.

Numerical investigations on the coolability and the re-criticality of a debris bed with the density-stratified configuration

Li, C.; Uchibori, Akihiro; Takata, Takashi; Pellegrini, M.*; Erkan, N.*; Okamoto, Koji*

Dai-25-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 4 Pages, 2021/07

The capability of stable cooling and avoiding re-criticality on the debris bed are the main issues for achieving IVR (In-Vessel Retention). In the actual situation, the debris bed is composed of mixed-density debris particles. Hence, when these mixed-density debris particles were launched to re-distribute, the debris bed would possibly form a density-stratified distribution. For the proper evaluation of this scenario, the multi-physics model of CFD-DEM-Monte-Carlo based neutronics is established to investigate the coolability and re-criticality on the heterogeneous density-stratified debris bed with considering the particle relocation. The CFD-DEM model has been verified by utilizing water injection experiments on the mixed-density particle bed in the first portion of this research. In the second portion, the coupled system of the CFD-DEM-Monte-Carlo based neutronics model is applied to reactor cases. Afterward, the debris particles' movement, debris particles' and coolant's temperature, and the k-eff eigenvalue are successfully tracked. Ultimately, the relocation and stratification effects on debris bed's coolability and re-criticality had been quantitatively confirmed.

Calculations for ambient dose equivalent rates in nine forests in eastern Japan from Cs and Cs radioactivity measurements

Malins, A.; Imamura, Naohiro*; Niizato, Tadafumi; Takahashi, Junko*; Kim, M.; Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Shinomiya, Yoshiki*; Miura, Satoru*; Machida, Masahiko

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 226, p.106456_1 - 106456_12, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106456

A Comparative study of sampling techniques for dynamic probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants

Kubo, Kotaro; Zheng, X.; Tanaka, Yoichi; Tamaki, Hitoshi; Sugiyama, Tomoyuki; Jang, S.*; Takata, Takashi*; Yamaguchi, Akira*

Proceedings of Joint International Conference on Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications + Monte Carlo 2020 (SNA + MC 2020), p.308 - 315, 2020/10

Dynamic probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) is a method for improving the realism and completeness of conventional PRA. However, enormous calculation costs are incurred by these improvements. One solution is to select an appropriate sampling method. In this paper, we applied the Monte Carlo, Latin hypercube, grid-point, and quasi-Monte Carlo sampling methods to the dynamic PRA of a simplified accident sequence and compared the results for each method. Quasi-Monte Carlo sampling was found to be the most effective method in this case.