Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors

Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors
Name	Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors
Abbreviation	CASL
Formation	2010
Type	Energy research consortium
Headquarters	Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Region served	United States
Leader title	Director
Parent organization	Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Contents

Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors is a United States-based energy research consortium focused on multiphysics simulation of commercial nuclear reactors, centered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and involving national laboratories, universities, and industry partners. The consortium integrates high-performance computing from Argonne National Laboratory, experimental data from Idaho National Laboratory, validation facilities such as Sandia National Laboratories, and industry deployment through partners like Westinghouse Electric Company, Toshiba, General Electric and Electric Power Research Institute. CASL aims to accelerate predictive modeling efforts that inform reactor operation, safety analysis, and licensing within frameworks used by Nuclear Regulatory Commission and utilities such as Duke Energy, Exelon Corporation, and Entergy.

Overview

CASL pursued an integrated modeling environment to simulate light water reactor behavior by coupling materials, neutronics, thermal-hydraulics, and fuel performance codes developed by teams from Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The consortium aligned efforts with standards and oversight from Nuclear Regulatory Commission and engaged vendors like AREVA and BWX Technologies to ensure relevance to commercial reactors operated by Southern Company and NextEra Energy. CASL emphasized high-performance computing resources such as Titan (supercomputer), Summit (supercomputer), and architectures supported by National Nuclear Security Administration initiatives.

Formed in 2010 under the direction of U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science programs and headquartered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, CASL brought together national laboratories, research universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, North Carolina State University, University of Tennessee, and industry partners such as Westinghouse Electric Company and Electric Power Research Institute. Leadership included directors and principal investigators with affiliations to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and academia; governance incorporated advisory boards with representatives from U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and major utilities like Duke Energy. CASL operated through targeted problem teams, user councils, and technology integration groups modeled after collaborations seen at CERN and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory partnerships.

CASL organized research into multiphysics coupling, high-fidelity neutronics, subchannel thermal-hydraulics, materials aging, and fuel performance, leveraging methods from Monte Carlo methods and deterministic transport codes developed at Argonne National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Programs tied validation to experiments at Idaho National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and university reactors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and North Carolina State University. Projects targeted performance improvement and safety margins for pressurized water reactors (PWRs) owned by Exelon Corporation and Entergy, boiling water reactors (BWRs) associated with General Electric designs, and lifetime extension issues relevant to Toshiba and Westinghouse Electric Company plants. CASL research contributed to regulatory modeling guidance discussed with Nuclear Regulatory Commission and standards groups connected to American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers committees.

CASL developed a suite of coupled simulation tools and applications including MPACT for neutronics, CTF for subchannel thermal-hydraulics, and BISON for fuel performance, integrating libraries and frameworks from Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Idaho National Laboratory. These codes interfaced with mesh, linear algebra, and parallel I/O packages used at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and tested on supercomputers such as Titan (supercomputer) and Summit (supercomputer), while leveraging middleware and workflow systems used at National Center for Atmospheric Research and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The software stack incorporated verification and validation practices drawn from U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidance, and used data management approaches similar to those at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to support deployment to utilities like Duke Energy and vendors including Westinghouse Electric Company.

CASL partnerships spanned national laboratories, research universities, reactor operators, and vendors including Westinghouse Electric Company, Toshiba, General Electric, Electric Power Research Institute, Exelon Corporation, Duke Energy, and Entergy. Its work influenced reactor core design, operational decision support, and life-extension strategies adopted by utilities and discussed at industry forums such as meetings of American Nuclear Society, Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, and Nuclear Energy Institute. CASL outcomes informed regulatory interactions with Nuclear Regulatory Commission and contributed modeling case studies referenced in publications by International Atomic Energy Agency experts and academic groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Michigan.

CASL engaged students and researchers from universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, University of Michigan, University of Tennessee, and Ohio State University through internships, postdoctoral appointments, and workshops coordinated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory. Outreach included presentations at conferences organized by American Nuclear Society, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and collaboration on curriculum materials with academic programs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and North Carolina State University. Training for utility engineers from Duke Energy and Exelon Corporation used CASL tools and best practices similar to professional development offerings by Electric Power Research Institute and continuing education programs endorsed by American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Category:Nuclear energy organizations in the United States