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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

Materials Science

The Materials Science Program is structured so that NASA s headquarters is responsible for the program content and selection, through the Enterprise Scientist, and MSFC provides for implementation of ground and flight programs with a Discipline Scientist and Discipline Manager. The Discipline Working Group of eminent scientists from outside of NASA acts in an advisory capacity and writes the Discipline Document from which the NRA content is derived. The program is reviewed approximately every three years by groups such as the Committee on Microgravity Research, the National Materials Advisory Board, and the OBPR Maximization and Prioritization (ReMaP) Task Force. The flight program has had as many as twenty-six principal investigators (PIs) in flight or flight definition stage, with the numbers of PIs in the future dependent on the results of the ReMaP Task Force and internal reviews. Each project has a NASA-appointed Project Scientist, considered a half-time job, who assists the PI in understanding and preparing for internal reviews such as the Science Concept Review and Requirements Definition Review. The Project Scientist also insures that the PI gets the maximum science support from MSFC, represents the PI to the MSFC community, and collaborates with the Project Manager to insure the project is well-supported and remains vital. Currently available flight equipment includes the Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR-1) and Microgravity Science Glovebox. Ground based projects fall into one or more of several categories. Intellectual Underpinning of Flight Program projects include theoretical studies backed by modeling and computer simulations; bring to maturity new research, often by young researchers, and may include preliminary short duration low gravity experiments in the KC-135 aircraft or drop tube; enable characterization of data sets from previous flights; and provide thermophysical property determinations to aid PIs. Radiation Shielding and preliminary In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) studies work towards future long duration missions. Biomaterials support materials issues affecting crew health. Nanostructured Materials are currently considered to be maturing new research, and Advanced Materials for Space Transportation has as yet no PIs. PIs are assigned a NASA Technical Monitor to maintain contact, a position considered to be a 5 percent per PI effort. Currently 33 PIs are supported on the 1996 NRA, which is about to expire, and 59 on the 1998 NRA. Two new NRAs, one for Radiation Shielding and one for Materials Science for Advanced Space Propulsion are due to be announced by the 2003 fiscal year. MSFC has a number of facilities supporting materials science. These include the Microgravity Development Laboratory/SD43; Electrostatic Levitator Facility; SCN Purification Facility; Electron Microscope/Microprobe Facility; Static and Rotating Magnetic Field Facility; X-Ray Diffraction Facility; and the Furnace Development Laboratory.

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DOE OSTI2021

Summary of CTF Modeling and Numerical Improvements for Boiling Water Reactor Simulation

This report documents geometry and numerical improvements made to CTF for the modeling of boiling water reactor (BWR) geometry and operating conditions. These activities are part of a larger program to extend the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) to better support BWR modeling and simulation. The activities documented in this report added features to CTF, including support for mixed-fuel cores, modeling of the upper plenum, and modeling of the lower tie plate form losses. A review of the spacer grid modeling approach was also performed, and a plan was discussed for future improvement. The parallelization of the model was improved, leading to a roughly 2× improvement in CTF runtime and a 1.6× improvement in total VERA runtime. An in-depth review of the governing equations and their linearization was performed and is documented in this report. Once implemented, this new linearization will allow CTF to take much larger timesteps, leading to more significant reductions in CTF and VERA runtimes.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Procedure for Creating, Reviewing, and Submitting Input Files into the Benchmark Library

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has a number of criticality benchmark input files, modeled for use with MCNP, developed and maintained by various organizations including the Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) Division, XCP-3, and XCP-5. The purpose of this procedure is to standardize input file creation, review, and maintenance. This procedure incorporates existing practices used by IRSN as documented in the original report and the translation from French in addition to practices used by the LANL NCS Division as documented in. The report relates to input files used for the validation of the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MCNP6 but is general enough to be extended to other codes. This report describes the procedure on how to prepare and use benchmarks (taken mainly from the ICSBEP Handbook) for the validation of calculation routes. In particular, this report describes the procedure to follow in the creation of the input files and their integration in the experimental validation databases.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

TAUOLA update for decay channels with e + e – pairs in the final state

With the arrival of high luminosity B-factories like the Belle II experiment, τ decay measurements have become more precise than ever, allowing rarer processes to be explored, and finer details of τ decays to be studied. These are important to understand the spectrum of intermediate particles produced in τ decays. Therefore Monte Carlo generators, like the TAUOLA program, have to facilitate precision analysis as well as confront new models that constantly emerge with the availability of high statistics experimental data. New decay channels and models may lead to large variation of matrix elements size within the available phase space, as in the case when e + e - pairs are present in final state. It requires appropriate presampler of the phase space generator and a proper documentation to help users introduce their own models. While releasing a new update, it is important for the TAUOLA Monte Carlo library to maintain the general structure of the previous versions to preserve backward compatibility. The aim is to minimize changes from the user perspective. Finally, this paper presents a demonstration of new models implementation facilitated by the current update.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1998

Flammability, Odor, Offgassing, and Compatibility Requirements and Test Procedures for Materials in Environments that Support Combustion

This handbook establishes NASA program requirements for evaluation, testing, and selection of materials to preclude unsafe conditions related to flammability, odor, offgassing, and fluid compatibility. Materials intended for use in space vehicles, specified test facilities, and specified ground support equipment (GSE) must meet the requirements of this document. Additional materials performance requirements may be specified in other program or NASA center specific documentation. Responsible NASA centers materials organizations must include applicable requirements of this document in their materials control programs. Materials used in habitable areas of spacecraft, including the materials of the spacecraft, stowed equipment, and experiments, must be evaluated for flammability, odor, and offgassing characteristics. All materials used in other areas must be evaluated for flammability characteristics. In addition, materials that are exposed to liquid oxygen (LOX), gaseous oxygen (GOX), and other reactive fluids' must be evaluated for compatibility with the fluid in their use application. Materials exposed to pressurized breathing gases also must be evaluated for odor and offgassing characteristics. The worst-case anticipated use environment (most hazardous pressure, temperature, material thickness, and fluid exposure conditions) must be used in the evaluation process. Materials that have been shown to meet the criteria of the required tests are acceptable for further consideration in design. Whenever possible, materials should be selected that have already been shown to meet the test criteria in the use environment. Existing test data are compiled in the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Materials and Processes Technical Information System (MAPTIS) and published periodically as the latest revision of a joint document with Johnson Space Center (JSC), MSFC-HDBK-527/JSC 09604. MAPTIS can be accessed by computer datalink. Systems containing materials that have not been tested or do not meet the criteria of the required tests must be verified to be acceptable in the use configuration by analysis or testing. This verification rationale must be documented and submitted to the responsible NASA center materials organization for approval.

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NASA NTRS1989

Detection and avoidance of errors in computer software

The acceptance test errors of a computer software project to determine if the errors could be detected or avoided in earlier phases of development. GROAGSS (Gamma Ray Observatory Attitude Ground Support System) was selected as the software project to be examined. The development of the software followed the standard Flight Dynamics Software Development methods. GROAGSS was developed between August 1985 and April 1989. The project is approximately 250,000 lines of code of which approximately 43,000 lines are reused from previous projects. GROAGSS had a total of 1715 Change Report Forms (CRFs) submitted during the entire development and testing. These changes contained 936 errors. Of these 936 errors, 374 were found during the acceptance testing. These acceptance test errors were first categorized into methods of avoidance including: more clearly written requirements; detail review; code reading; structural unit testing; and functional system integration testing. The errors were later broken down in terms of effort to detect and correct, class of error, and probability that the prescribed detection method would be successful. These determinations were based on Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) documents and interviews with the project programmers. A summary of the results of the categorizations is presented. The number of programming errors at the beginning of acceptance testing can be significantly reduced. The results of the existing development methodology are examined for ways of improvements. A basis is provided for the definition is a new development/testing paradigm. Monitoring of the new scheme will objectively determine its effectiveness on avoiding and detecting errors.

Kinsler, Les↗
NASA NTRS2009

Planetary Geologic Mapping Handbook - 2009

Geologic maps present, in an historical context, fundamental syntheses of interpretations of the materials, landforms, structures, and processes that characterize planetary surfaces and shallow subsurfaces (e.g., Varnes, 1974). Such maps also provide a contextual framework for summarizing and evaluating thematic research for a given region or body. In planetary exploration, for example, geologic maps are used for specialized investigations such as targeting regions of interest for data collection and for characterizing sites for landed missions. Whereas most modern terrestrial geologic maps are constructed from regional views provided by remote sensing data and supplemented in detail by field-based observations and measurements, planetary maps have been largely based on analyses of orbital photography. For planetary bodies in particular, geologic maps commonly represent a snapshot of a surface, because they are based on available information at a time when new data are still being acquired. Thus the field of planetary geologic mapping has been evolving rapidly to embrace the use of new data and modern technology and to accommodate the growing needs of planetary exploration. Planetary geologic maps have been published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since 1962 (Hackman, 1962). Over this time, numerous maps of several planetary bodies have been prepared at a variety of scales and projections using the best available image and topographic bases. Early geologic map bases commonly consisted of hand-mosaicked photographs or airbrushed shaded-relief views and geologic linework was manually drafted using mylar bases and ink drafting pens. Map publishing required a tedious process of scribing, color peel-coat preparation, typesetting, and photo-laboratory work. Beginning in the 1990s, inexpensive computing, display capability and user-friendly illustration software allowed maps to be drawn using digital tools rather than pen and ink, and mylar bases became obsolete. Terrestrial geologic maps published by the USGS now are primarily digital products using geographic information system (GIS) software and file formats. GIS mapping tools permit easy spatial comparison, generation, importation, manipulation, and analysis of multiple raster image, gridded, and vector data sets. GIS software has also permitted the development of project-specific tools and the sharing of geospatial products among researchers. GIS approaches are now being used in planetary geologic mapping as well (e.g., Hare and others, 2009). Guidelines or handbooks on techniques in planetary geologic mapping have been developed periodically (e.g., Wilhelms, 1972, 1990; Tanaka and others, 1994). As records of the heritage of mapping methods and data, these remain extremely useful guides. However, many of the fundamental aspects of earlier mapping handbooks have evolved significantly, and a comprehensive review of currently accepted mapping methodologies is now warranted. As documented in this handbook, such a review incorporates additional guidelines developed in recent years for planetary geologic mapping by the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics (PGG) Program s Planetary Cartography and Geologic Mapping Working Group s (PCGMWG) Geologic Mapping Subcommittee (GEMS) on the selection and use of map bases as well as map preparation, review, publication, and distribution. In light of the current boom in planetary exploration and the ongoing rapid evolution of available data for planetary mapping, this handbook is especially timely.

Tanaka, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS2023

Exploration Medical Capability IMPACT Medical Database – Medical Item Database (MedID) Content Development Methods

The Informing Mission Planning via Analysis of Complex Tradespaces (IMPACT) project encompasses a suite of computational tools that are used to inform systematic trade study evaluations and research prioritizations regarding the optimization of spaceflight medical systems, including the provision of risk assessment metrics, for a given design reference mission (DRM). The IMPACT Medical Database (IMPACT-MD) is the component that virtually houses the clinical and engineering data for medical conditions, capabilities, and resources used to support these analyses. In addition, IMPACT-MD also provides data to the associated SysML model to support the Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 requirements development needed for IMPACT. IMPACT-MD contains an internal Evidence Library (EL) sub-component that hosts the clinical evidence, treatment and outcome metric data, and incidence data for each medical condition identified for exploration-class missions. Furthermore, a separate Medical Item Database (MedID) sub-component hosts the engineering data and physical attributes (e.g., mass, volume, power, etc.) associated with each medical resource item identified to address the requisite medical conditions. The IMPACT project is conducted under the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) element of the Human Research Program (HRP) within NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD). The reader is referred to the documents in Appendix A for a more complete overview of the IMPACT tool suite and functionality as well as further detail on any associated aspects of the project. The primary purpose of this document is to describe the methods utilized in the collection and verification of engineering data content during the project development phase for the MedID sub-component of the IMPACT-MD project. Engineering content data (both existing and new/future) will be stored in IMPACT-MD for use by the IMPACT project. This document will detail the content development and data credibility for the engineering data housed within the MedID subcomponent of IMPACT-MD, which is used to inform the IMPACT 1.0 project deliverables.

Exploration Medical Capability↗
DOE OSTI2022

Machine Learning for Automated Metadata Assignment in Buildings: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-18-00767)

RealTerm Energy and NREL have identified a shared vision to evaluate opportunities to facilitate the organization and assignment of metadata to building control system (BCS) data via industry-informed machine learning (ML). Manual metadata assignment is labor intensive and costly, slowing down any Energy Management and Information System (EMIS) deployment in the building space. This project aims to develop methodologies to accurately assign this metadata and significantly decrease the level of effort associated with deploying EMIS. The objective of this project is to identify/design methodologies to assign metadata to HVAC control points automatically. The identified methodologies will be programmed in analytics algorithms so they can ingest a list of points and produce a detailed tagging following the Haystack classification nomenclature. To validate the efficacy of each methodology, tagging results will be compared utilizing a list of points extracted from RealTerm's building database-as well as data extracted from the NREL campus via the Intelligent Campus program-enabling testing against large datasets with real world challenges. The developed methodologies may leverage building manager/operator input on a limited basis to add context to the classifying algorithms. The partnership aims to advance global efforts in areas related to the DOE missions through improving operational performance of commercial buildings. It is well documented that buildings fall out of commission after they are occupied, wasting significant energy and incurring associated costs simply due to poor operational performance. Emerging EMIS technologies that perform continuous commissioning help to address this issue, yet integration of these systems can be labor intensive both for the technology vendor and the building owner/operator. This project will enable more efficient and cost-effective analytics for buildings, enabling improvement in building operations at lower cost points.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

ORNL Package Testing Program Software Quality Assurance Plan

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Package Testing Program (PTP) uses commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software in performing data collection of thermal test results for package designs that contain radioactive materials. Specifically, this software is used to collect temperature data from the furnace, packages, and ambient air to prepare and execute the thermal test specified in 10 CFR 71.73, “Thermal Test.” This software quality assurance (SQA) plan sets forth the guidelines, standards, and procedures that shall be used to provide SQA for PTP software applications. This is a living document that will be maintained for the lifecycle of the PTP program. The SQA plan follows the requirements set forth in ORNL Standards Based Management System (SBMS): Information Technology; Subject Area: Software Quality Assurance. When applicable to the requirements as described in ORNL SBMS, Software Quality Assurance, the software shall be listed in the ORNL Software Registration System (SRS). Exemptions to this SBMS are COTS and firmware that are not modified; spreadsheet applications and personal productivity tools that do not have a utility or safety application, research applications, legacy software, system software, vendor-supplied software used to interface with the vendor’s services, software used within the organization to facilitate processing or management of information, and software developed for applications not specific to the US Department of Energy (DOE).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

ORSphere: Critical, Bare, HEU(93.2)-Metal Sphere

In the early 1970’s Dr. John T. Mihalczo (team leader), J.J. Lynn, and J.R. Taylor performed experiments at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) with highly enriched uranium (HEU) metal (called Oak Ridge Alloy or ORALLOY) in an attempt to recreate GODIVA I results with greater accuracy than those performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1950s (HEU-MET-FAST-001). The purpose of the Oak Ridge ORALLOY Sphere (ORSphere) experiments was to estimate the unreflected and unmoderated critical mass of an idealized sphere of uranium metal corrected to a density, purity, and enrichment such that it could be compared with the GODIVA I experiments. “The very accurate description of this sphere, as assembled, establishes it as an ideal benchmark for calculational methods and cross-section data files.” (Reference 1) While performing the ORSphere experiments care was taken to accurately document component dimensions (±0. 0001 in. for non-spherical parts), masses (±0.01 g), and material data The experiment was also set up to minimize the amount of structural material in the sphere proximity. A three part sphere was initially assembled with an average radius of 3.4665 in. and was then machined down to an average radius of 3.4420 in. (3.4425 in. nominal). These two spherical configurations were evaluated and judged to be acceptable benchmark experiments; however, the two experiments are highly correlated.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The History of MCNP and about 20 Related Programs

The history of the MCNP code is a long and complicated one that touches a huge number of other software packages over the decades. This document will attempt to place the direct lineage of the MCNP code into a single document and track the people who worked on and around the software. This report is necessarily incomplete. The author only has access to the LANL archives, which have gaps in key areas. Speculation will be used to fill gaps where necessary. It is hoped that future revisions will have more detail than this report, especially as others come forward with their knowledge. The history will be broken into a few segments. Sec. 1 will go through the low-energy history from MCS to MCNP version 4. In Sec. 2, the history of high-energy physics from Oak Ridge’s NTC to MCNP version 6 will be discussed. Sec. 3 will go through some important notes to complete this history. Finally, Sec. 4 contains a chart of the lineage of the code.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cybersecurity Framework Profile for Electric Vehicle Extreme Fast Charging Infrastructure

This document is the Cybersecurity Framework Profile (Profile) developed for the Electric Vehicle Extreme Fast Charging (EV/XFC) ecosystem, including the four domains that relies on the ecosystem (i) Electric Vehicles (EV); (ii) Extreme Fast Charging (XFC); (iii) XFC Cloud or Third-Party Operations; and (iv) Utility and Building Networks. This Profile utilizes the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Version 1.1 and provides voluntary guidance to help relevant parties develop Profiles specific to their organization to understand, assess, and communicate their cybersecurity posture as a part of their risk management process. The Profile is intended to supplement, not replace, an existing risk management program or cybersecurity standards, regulations, and industry guidelines that are in current use by the EV/XFC industry.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Guidance Detailing Methods to Calculate Criticality Accident Alarm System Detector Response and Coverage

This paper is an extended summary of a guidance document that was produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratory on the subject of computational analyses of Criticality Accident Alarm Systems (CAAS). This full guidance document reviews ANSI/ANS-8.3-1997 and provides examples on how to calculate the fission rate that produces the minimum accident of concern, how to calculate the response of a CAAS detector, and how to evaluate the coverage of a CAAS detector. Discussing a strategy on how to perform CAAS placement analysis concludes the full guidance document. All of the examples in the full guidance document are performed with SCALE 6.1 and MCNP5, and the full input files for both are provided. This extended summary of the full guidance document only reviews ANSI/ANS-8.3-1997, calculates the fission rate that produces the minimum accident of concern for a simple example, and provides an example for one of the approaches suggested in the CAAS placement analysis strategy that uses a forward Monte Carlo transport calculation.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1986

FTMP (Fault Tolerant Multiprocessor) programmer's manual

The Fault Tolerant Multiprocessor (FTMP) computer system was constructed using the Rockwell/Collins CAPS-6 processor. It is installed in the Avionics Integration Research Laboratory (AIRLAB) of NASA Langley Research Center. It is hosted by AIRLAB's System 10, a VAX 11/750, for the loading of programs and experimentation. The FTMP support software includes a cross compiler for a high level language called Automated Engineering Design (AED) System, an assembler for the CAPS-6 processor assembly language, and a linker. Access to this support software is through an automated remote access facility on the VAX which relieves the user of the burden of learning how to use the IBM 4381. This manual is a compilation of information about the FTMP support environment. It explains the FTMP software and support environment along many of the finer points of running programs on FTMP. This will be helpful to the researcher trying to run an experiment on FTMP and even to the person probing FTMP with fault injections. Much of the information in this manual can be found in other sources; we are only attempting to bring together the basic points in a single source. If the reader should need points clarified, there is a list of support documentation in the back of this manual.

Feather, F. E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

NASA Glenn's Acoustical Testing Laboratory Awarded Accreditation by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program

NASA Glenn Research Center's Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL) provides a comprehensive array of acoustical testing services, including sound pressure level, sound intensity level, and sound-power-level testing per International Standards Organization (ISO)1 3744. Since its establishment in September 2000, the ATL has provided acoustic emission testing and noise control services for a variety of customers, particularly microgravity space flight hardware that must meet International Space Station acoustic emission requirements. The ATL consists of a 23- by 27- by 20-ft (height) convertible hemi/anechoic test chamber and a separate sound-attenuating test support enclosure. The ATL employs a personal-computer-based data acquisition system that provides up to 26 channels of simultaneous data acquisition with real-time analysis (ref. 4). Specialized diagnostic tools, including a scanning sound-intensity system, allow the ATL's technical staff to support its clients' aggressive low-noise design efforts to meet the space station's acoustic emission requirement. From its inception, the ATL has pursued the goal of developing a comprehensive ISO 17025-compliant quality program that would incorporate Glenn's existing ISO 9000 quality system policies as well as ATL-specific technical policies and procedures. In March 2003, the ATL quality program was awarded accreditation by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) for sound-power-level testing in accordance with ISO 3744. The NVLAP program is administered by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S. Department of Commerce and provides third-party accreditation for testing and calibration laboratories. There are currently 24 NVLAP-accredited acoustical testing laboratories in the United States. NVLAP accreditation covering one or more specific testing procedures conducted in accordance with established test standards is awarded upon successful completion of an intensive onsite assessment that includes proficiency testing and documentation review. The ATL NVLAP accreditation currently applies specifically to its ISO 3744 soundpower- level determination procedure (see the photograph) and supporting ISO 17025 quality system, although all ATL operations are conducted in accordance with its quality system. The ATL staff is currently developing additional procedures to adapt this quality system to the testing of space flight hardware in accordance with International Space Station acoustic emission requirements.<

Akers, James C.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fiscal Year 2024 Software Quality Assurance Activities for the ARC Software

The continued goal of the ARC SQA project in the Advanced Reactor Technologies program of DOE is to resolve the QA gaps for the ARC software that limit, or prevent, commercialization of the software for industry users. This project started in earnest in fiscal year 2023 which saw the entire code system moved from a SVN repository to a GitLab repository and an associated software quality assurance plan (SQAP) developed and ratified. Most of the QA gaps in the ARC software were identified in collaboration with industry partners and work begin in fiscal year 2023 and continued in 2024. The primary documentation that is missing includes user manuals, user guides, software verification reports, and code coverage assessments. The SUMMAR manual was completed this fiscal year and work was started on creating manuals for SE2ANL, SE2RCT, and DASSH. Software verification work was carried out for DIF3D and REBUS in a previous program and the current fiscal year saw the completion of software verification reports for GAMSOR, GAMSRC, VARPOW, EvaluateFlux, and SUMMAR. The goal for the next fiscal year is to complete the PERSENT software verification work and begin planning the software verification work for DASSH, SE2ANL, and SE2RCT. The code coverage reports for DIF3D and MC2-3 were completed in the previous fiscal year and the goal is to generate code coverage reports for REBUS, GAMSOR, PERSENT, and DASSH in the coming fiscal year. A considerable amount of effort was spent in the current fiscal year working on the continuous integration capability for automated regression testing in GitLab. The first version of the testing was created in the previous fiscal year and applied to DIF3D and its utility programs. That testing was extended this year to cover GAMSOR, REBUS, and PERSENT. To accomplish this, the first version of the new testing methodology had to be updated to make a single output checking methodology viable for all of the ARC software. This will result in a single document to detail the automated regression testing methodology and minor documents to detail the tolerance settings that have been applied to the output for each ARC code. The previous methodology put into place with SVN would have required a separate document for each ARC code to detail the output checking methodology and the tolerance settings for the output from each code. Because some of our industry partners are providing funds to add new capabilities to the ARC software to meet their needs, all of which must be reviewed and approved by the SQA program funded by this project, a summary of that development work is detailed in this report. Overall progress on resolving the QA gaps has been good this year with the most impactful improvement for our industry partners in capability being the creation of a threaded version of DIF3D-VARIANT that allows the DIF3D, REBUS, and GAMSOR run times to be reduced by a factor of 4-6. The most impactful QA gap that was resolved was the software verification of GAMSRC and VARPOW.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Primer for OTERR Core Reloading Optimization

OTERR (Optimization of Test Reactor Reloading) is a software tool which assists in finding optimal fuel assembly reloading patterns for nuclear reactors. It was created specifically to support the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program, but its functionality is general enough to be applied to most fast spectrum reactors which use hexagonal prismatic fuel elements. This document is meant to be a primer for new users of OTERR to walk through example workflows for core reloading optimization cases. Simple cases are followed step-by-step to discuss what needs to be done to complete a reloading optimization sequence. Note that the intent of this document is to provide practical examples for users to follow along with so they can quickly start using OTERR and then make changes to fit their own modeling needs. Detail is limited in terms of addressing additional features not used in these examples and especially lacking in discussion of theory used in the code. To better address these points, users are highly encouraged to refer to the OTERR User Manual and the OTERR Theory Manual.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗