1. A Beginner’s Guide to OpenMOC¶
1.1. What does OpenMOC do?¶
OpenMOC is a neutron transport solver. It solves the neutron transport equation in a nuclear system, like a fuel assembly or even a reactor core. This allows the reactor engineers to know where the power is generated in the system, which is the starting point for solving other physics, like thermal hydraulics or the fuel depletion.
1.2. How does it work?¶
In order to do anything, the code first needs to have a model of some problem of interest. This could be a nuclear reactor or any other physical system with fissioning material or a neutron source. You, as the code user, will need to describe the model so that the code can do something with it. A basic model consists of a few things:
- Geometry - A description of the geometry split into regions of homogeneous materials.
- Materials - A description of the nuclear cross-sections for each material
- Parameters - Various parameters for the numerical algorithm used in the simulation
1.3. What do I need to know?¶
If you are starting to work with OpenMOC, there are a few things you should be familiar with. Whether you plan on working in Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows, you should be comfortable working in a command line environment. There are many resources online for learning command line environments. If you are using Linux or Mac OS X (also Unix-derived), this tutorial will help you get acquainted with commonly-used commands. It is also helpful to be familiar with Python, as most of the post-processing utilities provided with OpenMOC rely on it for data manipulation and results visualization.
OpenMOC uses a version control software called git to keep track of changes to the code, document bugs and issues, and other development tasks. While you don’t necessarily have to have git installed in order to download and run OpenMOC, it makes it much easier to receive updates if you do have it installed and have a basic understanding of how it works. There are a list of good git tutorials at the git documentation website. The OpenMOC source code and documentation are hosted at GitHub. In order to receive updates to the code directly, submit bug reports, and perform other development tasks, you may want to sign up for a free account on GitHub. Once you have an account, you can follow these instructions on how to set up your computer for using GitHub.
If you are new to nuclear engineering, you may want to review the NRC’s Reactor Concepts Manual. This manual describes the basics of nuclear power for electricity generation, the fission process, and the overall systems in a pressurized or boiling water reactor. Another resource that is a bit more technical than the Reactor Concepts Manual but still at an elementary level is the DOE Fundamentals Handbook on Nuclear Physics and Reactor Theory Volume I and Volume II. You may also find it helpful to review the following terms:
