A Reduced Order Model for Multi-Group Time-Dependent Parametrized Reactor Spatial Kinetics

In this work, a Reduced Order Model (ROM) for multigroup time-dependent parametrized reactor spatial kinetics is presented. The Reduced Basis method (built upon a high-fidelity “truth” finite element approximation) has been applied to model the neutronics behavior of a parametrized system composed by a control rod surrounded by fissile material. The neutron kinetics has been described by means of a parametrized multi-group diffusion equation where the height of the control rod (i.e., how much the rod is inserted) plays the role of the varying parameter. In order to model a continuous movement of the rod, a piecewise affine transformation based on subdomain division has been implemented. The proposed ROM is capable to efficiently reproduce the neutron flux distribution allowing to take into account the spatial effects induced by the movement of the control rod with a computational speed-up of 30000 times, with respect to the “truth” model.