Perspectives on Advanced Simulation for Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications

High-performance computing (HPC) has been applied in many fields of science and engineering and has demonstrated major advantages in terms of improved understanding, reliability, and safety and reduced cost of deployed engineering systems. The U.S. Department of Energy is now embarking on major efforts to develop HPC simulation capabilities for broad application to nuclear energy systems. It is fully expected that these capabilities can be developed, but a question remains about how effectively these can be used in a regulated industry. This paper explores the role of modeling and simulation in the nuclear power industry from a historical perspective and posits insights from that experience to delineate essential attributes of future advanced modeling and simulation necessary to promote its widespread use (value proposition) and its acceptability to the nuclear industry and its regulator, such as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (credibility), as well as to better inform the general public.