Past Event: Babuška Forum

Digital Twins for Molten Salt and Nuclear Systems

Kevin Clarno, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Oden Institute, UT Austin

Abstract

The Digital Molten Salt Reactor Initiative is a project to develop digital twins for a variety of multiphysics molten salt and nuclear systems to develop the foundational knowledge for the development of digital twins for molten salt nuclear reactors to enable the licensing of continuous innovation in commercial small modular nuclear reactors.  This presentation will focus on the high-level project goals, collaborations with physical, experimental systems, and the plan to demonstrate the value of digital twins for the advanced nuclear power industry.

Biography

Dr. Clarno is an Associate Professor in the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering program and Affiliate Faculty in the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin with a research focus on computational nuclear energy and nuclear reactor analysis.  Dr. Clarno also holds a Joint Faculty Appointment with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he previously worked 15 years.   Dr. Clarno is an expert in advanced nuclear modeling and simulation of both traditional and advanced nuclear reactors, with a specialization in radiation transport.   Dr. Clarno is the Director of the Digital Molten Salt Reactor Initiative, the neutronics lead for the licensing of the Molten Salt Research Reactor, and has led multiple national, multi-institutional, high-performance computing (HPC) research programs, including the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL).