Enabling the broader use of MOOSE for nuclear energy and other simulation

In a world plagued by the environmental and health effects of air pollution, a migration from fossil fuels to clean energy such as nuclear will help mitigate emission levels. Doing so in an optimal way will require increased use of high-end computer simulation to test and prepare new facilities. Unfortunately, today’s most powerful simulation tools and processes are so complex they are inaccessible to inexperienced users. Currently, discrete software codes are used for each step of the design and simulation process, each with their own incompatible file formats. We propose to increase accessibility of simulation tools by simplifying interactions between simulation steps and removing the need for data translation. Idaho National Laboratory’s open-source nuclear simulation software is widely-used both in and out of the Department of Energy, due to its modular architecture and its strong nuclear energy simulation capabilities. Our own robust meshing software is often used along with it. We have recently enhanced both softwares to handle smooth splines and B´ezier elements.In this proposal, we will harness those recent enhancements and enrich our software to create a simplified, data translation-free simulation workflow that can be targeted to less experienced commercial and educational users. In Phase I we will add a tailored user experience toolbar to our current software, to provide an optimal and accessible experience. We will update the standard file format for compatibility with our meshing software, and update the preprocessor with the capability to import and export these updated files. We will then implement and test capabilities to import and export enhanced files to and from each simulation step without the need for intervening data translation. After continued development of these capabilities in Phase II, we anticipate broad commercial applica- tions and larger benefits to the simulation industry. We anticipate beginning to offer the newly-enhanced simulation software commercially to the private nuclear industry and to the broad finite element simulation industry. Nuclear energy is quickly reestablishing itself as a strategic energy alternative, with many private nuclear energy startups growing in the US and around the globe. This proposal is built on the most developed, targeted nuclear energy simulation code in the world,and our enhancements to it will proveinvaluablein the private marketplace. The broader simulation industry faces many of the same problems as nuclear energy when it comes to the complexities and incompatibilities across data sets. We see an interesting business opportunity to provide a more accessible user experience, documentation, and support around the processor to enable its use as an open-source simulation code for academic and commercial usage.