@article{al-dawood_palmtag_2024, title={METAL: Methodology for liquid metal fast reactor core economic design and fuel loading pattern optimization}, volume={173}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85191499521&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1016/j.pnucene.2024.105232}, abstractNote={The design of Liquid Metal-cooled Fast Reactor (LMFR) cores encompass two levels of design. The first is the physical core design, which is concerned with the design of the fuel assembly geometry in the context of a full core. The second is the fuel loading design, which is an in-core fuel management problem concerned with the design of fuel enrichment and core loading pattern. In this paper, an optimized fuel design search is developed to improve core loading patterns. As part of the implementation, the multiphysics simulation suite LUPINE has been enhanced to allow for fuel shuffles and an in-core fuel management optimization methodology has been added with the objective of reducing the fuel cost. The design methodology is referred to as Methodology for Economical opTimization of Applied LMFR (METAL), and this methodology is demonstrated using the popular Super Power Reactor Innovative Small Modular (SPRISM) sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) as a reference core. One challenge currently facing the deployment of LMFRs is the availability of TRansUranium (TRU) and high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) driver fuel. The two forms of fuel are expensive and not widely available, which poses a challenge on the startup of LMFR cores. To address the availability of driver fuel, and to lower fuel costs, low enriched uranium (LEU) blankets are investigated as replacements to the natural uranium or depleted uranium blankets typically used. The advantage of this solution is the wide availability of LEU and its ability to lower the amount of TRU or HALEU driver fuel needed. The design objectives, constraints, and optimization algorithm for a SFR are identified. Then, METAL is applied to design a SFR core fueled by TRU driver fuel assemblies and LEU blanket assemblies. To demonstrate the advantage of introducing LEU blankets, METAL is also used to design another SFR core following the same objectives and constraints, but using naturally enriched blankets. By comparing the two cores, it was found that the introduction of LEU blankets results in a ∼28% reduction in the driver fuel mass requirements. Upon development of a levelized fuel cycle cost (LFCC) model, the 28% reduction in driver fuel mass corresponds to a 10% decrease in the LFCC. Additional advantages of using LEU blankets include reducing the core conversion ratio (CR), and improving the assembly radial power peaking factor (RPPF), which enhances the safety and non-proliferation performances of the SFR core.}, journal={Progress in Nuclear Energy}, author={Al-Dawood, Khaldoon and Palmtag, Scott}, year={2024} }
 @article{al-dawood_palmtag_2024, title={Metal: Methodology for Liquid Metal Fast Reactor Core Economic Design and Fuel Loading Pattern Optimization}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85185373415&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.2139/ssrn.4718433}, journal={SSRN}, author={Al-Dawood, K. and Palmtag, S.}, year={2024} }
 @article{al-dawood_palmtag_2023, title={A Design and Optimization Methodology for Liquid Metal Fast Reactors}, volume={2023}, ISSN={["1099-114X"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6846467}, DOI={10.1155/2023/6846467}, abstractNote={A liquid metal fast reactor (LMFR) design and optimization methodology (DOM) has been developed. The methodology effectively explores a search space by initially sampling the search space, excluding invalid design samples prior to performing expensive multiphysics analysis, and then performing local searches of the design space. The design samples are evaluated using the multiphysics capabilities of the LUPINE LMFR simulation suite. Two studies have been performed to demonstrate DOM. First, the Westinghouse long-life core lead fast reactor (WLFR) is optimized. This reactor is 950 
                     
                        
                           
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                   and fueled with uranium nitride (UN) fuel which has a natural nitrogen isotopic abundance. The objective of the optimization is the reduction of the levelized fuel cycle cost (LFCC) while complying with the design constraints. Considering the challenges associated with using natural nitrogen in nitride fuel, a second study was performed to design a competitive 15N-enriched UN-fueled long-life core LFR. Based on this design, the cost of the 15N enrichment process necessary to achieve a competitive LFCC was calculated.}, journal={INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH}, author={Al-Dawood, Khaldoon and Palmtag, Scott}, editor={Kuzmin, AndreyEditor}, year={2023}, month={Mar} }
 @article{al-dawood_palmtag_2023, title={Fuel Cycle Cost Comparison between Lead and Sodium Cooled Fast Reactors}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85147244803&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.2139/ssrn.4341146}, journal={SSRN}, author={Al-Dawood, K. and Palmtag, S.}, year={2023} }
 @article{al-dawood_palmtag_2023, title={Fuel cycle cost comparison between lead and sodium cooled fast reactors}, volume={414}, ISSN={["1872-759X"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112583}, DOI={10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112583}, abstractNote={Sodium and lead coolants are the most recognized coolants for Liquid Metal-cooled Fast Reactor (LMFR). The two coolants have significantly different physical, thermal and chemical properties, which results in major core design differences between lead- and sodium-cooled systems. This work attempts to quantify the impact of the coolant type on the fuel cycle cost of a LMFR by comparing the Levelized Fuel Cycle Cost (LFCC). The paper is composed of two studies with the goal of comparing the advantage of the superior neutronic performance of lead versus the advantage of the tight lattice that can be achieved with sodium coolant. In the first study, the influence of the neutronic differences between lead and sodium on the fuel cycle cost are isolated and quantified. This is achieved by comparing the fuel cycle performance of a Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) core model to that of a Non-optimized SFR (NSFR) model. The two models have a similar geometry, fuel loading, fuel type, and structural materials. The only major difference between the two cores was the coolant (i.e. lead vs. sodium). Based on this comparison, it is shown that the better neutronic performance of lead coolant results in longer cycle length for the LFR core. It is also shown that this difference in cycle length can result in up to 30.8% better LFCC for a lead-cooled system compared to a sodium-cooled one. In the second study, a Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is designed that is optimized for the sodium coolant. The design process for the Long-life core Sodium Fast Reactor (LSFR) realizes the compatibility of sodium coolant with structural materials and allows for a more compact design. The design parameters and constraints of the design are presented, and the objective of the design is to reduce the LFCC. In this study, the design with the sodium coolant offers a 2% reduction in the LFCC, along with a smaller core size. The overall results show that if you compare sodium and lead using the same reactor geometry, the neutronic benefits of lead coolant can lead to a 30% reduction in the LFCC. However, if you optimize the geometry to take advantage of the higher power density allowed with sodium coolant, the sodium coolant can offer a 2% LFCC reduction or a smaller core size.}, journal={NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND DESIGN}, author={Al-Dawood, Khaldoon and Palmtag, Scott}, year={2023}, month={Dec} }
 @inproceedings{al-dawood_palmtag_2023, title={SFR versus LFR Fuel Cycle Cost Comparison}, volume={128}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85180635168&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.13182/T128-42164}, booktitle={Transactions of the American Nuclear Society}, author={Al-Dawood, K.A. and Palmtag, S.P.}, year={2023}, pages={668–671} }
 @inproceedings{kiefer_dawn_al-dawood_palmtag_2022, title={Control Rod Modeling in Liquid Metal-Cooled Fast Reactors}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85184960610&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.13182/PHYSOR22-37649}, booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2022}, author={Kiefer, T. M.; and Dawn, W. C.; and Al-Dawood, K.; and Palmtag, S.}, year={2022}, pages={796–803} }
 @inproceedings{al-dawood_palmtag_2022, title={LMFR Design and Optimization Methodology}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85180630284&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.13182/PHYSOR22-37576}, booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2022}, author={Al-Dawood, Khaldoon A.; and Palmtag, Scott P.}, year={2022}, pages={615–624} }
 @inproceedings{al-dawood_dawn_palmtag_2021, title={MULTIPHYSICS SIMULATION OF URANIUM-NITRIDE FUELED LEAD-COOLED FAST REACTOR}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85147244138&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.13182/M&C21-33708}, booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering, M and C 2021}, author={Al-Dawood, K.A. and Dawn, W.C. and Palmtag, S.}, year={2021}, pages={2352–2361} }
 @inproceedings{multiphysics simulation of uranium-nitride fueled lead-cooled fast reactor_2021, url={https://www.ans.org/pubs/proceedings/article-50203/}, booktitle={The International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering}, year={2021}, month={Oct} }