The study of the physics of fission and fusion reactors requires the numerical simulation, of the transport of particles radiation and energy, and their interaction with materials and components, to be applied to the reactor design and instrumental to the safety and performance assessments. These analyses are implemented by means of deterministic and stochastic methods, complemented by uncertainties propagation techniques, as well as the development of new tools. Applications include innovative fission reactors, such as GenIV and small modular reactors (SMR), and magnetic confinement fusion reactors, mostly of the Tokamak type, where several aspects related to power and particle balances in the machine are considered. Also, the development of advanced diagnostic systems and the study of instability processes such as disruptions, aiming at developing effective suppression/mitigation strategies is pursued. In case of inertial fusion devices focus is given to wall damage caused by plasmas produced by intense laser, as well as laser-target interaction, which is studied with hydrodynamic and particle-in-cell simulation.
Supervisors:
Prof.ssa Sandra Dulla www.nemo.polito.it
Prof. Massimo Zucchetti www.essential.polito.it