Julien
de Troullioud de Lanversin
Research on the Dangers and Futures of Nuclear Technologies
Open-source Nuclear Software
Complex nuclear systems (such as nuclear reactors) as well as nuclear events (such as nuclear fallouts) require advanced numerical simulations to be modelled. Due to the sensitive nature of nuclear technologies, most of the available software for such modelling are export-controlled or proprietary. Community-based software development and open user groups, which have shown to be drivers of innovation in many other areas, are being forestalled by these restrictions. They also reduce the degree of transparency for science and engineering projects and complicate the collaboration between groups from different countries. One important part of my research is to develop software to model nuclear systems that are open-source and which can thus facilitate collaborative projects and improve transparency around research on nuclear technologies.
​
​
Projects
ONIX (for OpeN IsotopiX) is the first open-source, validated nuclear depletion software. ONIX models the transmutation of isotopes irradiated to a neutron flux and the decay of radioactive isotopes. The software can be coupled with the open-source Monte Carlo transport code OpenMC and offers a full reactor physics package to simulate nuclear reactors. The code is open-source and written in Python. ONIX is also the only nuclear software specifically designed to be used for research in nuclear security and arms control.
ONIX: An Open-source Depletion Code
Collaborators on this project: Alexander Glaser, Moritz Kütt
Publication: Julien de Troullioud de Lanversin, Moritz Kütt, and Alexander Glaser, “ONIX: An open-source depletion code,” Ann. Nucl. Energy, 151, (2021).
Useful links: Documentation, GitHub repository