The Serpent Monte Carlo code: status, development and applications in 2013

During its nine years of development, the Serpent code has evolved from a simplified Monte Carlo lattice transport code into a versatile reactor physics calculation tool, with applications ranging from group constant generation to fuel cycle analysis, reactor modeling and coupled multi-physics calculations. The code is currently used in 100 universities and research organizations around the world, and the growing user community has taken an active role in the project. User feedback has proven an invaluable resource for code validation, as well as the development of new features and capabilities. The development of the most recent version of the code, Serpent 2, started in October 2010, and the work is still in progress. The efforts are divided between two major fields of applications: 1) Group constant generation, and 2) Coupled multi-physics calculations. Topics falling into the first category include development of deterministic diffusion solvers for the purpose of calculating assembly discontinuity factors and pin-power reconstruction for geometries homogenized without zero net-current boundary conditions, and an automated burnup sequence capable of performing branch and coefficient calculations. Work on multi-physics applications is still at a relatively early stage, and near-future topics include completing and testing the universal multi-physics interface, and the implementation of internal solvers for fuel behavior and thermal hydraulics