Report on the thermal-hydraulics computational component

The nodal methods computer code utilizing hexagonal geometry, which is being developed as part of this DOE contract, is called THMZ. The computational objective of the code is to calculate the steady-state thermal-hydraulic conditions in a hexagonal geometry reactor core given the appropriate initial conditions and the axial neutron flux profile. The latter is given by a companion nodal neutronics code which was developed in an earlier part of the contact. The joining of these two codes to provide a coupled analysis tool for hexagonal lattice cores is the ultimate objective of the contract and its follow-on work. The remaining part of this report presents the current status of the development and the results which have been obtained to date. These will appear in the MS thesis of Mr. Terrill Laughton in the Department of Nuclear Engineering which is currently in preparation