Neutron transport ● Reactors ● Networks & Codes

Professor Guy Marleau is an associate professor, his research specialties are the physics of nuclear reactors and neutron transport. He is a member of the Polytechnique Nuclear Engineering Institute.



 

 (514) 340-4711 extension 4204

A standardized code for the nuclear power industry

Professor Marleau, in collaboration with two colleagues, devised a “lattice code,” dubbed DRAGON, and continues to develop it. DRAGON simulates the behaviour of neutrons in a nuclear reactor. Neutrons are the particles that collide with the nuclei of molecules of nuclear fuel, resulting in the chain reaction that generates energy.

Several similar codes existed before DRAGON was developed, but they could only be used to analyze lattice cells on a plane, not in 3D. The DRAGON code was actually created to unify in a single code several different models and algorithms used to solve the neutron transport equation (a specific instance of the Boltzman equation) for arbitrary geometries in three dimensions. The equation is important in the study and design of nuclear reactors.

DRAGON was designed in such a way that it allows for easy incorporation of new calculation methods. More globally, the code is divided into modules, connected by a control program.  

The neutron transport equation takes into account the properties of neutrons (like their energy and their direction of propagation) as well as the parameters of their environment to establish their positions and the energy associated with their motions. Professor Marleau’s work gives neutron scientists tools to characterize those interactions.

This DRAGON is taking flight around the world

The DRAGON code has had a significant impact on the nuclear industry worldwide. It is distributed in North America, in France via the OECD, the CEA and EDF, in Argentina, Romania, South Korea and China, as well as in Canada by CANDU Energy Inc. and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL).