Optimization of multi-group energy structures for diffusion analyses of sodium-cooled fast reactors assisted by simulated annealing – Part I: Methodology demonstration

•Optimization of energy group structures for diffusion analyses of SFRs.•Direct search and simulated annealing are applied.•Improved computational performance with a marginal deterioration of the accuracy. This study presents an approach to the selection of optimal energy group structures for multi-group nodal diffusion analyses of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor cores. The goal is to speed up calculations, particularly in transient calculations, while maintaining an acceptable accuracy of the results. In Part I of the paper, possible time-savings due to collapsing of energy groups are evaluated using 24-group energy structure as a reference. Afterwards, focusing on energy structures with a number of groups leading to significant calculation speedups, optimal grid configurations are identified. Depending on a number of possible energy grid configurations to explore, the optimization is conducted by either a direct search or applying the simulated annealing method. Speedup and optimization studies are performed on a selected case of the Superphénix static neutronic benchmark by using the nodal diffusion DYN3D code. The results demonstrate noticeable improvements in DYN3D performance with a marginal deterioration of the accuracy.