Missions

The studies of molten salt reactors conducted at the CNRS over the past twenty years have required the development of more generic codes capable of accounting for certain specificities such as continuous fuel recycling or the modeling of effects associated with the migration of delayed neutron precursors. With the goal of improving access to these developments for external partners or more generally for the scientific community, some developments have been reproduced in open-source codes. This post-doc position is part of this ongoing effort, both in continuing and making available the computational tools, as well as in improving and validating them.
Three categories of physical models are involved: correlated sampling, the calculation of transfer functions associated with the TFM approach, and the modeling of evolution calculations in these systems.
A final part of the work will be devoted to finalising the CNRS/LPSC studies conducted in the MIMOSA (work-package 3) and ISAC (working groups 2 and 3) projects in connection with evolving neutronic calculations and the associated scenarios.

Activities

Several key elements are to be anticipated:
- Updating the version of OpenMC used and integrating the functionalities into the standard routines of the code as much as possible.
- Improving the physical models to allow for more general applications, for example, in association with the management of probability tables in conjunction with correlated sampling.
- Successive integration of developments into the OpenMC git repository.
- Evolving neutronic calculations and associated scenarios in the ISAC and MIMOSA projects.

Skills

The candidate should hold a PhD in reactor physics or an equivalent degree. He or she should:
- Have a good understanding of reactor physics (neutronics, etc.)
- Be proficient in using Monte Carlo-type neutronics codes
- Be able to work in a team within the context of varied collaborations
- Be experienced in software development, particularly in Python and C++
- Have a strong command of both French and English, spoken and written, in a scientific context
- Be meticulous: able to report findings (write reports and give scientific presentations) and meet deadlines

Work Context

The Grenoble Laboratory of Subatomic Physics and Cosmology (LPSC) (http://lpsc.in2p3.fr) is a joint research unit associating CNRS-IN2P3, Grenoble Alpes University (UGA) and Grenoble INP school, for an average staff of about 230 people.
The postdoc will be assigned́(e) to the MSFR team composed of 3 permanent researchers of the LPSC and will be placed under the direct hierarchical authority of the team leader. He/she will be technically supervised by Axel Laureau and Elsa Merle.

The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival is authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.