Discussion: `openmc.deplete` support

[yardasol]

The openmc.deplete module enables depletion simulations in OpenMC.

This issue can be closed when functions exists that utilize the openmc.deplete module and enable similar functionality as the following:

• Depcode
• • run_depcode
• • replace_burnup_parameters
• Simulation
• • runsim_no_reproc
• App
• • run

[yardasol]

Depcode Discussion

run_depcode

This function sends instructions and flags to the depletion code executable. OpenMC can also be run this way. I can think of two ways to support OpenMC:

1. Create an entirely new function that utilizes the OpenMC API. This may require renaming run_depcode to run_serpent

def run_serpent(self, cores, nodes):
    """ Runs serpent code as subprocess with the given parameters.

    Parameters
    ----------
    .
    .
    .
    """
    .
    .
    .

def run_openmc(self, cores, nodes):
    """ Runs OpenMC code as subprocess with the given parameters.

    Parameters
    ----------
    .
    .
    .
    """
    .
    .
    .

2. Add an if-statement to the function to specify which depletion code we are using based on the codename field of the Depcode class ('serpent' for Serpent, 'openmc' for OpenMC), and then refactor the current function into the body of one of the if-statements OR a collection of helper functions for each depletion code option. Below I have shown the former.

def run_depcode(self, cores, nodes):
    """ Run depletion code as subprocess with the given parameters.

    Parameters
    ----------
    .
    .
    .
    """
    if (self.codename == "serpent"):
        # repeat body of current run_depcode here
        .
        .
        .
    else if (self.codename == "openmc"):
        # Use OpenMC CLI's here
        .
        .
        .

Given that Depcode already has the codename field built-in, I think approach 2 makes more sense for this function.

replace_burnup_parameters

[yardasol]

Depcode.run_depcode

This function sends instructions and flags to the depletion code executable. OpenMC can also be run this way.

While OpenMC itself can be run from the terminal, it seems that the deplete module is has been written to work exclusively from the Python API based on this post in the OpenMC discourse group. @gwenchee seems to have come up with a workaround to this by putting all of the necessary object instantiations a script which we can see in her post here. Adding a function that would construct such a script utilizing the currently proposed functions in #55, as well as relevant methods from the openmc.deplete package, seems to be the best way forward right now.

[gwenchee]

This makes sense. The OpenMC team might have added more functionality for this in the past year, you should take a closer look at that.