Computational Reactor and Medical Physics Laboratory (CRMP)
 

Education

  • Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1981
  • M.S., Louisiana State University, 1977
  • B.S., Illinois Institute of Technology, 1975

Background

Dr. Farzad Rahnema is a Georgia Power Company Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Director of the Computational Reactor and Medical Physics (CRMP) Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he was at General Electric Nuclear Energy for 11 years. His responsibilities included GE’s 3-D Core Simulator PANACEA used for reactor core design and as the engine for the 3D MONICORE system for monitoring operating Boiling Water Reactors. He led the development of 3 versions (v.8-10) of the simulator. He has published over 240 peer reviewed technical articles.

He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Editor-Designate of the Nuclear Science and Engineering journal, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Annals of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Technology, and a member of the External Advisory Board of the Ohio State University Nuclear Engineering Program.

He was the recipient of the 2019 ANS Gerald C. Pomraning Memorial Award for outstanding contributions toward the advancement of the fields of mathematics and computation in support of advancing the understanding of these topics of interest to the American Nuclear Society (ANS) membership.

He served as the Chair of the Georgia Tech Nuclear & Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics (NRE/MP) Programs (7/2002-6/2016) and Chair of the Honors and Award Committee of the ANS Mathematics and Computation Division (MCD). He also served as the Chair of the MCD (twice) and the Reactor Physics Division (RPD). His principal research interest is in the areas of theoretical and computational radiation transport and reactor physics with an emphasis on resolving the grand challenges and current major issues in high fidelity modeling and simulation (M&S) of nuclear systems.

Research

  • Nuclear and Radiological Engineering/Medical Physics; Perturbation and variational methods, theoretical and computational radiation transport and reactor physics methods and code development with applications to reactor core analysis, nuclear security and detection, and radiotherapy calculations
 

Distinctions

  • Editor, Nuclear Science and Engineering journal
  • Editorial Advisory Board member, Annals of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Technology journals
  • Guest Editor/Co-guest Editor, Annals of Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Technology, and Transport Theory and Statistical Physics journals
  • American Nuclear Society
  • Fellow, 2003
  • Mathematics and Computation Division Chair, 2010-2011 and 1999-2000
  • Reactor Physic Division Chair, 2007-2008
  • Member, External Advisory Board of the Ohio State University Nuclear Engineering Program
  • Southeastern Universities Nuclear Research Institute for Science and Education (SUNRISE) Founding Chair, 2006-2010
  • 16th International Conference on Transport Theory Organizing Committee Chair, 1999


Awards

  • Recipient of the 2019 ANS Gerald C. Pomraning Memorial Award for outstanding contributions toward the advancement of the fields of mathematics and computation in support of advancing the understanding of these topics of interest to the American Nuclear Society (ANS) membership.

Patent

  • Boundary Condition Adjustment Methods and Systems, U. S. Patent 7,676,015B2, with Ben Forget, March 9, 2010.
     

Representative Publications

  • Kyle Remley and Farzad Rahnema, “Development and Assessment of a Parallel Computing Implementation of the Coarse Mesh Radiation Transport (COMET) Method,”Ann. Nucl. Energy, 114, 288-300 (2018).
  • Farzad Rahnema and Dingkang Zhang, “Continuous Energy Coarse Mesh Transport (COMET) Method,” Ann. Nucl. Energy, 115, 601-610 (2018).
  • Dingkang Zhang and Farzad Rahnema, “A Stylized 3D Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR) Benchmark Problem,” Ann. Nucl. Energy, 120, 178-185 (2018).
  • Dingkang Zhang and Farzad Rahnema, “Continuous-Energy COMET Solution to the Stylized AHTR Benchmark Problem,” Ann. Nucl. Energy, 121 ,284-294 (2018).
  • Farzad Rahnema, Xiaodong Sun, Bojan Petrovic, David Diamond, Stephen Bajorek, Yujun Guo, Gradon Yoder, Dingkang Zhang, and Paul Burke, “Phenomena identification and categorization by the required level of multiphysics coupling in FHR modeling and simulation,” Ann. Nucl. Energy, 121, 540-551 (2018).
  • Farzad Rahnema, David Diamond, Dumitru Serghiuta, and Paul Burke, “Phenomena, Gaps, and Issues for Neutronics Modeling and Simulation of FHRs,” Ann. Nucl. Energy, 123 ,172-179 (2019).
  • Dingkang Zhang and Farzad Rahnema, “Consistent Spatial Expansion Functions on Hexagonal Surfaces for Use in Radiation Transport Methods,” Ann. Nucl. Energy, 133, 603-609 (2019).
  • Dingkang Zhang and Farzad Rahnema, “COMET Neutronics Solutions to the Prismatic VHTR Benchmark Problem,” Nucl. Engr. & Design, 358 (2020), 110395.
  • K. Lisa Reed, Farzad Rahnema, Dingkang Zhang & Dan Ilas, “A Stylized 3-D Benchmark Problem Set Based on the Pin-Fueled SmAHTR, Nuclear Technology,” DOI: 10.1080/00295450.2020.1757962 (2020).
  • Chris W. Chapman, Goran Arbanas, Alexander Kolesnikov, Luiz Leal, Yaron Danon, Carl Wendorff, Kemal Ramać, Li Liu, Farzad Rahnema “Methodology for Generating Covariance Data of Thermal Neutron Scattering Cross Sections,” Nucl. Sci. Eng., accepted August (2020).
  • Alex Shaw, Farzad Rahnema, Andrew Holcomb, and Doug Bowen, “Validation of Continuous-Energy ENDF/B-VIII.0 16O, 56Fe, And 63,65Cu Cross Sections for Nuclear Criticality Safety Applications,” Nucl. Sci. Eng., accepted, September (2020).