A survey of multi-objective optimization methods and their applications for nuclear scientists and engineers

Problems in nuclear engineering – such as reactor core design – involve a multitude of design variables including fuel or assembly configurations; all of which require careful consideration when constrained by a set of objectives such as fuel temperature or assembly power density. Reactor design is one facet of nuclear engineering, where many nuclear engineers often face large multi-objective problems to solve. These types of problems can be solved by relying upon experts to aid in reducing the design space required for multi-objective optimization, however, computational optimization algorithms have been used to generate optimal solutions with reproducibility and quantitative evidence for designs. We present a review of multi-objective optimization literature including an introduction to optimization theory, commonly used multi-objective optimization algorithms, and current applications in nuclear science and engineering. From this review, researchers will glean an understanding of multi-objective optimization algorithms that are currently available, and gain a fundamental understanding of how to apply these techniques to a wide variety of problems in the fields of nuclear science and engineering.