Using Griffin's Transmutation Solver to Calculate Radiation Damage

Displacement radiation damage originates from all nuclides, not just those that are naturally occurring. Currently, only damage from naturally occurring nuclides, or sometimes damage from a single transmutation product, is considered in engineering analyses. This analysis method can lead to a significant underprediction of radiation damage, and the existing correction factors are tedious and rarely used. We propose that the transmutation solvers implemented in many codes be used to calculate this radiation damage. This method would explicitly consider damage from all sources, which is a more rigorous method than current damage calculation implementations, without additionally burdening the user. We created a proof-of-concept implementation in Griffin that showed only minor code modifications were necessary to accommodate damage energy calculations in the depletion equations. When compared against an analytical benchmark, the results Griffin calculated were very accurate.