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Add k-infinity estimator for IndependentOperator - #4053

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EdenRochmanSharabi wants to merge 1 commit into
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EdenRochmanSharabi:feature/kinf-estimator
Open

Add k-infinity estimator for IndependentOperator#4053
EdenRochmanSharabi wants to merge 1 commit into
openmc-dev:developfrom
EdenRochmanSharabi:feature/kinf-estimator

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@EdenRochmanSharabi

@EdenRochmanSharabi EdenRochmanSharabi commented Aug 6, 2026

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Summary

  • Add calculate_kinf=True parameter to IndependentOperator and from_nuclides (mutually exclusive with keff)
  • Estimate k-infinity as the ratio of nu-fission production rate to neutron loss rate, following OpenMC's keff convention: (n,xn) reactions reduce the loss term by (x - 1) rather than contributing to production
  • Add 'nu-fission' as a valid reaction in MicroXS, with a new _collapse_nu_fission() helper that integrates nu(E)*sigma_f(E) from pointwise ENDF data against the user-provided multigroup flux
  • The estimate is reported as the operator eigenvalue and flows into Results.get_keff()

Changes

  • openmc/deplete/independent_operator.py: _neutrons_emitted() parser, _estimate_k_inf() method (MPI-aware), calculate_kinf parameter with validation
  • openmc/deplete/microxs.py: 'nu-fission' in _valid_rxns, _collapse_nu_fission() for pointwise collapse, from_multigroup_flux() routing for nu-fission
  • docs/source/usersguide/depletion.rst: user guide section on calculate_kinf
  • tests/unit_tests/test_deplete_independent_operator.py: analytic k_inf (with (n,2n)), multigroup flux, decay step, _neutrons_emitted table, error paths
  • tests/unit_tests/test_deplete_microxs.py: nu-bar validation against ENDF data (U235 thermal ~2.43)

Test plan

  • Analytic k_inf matches expected value including (n,2n) contribution
  • Multigroup flux weighting produces correct result
  • Decay step (zero source rate) still reports k_inf estimate
  • _neutrons_emitted handles all reaction name patterns correctly
  • ValueError raised for missing nu-fission data and keff/calculate_kinf conflict
  • CI (17/17 passed, coverage +0.01%)

Closes #2132

Add calculate_kinf parameter to IndependentOperator that estimates the
infinite multiplication factor from one-group reaction rates, following
OpenMC's keff convention for (n,xn) reactions. Add nu-fission one-group
cross section support to MicroXS.
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k_inf estimator for IndependentOperator

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