Molten salt reactor system dynamics in simulink and modelica, a code to code comparison

Understanding reactor dynamics is essential for the development of MSRs. Modern computational software allows rapid development and simulation of multiphysics systems. As such, MSRs can be simulated in various programming languages to study their behavior. Meanwhile, employing various software environments and methods can help ensure that simulation results are accurate and openly accessible to the broader research community. In this publication, two variations of software implementation for an MSR dynamic modeling tool in MATLAB Simulink and OpenModelica are compared. A code-to-code comparison is conducted, and both implementations are benchmarked for accuracy and simulation run time. In addition to the benchmark, a pilot quality assurance program is introduced for the implementation of the OpenModelica model. Finally, a multi-parameter sensitivity analysis is performed to demonstrate possible applications of the Modelica model.