Accelerating fusion power plant design using FAIR simulation workflows

Design of future fusion power plants will require connected, collaborative solutions to allow geographically dispersed teams to work together on complex engineering and physics problems. The method of integrating simulation codes and other data processing tools is typically a manual process, with bespoke solutions being created for each application area and no native method for collaboration or sharing of geometry and results. It is proposed that integrating industry standard tools into NVIDIA’s Omniverse, a connected 3D platform for developing digital twins, via simulation workflows will resolve these issues.
A generalised method for integrating containerised simulation tools and data processing steps is presented. In an example case, the open-source Monte Carlo simulation code, OpenMC, is integrated into the Galaxy workflow manager, coupled with a heat flow simulation tool to calculate the effect of the neutronic heat flux output by OpenMC on other components around the reactor. This method follows an ethos of portability, ease of deployment, scalability, and following the FAIR data principles. The workflows are then integrated into the Omniverse platform, allowing for real-time collaboration and updating of geometries synchronised across all instances.
It is found that once familiar with the workflow manager and tool description, simulation codes can be added as tools within hours or days. Integrating these tools is then a trivial task depending on the application area. This significantly reduces the effort required to integrate multiple simulation tools. It also allows work done in previous studies to be utilised again using the same tools in a different configuration.
These workflows, when fully realised in a larger system, will allow designers working on heating systems in one location to collaborate with another group of designers working on the breeder blanket and see how changes they make will affect other components in the wider power plant.