Mathematics and computation have been integral to the nuclear enterprise since the dawn of the atomic age. Some highlights in the history have been the invention of Monte Carlo methods for the simulation of neutron transport, the development of fluid dynamics simulations, and the creation of the first discontinuous finite elements. Into this rich history, ANS in 2017 put forth the grand challenge to "accelerate utilization of simulation and experimentation" by "integrating experimentation and simulation to enable the development of first principles predictive simulation capabilities that are necessary to transition nuclear energy system design and licensing from reliance on experiments to reliance on modeling and simulation." The Mathematics and Computation Division (MCD) of ANS has been a venue for world-class research, tackling the challenge of simulating the complicated interacting physics at work inside a nuclear reactor and other nuclear systems. Despite the simulation focus of the MCD, its work does not see simulation and experiments as opposites in a Manichaean struggle. In fact, experiments and simulation are complementary. As Benoit Forget, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, said recently, "We can never replace experiments with simulations: Experiments are what we need to make sure our codes are grounded in reality. We can, however, use simulations to tell us what the best experiments to field are to improve our simulations." In reference to the grand challenge, reliance on modeling and simulation is not a replacement for experiments.
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