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Ph.D. 1998, University of Michigan

Research Areas:
Computational methods for radiation transport, nuclear criticality, and nuclear reactor design, Monte Carlo methods

Other area of interest:
Information theory, complexity theory, time series analysis, principal component analysis, independent component analysis.

Statement of Research Interest
I am concentrating time and effort on the study of Monte Carlo methods since my graduate student years at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Currently, emphasis is placed on informatics and multivariate data analysis.

For nuclear criticality and reactor analysis, diagnostics of source convergence, confidence interval estimation methods, and higher eigenmode analysis are actively investigated using Shannon and relative entropy, data-compression limit, asymptotic equipartition property, method of type, time series analysis, principal component analysis, and complexity minimization via projection. These research will contribute to uncertainty quantification in the Monte Carlo calculation of a whole reactor core and be intended to build a foundation for the future development of reactor stability analysis by Monte Carlo methods. Currently, these research is supported by X-5 in Los Alamos National Laboratory, the home of MCNP5 development and Nuclear Engineering Education Research Award, Department of Energy.

Also I am investigating the photon-electron coupled transport with photon source and electron detection. The maximum entropy principle and the self-contained simulation with no deterministic computation are the driving forces. I am extending the Boltzmann Monte Carlo equation approach in my Ph.D. thesis (1998) to derive better importance-biasing scheme. Currently, these research is supported by Simulation Technology Research Department (6741) in Sandia National Laboratory, the home of Integrated Tiger Series.

 

 

 

In the long run, I am interested in expanding my informatics skills to the bioinformatics modeling of radiation damage to cells. Traditionally, nuclear engineer and health physicist evaluate dose (energy absorbed per unit volume or mass). However, the DNA level modeling of damage and mutation will be greatly beneficial to ensuring long term health of astronaut and radiation facility workers. This is just a dream speculation at this moment but I am interested anyway.

 

Highlights of Research:
T. Ueki, T. Mori and M. Nakagawa, "Error Estimations and Their Biases in Monte Carlo Eigenvalue Calculations," Nuclear Science and Engineering 125, 1 (1997).

The bias correction method of k-effective error proposed in this article is employed in the following Monte Carlo codes in the nuclear engineering discipline: MVP (JAERI, Japan), MORET 4 (IPSN, France).

T. Ueki and F.B. Brown, "Stationarity Modeling and Informatics-Based Diagnostics in Monte Carlo Criticality Calculations," Nuclear Science and Engineering, 149, 38 (2005).

The diagnostics of fission source convergence proposed in this article were announced to be incorporated in MCNP 6, the successor of MCNP5 of LANL.