The industry-standard software used to design nuclear reactors has been giving the wrong answers for over a decade.
April 26, 2026
Original Paper
Analysis of the discrepancy between measured and SRIM-predicted ranges for Ni-ions in iron-base alloys
SSRN · 6642008
The Takeaway
Scientists use a code called SRIM-2013 to predict how ions travel through the metal alloys used in nuclear power plants. This study discovered that this modern software significantly overpredicts the range of Nickel ions in these metals. Surprisingly, a version of the software from 1998 actually produces much more accurate results. This means that a generation of nuclear materials research may be based on a simulation tool that is systematically flawed. Using the older, obsolete code provides a better match for what actually happens inside a reactor. This finding will force nuclear engineers to re-evaluate how they predict material degradation and safety.
From the abstract
The SRIM-2013 calculational code is an indispensable tool for researchers employing charged particle simulation to emulate neutron-induced radiation damage, providing depth-dependent descriptions of the distribution of the implanted ions and the damage profile from the ion-incident surface to the full end of the implanted distribution. Recent publications, however, have shown that Ni+ ions with energies in the range of 2.0 to 11.5 MeV have measured ranges that are significantly shorter than pred