Background and motivation

As of PR #189, there are at least three different functions that handle nuclide names and ZAM/ZAID codes. It would be nice if we could combine/simplify some of these.

Implementation details

In OpenMCDepcode, we have the following functions:

• _convert_nucname_to_pyne()
• convert_nuclide_code_to_name()
• _convert_name_to_nuccode()

In SerpentDepcode, we have the following functions:

• convert_nuclide_code_to_name()
• _convert_name_to_nuccode()
• map_nuclide_code_zam_to_serpent()
• convert_nuclide_code_to_zam()

The following functions use these functions:

• OpenMCDepcode._create_mass_percents_dictionary()
• `SerpentDepcode.update_depletable_materials()
• Simulation.store_after_repr()
• Simulation._add_missing_nuclides()
• Simulation.store_mat_data

Whoever works on this issue should try to combine/consolidate these functions to reduce repetition an the complexity of the program flow.

Potential snags

This may require adding/modifying the test suite.