2023 journal article

Preservation of kinetics parameters generated by Monte Carlo calculations in two-step deterministic calculations

EPJ NUCLEAR SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGIES, 9.

TL;DR: Study of the preservation of bilinearly-weighted quantities in the Serpent–Griffin calculation procedure finds sensitivities to multigroup energy grid selection and regional application of SPH equivalence were demonstrated to be reduced through the use of a transport method together with a finer energy grid. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
7. Affordable and Clean Energy (OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: March 27, 2023

The generation of accurate kinetic parameters such as mean generation time Λ and effective delayed neutron fraction βeff via Monte Carlo codes is established. Employing these in downstream deterministic codes warrants another step to ensure no additional error is introduced by the low-order transport operator when computing forward and adjoint fluxes for bilinear weighting of these parameters. Another complexity stems from applying superhomogenization (SPH) equivalence in non-fundamental mode approximations, where reference and low-order calculations rely on a 3D full core model. In these cases, SPH factors can optionally be computed for only part of the geometry while preserving reaction rates and K-effective, but the impact of such approximations on kinetics parameters has not been thoroughly studied. This paper aims at studying the preservation of bilinearly-weighted quantities in the Serpent–Griffin calculation procedure. Diffusion and transport evaluations of IPEN/MB-01, Godiva, and Flattop were carried out with the Griffin reactor physics code, testing available modeling options using Serpent-generated multigroup cross sections and equivalence data. Verifying Griffin against Serpent indicates sensitivities to multigroup energy grid selection and regional application of SPH equivalence, introducing significant errors; these were demonstrated to be reduced through the use of a transport method together with a finer energy grid.