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26 records · Page 2

(U) SENSMG: First-Order Sensitivities of Neutron Reaction Rates, Reaction-Rate Ratios, Leakage, k eff , α , and Subcritical Multiplication Using PARTISN

SENSMG is a tool for computing first-order sensitivities of neutron reaction rates, reaction-rate ratios, leakage, k eff , α, and subcritical multiplication using the PARTISN multigroup discrete-ordinates code. SENSMG computes sensitivities to all of the transport cross sections and data (total, fission, a nu, chi, and all scattering moments), two edit cross sections (absorption and capture), and the density for every nuclide and energy group. It also computes sensitivities to the mass density for every material and derivatives with respect to all interface locations and outer boundaries. It computes sensitivities to user specified reactions whose cross sections are available in a user-supplied NJOY output file. The tool can be used for one-dimensional spherical and slab (r) and two-dimensional cylindrical (r-z) geometries. The tool can be used for fixed-source and eigenvalue problems. For most responses, the tool implements Generalized Perturbation Theory (GPT) as discussed by Williams and Stacey. The tool is thus limited to computing sensitivities only for GPT-allowable responses. For subcritical multiplication, the tool implements sensitivities derived by O’Brien and Clark. SENSMG has a similar role as the old SWANLAKE (Ref. 8), FORSS (Ref. 9), and SENSIT (Ref. 10) codes. It has capabilities similar to those of SUSD3D (Refs. 11 and 12), which also uses PARTISN. Section II of this report describes the theory behind adjoint-based sensitivities, gives the equations that SENSMG solves, and defines the sensitivities that are output. Section III describes the user interface, including the input file and command line options. Section IV describes the output. Section V gives some notes about the coding that may be of interest. Section VI presents some sample problems and discusses verification, which is ongoing. Section VII lists needs and ideas for future work. Appendix A lists most of the input files whose results are presented in Sec. VI. Appendix B provides some useful details on one of the cross-section libraries that SENSMG supports.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Contributions for ENDF/B-VIII.1 Paper

It was discussed at WANDA2020 that some issues were found by the community and users in ENDF/B-VIII.0 covariances after their release. It was mentioned that one issue in testing ENDF/B-VIII.0 covariances was that they were provided by evaluators too late in the β-release phases that insufficient time for thorough testing was available. Therefore, the executive committee requested that first nuclear data covariances should already be delivered for ENDF/B-VIII.1β 1 in February 2023—about half a year earlier than was the case for ENDF/B-VIII.0. This additional time allowed for more stringent testing with LANL’s ENDFtk and CovVal codes, and ORNL’s AMPX code during the release phases. The LLNL covariance testing employed a combination of NJOY, empy tools from EMPIRE, and x4i.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

(U) A Code System for Cross-Section Uncertainty Propagation for PARTISN

A rudimentary code system has been developed for propagating neutron cross-section uncertainties to response uncertainties using the PARTISN multigroup discrete-ordinates neutron transport code. The code system uses the first-order sandwich rule with sensitivities computed using SENSMG and covariances computed using NJOY. Databases of reaction cross sections and covariances using ENDF/B-VIII.0 data in the LANL standard 30-group structure have been precalculated. The final uncertainty in a k eff example problem compares well with the result from TOFFEE, a similar code that propagates neutron cross-section uncertainties to response uncertainties using the MCNP6 Monte Carlo neutron transport code. Presently, neither code system propagates uncertainties in $\overline{v}$, $\overline{μ}$, or χ, and neither code system propagates nuclide-nuclide covariances

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Verification of the ENDF/B-VII.1 Based MC 2 -3 Library Rev.1

The MC 2 -3 code, developed by Argonne National Laboratory under the DOE-NE NEAMS program, is a multigroup cross section generation code for fast reactor applications. Last year, the ENDF/B-VII.0 (E70) MC 2 -3 library, which has been extensively used, verified, and validated over a long period, was intensively reverified and updated to support the commercial grade dedication (CGD) requirement of the TerraPower Natrium project. This year, the ENDF/B-VII.1 (E71) MC 2 -3 library, the preliminary version of which was generated several years ago, was regenerated and rigorously verified to support the Natrium project as well as the completion of verification of the E71 library. The E71 library was verified using the process developed during the verification of the E70 library, including comparisons of cross sections with the NJOY-generated cross sections, comparisons of the resolved resonance cross sections with those using the PEDNF library, and comparison of total cross sections with the sum of partial cross sections. Additional verifications were conducted to ensure that the benchmark problem solutions with the E71 library are reasonable compared to the corresponding Monte Carlo solutions. Furthermore, the E71 gamma library was generated, which includes data for prompt gamma, delayed gamma, and delayed beta as well as neutron and gamma heating. The gamma library was verified at the level of individual isotopes. The EBR-II core solutions from MC 2 -3/ DIF3D and MCNP were compared, demonstrating that those solutions in terms of k-effective and assembly powers were in good agreement.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Evaluation of the GaAs displacement damage metric using updated nuclear data

The emerging use of the physics-based athermal recombination-corrected displacement per atom (arc-dpa) model for the displacement damage efficiency has motivated a re-evaluation of the historical empirically-derived GaAs damage response function with the purpose of highlighting needs for future analytical and experimental work. The 1-MeV neutron damage equivalence methodology used in the ASTM E-722 standard for GaAs has been re-evaluated using updated nuclear data. This yielded a higher fidelity representation of the GaAs displacement kerma and, through the use of the refined PKA recoil energy-dependent damage efficiency model, an updated 1-MeV(GaAs) displacement damage function. This re-evaluation included use of the Norgett-Robinson-Torrens (NRT) model for an updated threshold treatment, rather than the sharp-threshold Kinchin-Pease model used in the current ASTM standard. The underlying nuclear data evaluations have been updated to use the ENDF/VIII.0 {sup 75}As and TENDL-2019 {sup 71}Ga/{sup 69}Ga evaluations. The displacement kerma and 1-MeV-equivalent damage responses were calculated using a modified NJOY-2016 code which allowed for refinements in some of the damage models. This paper shows that an updated displacement damage function, based upon the latest nuclear data, is consistent with the experimental data used to develop the current ASTM E-722 GaAs standard. Using a double ratio approach to compare the available experimental data with the calculated response, the average legacy double ratio was found to be 0.97 ± 0.05 and the average updated double ratio was found to be 0.94 ± 0.05. (authors)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Proposed Generalized Header File for TSLs [Slides]

This presentation discusses several recent issues have been raised over the past few years regarding inconsistent definitions for the number of scattering atoms between incoherent elastic and inelastic (MT2 and MT4 files, respectively) in the same MF7 file and isotopic distribution of primary scattering atom. It also discusses how processing codes handle these potential issues in different ways. Additionally, it discusses how the preferred solution would be automation in order to reduce possibility of user error and a proposed solution in the form of a MF7/MT1 file is examined with preliminary examples. The presentation concludes with a question-and-answer discussion.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Fine Temperature Grid Continuous Energy Cross Section Generation for Monte Carlo Analysis of Xe-100 Design

The standard “A Compact ENDF (ACE)” data libraries used by Monte Carlo based reactor physics codes calculations are provided by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) with a temperature interval mostly of 300 K (e.g. 300 K, 600 K, 900 K) for the cross sections and between 100 K and 200 K for the thermal scattering libraries (TSL). However, some codes such as MCNP lack capability to perform on-the-fly temperature interpolation during simulation both for neutron and TSL cross-sections. To evaluate the impact related to Doppler broadening and spectrum shift associated with TSL changes, this paper explores the potential of adopting a temperature grid finer than the ones contained in the standard data libraries. A 50 K temperature grid was employed to quantify the error in neutronics calculations due to temperature grid resolution. This was achieved by comparing the results of this study (50 K temperature interval) against the results obtained with standard data libraries (>100 K temperature interval). While the adopted grid primarily relies on the ENDF/B-VII.1 library, for neutron cross-sections, it utilizes ENDF/B-VIII.0 library for TSL. The analyses confirmed that the accuracy of neutronics calculations is satisfactory when using a 50 K temperature grid. Notably, adopting a 50 K temperature grid, as opposed to standard libraries or coarser temperature grids, could lead to a difference of no more than a few hundred pcm in dk for both fresh fuel and burnt fuel. The most sensitive reaction type to the temperature grid was as expected identified as the capture cross-section of U-238.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗