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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

REACTION SAMPLING IN MCATK: Using the Thermal Motion of the Target Nucleus to Perform Elastic and Inelastic Scattering (U)

We describe how the reaction sampling is currently performed in MCATK. The current reaction sampling method is modeled on the method coded in MCNP6 and briefly described in the MCNP manual. The method is validated using the MCATK criticality validation suite for comparison with MCNP6. The results of this validation suite show good agreement with results obtained with MCNP6.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

MCNP6.1 k -Eigenvalue Sensitivity Capability: A User’s Guide

MCNP6.1 is the first production version of MCNP to include the ability to compute sensitivity coefficients of the effective multiplication k for nuclear data. These types of calculations are useful for code validation and the development of benchmark suites applicable to specific set of applications, for the design of critical (integral) experiments, and uncertainty quantification.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of Parallel Computing Framework to Enhance Radiation Transport Code Capabilities for Rare Isotope Beam Facility Design

A parallel computing framework has been developed to use with general-purpose radiation transport codes. The framework was implemented as a C++ module that uses MPI for message passing. It is intended to be used with older radiation transport codes implemented in Fortran77, Fortran 90 or C. The module is significantly independent of radiation transport codes it can be used with, and is connected to the codes by means of a number of interface functions. The framework was developed and tested in conjunction with the MARS15 code. It is possible to use it with other codes such as PHITS, FLUKA and MCNP after certain adjustments. Besides the parallel computing functionality, the framework offers a checkpoint facility that allows restarting calculations with a saved checkpoint file. The checkpoint facility can be used in single process calculations as well as in the parallel regime. The framework corrects some of the known problems with the scheduling and load balancing found in the original implementations of the parallel computing functionality in MARS15 and PHITS. The framework can be used efficiently on homogeneous systems and networks of workstations, where the interference from the other users is possible.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Radiation Detection Computational Benchmark Scenarios

Modeling forms an important component of radiation detection development, allowing for testing of new detector designs, evaluation of existing equipment against a wide variety of potential threat sources, and assessing operation performance of radiation detection systems. This can, however, result in large and complex scenarios which are time consuming to model. A variety of approaches to radiation transport modeling exist with complementary strengths and weaknesses for different problems. This variety of approaches, and the development of promising new tools (such as ORNL’s ADVANTG) which combine benefits of multiple approaches, illustrates the need for a means of evaluating or comparing different techniques for radiation detection problems. This report presents a set of 9 benchmark problems for comparing different types of radiation transport calculations, identifying appropriate tools for classes of problems, and testing and guiding the development of new methods. The benchmarks were drawn primarily from existing or previous calculations with a preference for scenarios which include experimental data, or otherwise have results with a high level of confidence, are non-sensitive, and represent problem sets of interest to NA-22. From a technical perspective, the benchmarks were chosen to span a range of difficulty and to include gamma transport, neutron transport, or both and represent different important physical processes and a range of sensitivity to angular or energy fidelity. Following benchmark identification, existing information about geometry, measurements, and previous calculations were assembled. Monte Carlo results (MCNP decks) were reviewed or created and re-run in order to attain accurate computational times and to verify agreement with experimental data, when present. Benchmark information was then conveyed to ORNL in order to guide testing and development of hybrid calculations. The results of those ADVANTG calculations were then sent to PNNL for compilation. This is a report describing the details of the selected Benchmarks and results from various transport codes.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

ADVANTG An Automated Variance Reduction Parameter Generator

The AutomateD VAriaNce reducTion Generator (ADVANTG) software automates the generation of variance reduction (VR) parameters for continuous-energy Monte Carlo simulations of fixed-source neutron, photon, and coupled neutron-photon transport problems using MCNP5 (X-5 Monte Carlo Team 2003). ADVANTG generates space- and energy dependent mesh-based weight-window bounds and biased source distributions from three dimensional (3-D) discrete ordinates (SN) calculations that are performed by the Denovo package (Evans et al. 2010). The deterministic calculations can be performed using multiple cores and/or processors (e.g., on multi-core desktop systems and clusters). The final variance reduction parameters are output in a format that can be used with unmodified versions of MCNP. The primary objective of the development of ADVANTG has been to reduce both the user effort and the computational time required to obtain accurate and precise tally estimates across a broad range of challenging transport application areas.

ADVANTG↗
DOE OSTI2013

Verification & Validation of High-Order Short-Characteristics-Based Deterministic Transport Methodology on Unstructured Grids

The research team has developed a practical, high-order, discrete-ordinates, short characteristics neutron transport code for three-dimensional configurations represented on unstructured tetrahedral grids that can be used for realistic reactor physics applications at both the assembly and core levels. This project will perform a comprehensive verification and validation of this new computational tool against both a continuous-energy Monte Carlo simulation (e.g. MCNP) and experimentally measured data, an essential prerequisite for its deployment in reactor core modeling. Verification is divided into three phases. The team will first conduct spatial mesh and expansion order refinement studies to monitor convergence of the numerical solution to reference solutions. This is quantified by convergence rates that are based on integral error norms computed from the cell-by-cell difference between the code’s numerical solution and its reference counterpart. The latter is either analytic or very fine- mesh numerical solutions from independent computational tools. For the second phase, the team will create a suite of code-independent benchmark configurations to enable testing the theoretical order of accuracy of any particular discretization of the discrete ordinates approximation of the transport equation. For each tested case (i.e. mesh and spatial approximation order), researchers will execute the code and compare the resulting numerical solution to the exact solution on a per cell basis to determine the distribution of the numerical error. The final activity comprises a comparison to continuous-energy Monte Carlo solutions for zero-power critical configuration measurements at Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Results of this comparison will allow the investigators to distinguish between modeling errors and the above-listed discretization errors introduced by the deterministic method, and to separate the sources of uncertainty.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Boron-10 ABUNCL Models of Fuel Testing

The Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Safeguards and Security (NA-241) is supporting the project Coincidence Counting With Boron-Based Alternative Neutron Detection Technology at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the development of a 3He proportional counter alternative neutron coincidence counter. The goal of this project is to design, build and demonstrate a system based upon 10B-lined proportional tubes in a configuration typical for 3He-based coincidence counter applications. This report provides results from MCNP simulations of the General Electric Reuter-Stokes Alternative Boron-Based Uranium Neutron Coincidence Collar (ABUNCL) active configuration model with fuel pins previously measured at Los Alamos National Laboratory. A comparison of the GE-ABUNCL simulations and simulations of 3He based UNCL-II active counter (the system for which the GE-ABUNCL was targeted to replace) with the same fuel pin assemblies is also provided.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Release of Continuous Representation for S(α,β) ACE Data

For low energy neutrons, the default free gas model for scattering cross sections is not always appropriate. Molecular effects or crystalline structure effects can affect the neutron scattering cross sections. These effects are included in the S(α; β) thermal neutron scattering data and are tabulated in file 7 of the ENDF6 format files. S stands for scattering. α is a momentum transfer variable and is an energy transfer variable. The S(α; β) cross sections can include coherent elastic scattering (no E change for the neutron, but specific scattering angles), incoherent elastic scattering (no E change for the neutron, but continuous scattering angles), and inelastic scattering (E change for the neutron, and change in angle as well). Every S(α; β) material will have inelastic scattering and may have either coherent or incoherent elastic scattering (but not both). Coherent elastic scattering cross sections have distinctive jagged-looking Bragg edges, whereas the other cross sections are much smoother. The evaluated files from the NNDC are processed locally in the THERMR module of NJOY. Data can be produced either for continuous energy Monte Carlo codes (using ACER) or embedded in multi-group cross sections for deterministic (or even multi-group Monte Carlo) codes (using GROUPR). Currently, the S(α; β) files available for MCNP use discrete energy changes for inelastic scattering. That is, the scattered neutrons can only be emitted at specific energies— rather than across a continuous spectrum of energies. The discrete energies are chosen to preserve the average secondary neutron energy, i.e., in an integral sense, but the discrete treatment does not preserve any differential quantities in energy or angle.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Verification of MCNP6.1 and MCNP6.1.1 for Criticality Safety Applications

MCNP6.1 is the new production version of MCNP [1] released in June 2013. An updated beta version, MCNP6.1.1, is targeted for release in summer 2014 to enable the use of several new features for homeland security and nonproliferation applications. The beta version does not include new capabilities for the criticality safety community, but does run significantly faster than the production version. From 2003 – 2013, the production version was MCNP5, with MCNP5-1.60 the final release in 2010.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spent Fuel Assembly Modeling for Unattended Gamma Emission Tomography (UGET) Project [Slides]

NGSI-SF project provided good basis for spent fuel assemblies. UGET assemblies have both DU pins and water replacing fuel in the center of the bundle. Both MCNP geometry files and CINDER90 isotopic compositions files were created and used by LLNL and/or others. Four different spent fuel assembly types were represented: PWR, BWR, VVER-440, and the VVER-1000. Not enough information was known about irradiation of assemblies in Forsmark or Olkiluoto (JNT 1510) benchmarks for detailed calculations.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Final report on accident tolerant fuel performance analysis of APMT-Steel Clad/UO₂ fuel and APMT-Steel Clad/UN-U₃Si₅ fuel concepts

In FY2014 our group completed and documented analysis of new Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) concepts using BISON. We have modeled the viability of moving from Zircaloy to stainless steel cladding in traditional light water reactors (LWRs). We have explored the reactivity penalty of this change using the MCNP-based burnup code Monteburns, while attempting to minimize this penalty by increasing the fuel pellet radius and decreasing the cladding thickness. Fuel performance simulations using BISON have also been performed to quantify changes to structural integrity resulting from thinner stainless steel claddings. We account for thermal and irradiation creep, fission gas swelling, thermal swelling and fuel relocation in the models for both Zircaloy and stainless steel claddings. Additional models that account for the lower oxidation stainless steel APMT are also invoked where available. Irradiation data for HT9 is used as a fallback in the absence of appropriate models. In this study the isotopic vectors within each natural element are varied to assess potential reactivity gains if advanced enrichment capabilities were levied towards cladding technologies. Recommendations on cladding thicknesses for a robust cladding as well as the constitutive components of a less penalizing composition are provided. In the first section (section 1-3), we present results accepted for publication in the 2014 TOPFUEL conference regarding the APMT/UO₂ ATF concept (J. Galloway & C. Unal, Accident Tolerant and Neutronically Favorable LWR Cladding, Proceedings of WRFPM 2014, Sendai, Japan, Paper No.1000050). Next we discuss our preliminary findings from the thermo-mechanical analysis of UN-U₃Si₅ fuel with APMT clad. In this analysis we used models developed from limited data that need to be updated when the irradiation data from ATF-1 test is available. Initial results indicate a swelling rate less than 1.5% is needed to prevent excessive clad stress.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Monte Carlo Simulations of Neutron Resonance Transmission Analysis with the Dense Plasma Focus

Simulations were performed using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP in order to analyze the feasibility of using a dense plasma focus to perform neutron resonance transmission analysis. It was found that the dense plasma focus is well-suited for neutron resonance transmission analysis because of the relatively short pulse duration and large neutron yield. This makes lowenergy neutron spectroscopy using time of flight much more accurate, allowing for more detailed assays of smaller quantities of special nuclear material.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Simulations of Lithium-Based Neutron Coincidence Counter for Gd-Loaded Fuel

The Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Safeguards and Security (NA-241) is supporting the project Lithium-Based Alternative Neutron Detection Technology Coincidence Counting for Gd-loaded Fuels at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the development of a lithium-based neutron coincidence counter for nondestructively assaying Gd loaded nuclear fuel. This report provides results from MCNP simulations of a lithium-based coincidence counter for the possible measurement of Gd-loaded nuclear fuel. A comparison of lithium-based simulations and UNCL-II simulations with and without Gd loaded fuel is provided. A lithium-based model, referred to as PLNS3A-R1, showed strong promise for assaying Gd loaded fuel.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2015

Results for Phase I of the IAEA Coordinated Research Program on HTGR Uncertainties

The quantification of uncertainties in design and safety analysis of reactors is today not only broadly accepted, but in many cases became the preferred way to replace traditional conservative analysis for safety and licensing analysis. The use of a more fundamental methodology is also consistent with the reliable high fidelity physics models and robust, efficient, and accurate codes available today. To facilitate uncertainty analysis applications a comprehensive approach and methodology must be developed and applied. High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGR) has its own peculiarities, coated particle design, large graphite quantities, different materials and high temperatures that also require other simulation requirements. The IAEA has therefore launched a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on the HTGR Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling (UAM) in 2013 to study uncertainty propagation specifically in the HTGR analysis chain. Two benchmark problems are defined, with the prismatic design represented by the General Atomics (GA) MHTGR-350 and a 250 MW modular pebble bed design similar to the HTR-PM (INET, China). This report summarizes the contributions of the HTGR Methods Simulation group at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) up to this point of the CRP. The activities at INL have been focused so far on creating the problem specifications for the prismatic design, as well as providing reference solutions for the exercises defined for Phase I. An overview is provided of the HTGR UAM objectives and scope, and the detailed specifications for Exercises I-1, I-2, I-3 and I-4 are also included here for completeness. The main focus of the report is the compilation and discussion of reference results for Phase I (i.e. for input parameters at their nominal or best-estimate values), which is defined as the first step of the uncertainty quantification process. These reference results can be used by other CRP participants for comparison with other codes or their own reference results. The status on the Monte Carlo modeling of the experimental VHTRC facility is also discussed. Reference results were obtained for the neutronics stand-alone cases (Ex. I-1 and Ex. I-2) using the (relatively new) Monte Carlo code Serpent, and comparisons were performed with the more established Monte Carlo codes MCNP and KENO-VI. For the thermal-fluids stand-alone cases (Ex. I-3 and I-4) the commercial CFD code CFX was utilized to obtain reference results that can be compared with lower fidelity tools.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Impact of ASTM Standard E722 update on radiation damage metrics

The impact of recent changes to the ASTM Standard E722 is investigated. The methodological changes in the production of the displacement kerma factors for silicon has significant impact for some energy regions of the 1-MeV(Si) equivalent fluence response function. When evaluating the integral over all neutrons energies in various spectra important to the SNL electronics testing community, the change in the response results in an increase in the total 1-MeV(Si) equivalent fluence of 2 7%. Response functions have been produced and are available for users of both the NuGET and MCNP codes.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A Methodology for Calculating Radiation Signatures

A rigorous formalism is presented for calculating radiation signatures from both Special Nuclear Material (SNM) as well as radiological sources. The use of MCNP6 in conjunction with CINDER/ORIGEN is described to allow for the determination of both neutron and photon leakages from objects of interest. In addition, a description of the use of MCNP6 to properly model the background neutron and photon sources is also presented. Examinations of the physics issues encountered in the modeling are investigated so as to allow for guidance in the user discerning the relevant physics to incorporate into general radiation signature calculations. Furthermore, examples are provided to assist in delineating the pertinent physics that must be accounted for. Finally, examples of detector modeling utilizing MCNP are provided along with a discussion on the generation of Receiver Operating Curves, which are the suggested means by which to determine detectability radiation signatures emanating from objects.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Radiation Characterization Summary: ACRR Polyethylene-Lead-Graphite (PLG) Bucket Located in the Central Cavity on the 32-Inch Pedestal at the Core Centerline (ACRR-PLG-CC-32-cl).

This document presents the facility-recommended characterization of the neutron, prompt gamma-ray, and delayed gamma-ray radiation fields in the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) for the polyethylene-lead-graphite (PLG) bucket in the central cavity on the 32-inch pedestal at the core centerline. The designation for this environment is ACRR-PLG-CC-32-cl. The neutron, prompt gamma-ray, and delayed gamma-ray energy spectra, uncertainties, and covariance matrices are presented as well as radial and axial neutron and gamma-ray fluence profiles within the experiment area of the bucket. Recommended constants are given to facilitate the conversion of various dosimetry readings into radiation metrics desired by experimenters. Representative pulse operations are presented with conversion examples. Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the Annular Core Research Reactor staff and the Radiation Metrology Laboratory staff for their support of this work. Also thanks to David Ames for his assistance in running MCNP on the Sandia parallel machines.

Vehar, David W.↗
DOE OSTI2014

In-Situ Gamma-Ray Assay of the West Cell Line in the 235-F Plutonium Fuel Form Facility

On August 29 th , 2013, scientists from SRNL took a series of in-situ gamma-ray measurements in the maintenance trench beneath Cells 6-9 on the west line of the PuFF facility using an uncollimated, high-purity germanium detector. The detector efficiency was estimated using a combination of MCNP simulations and empirical measurements. Data analysis was performed using three gamma-rays emitted by Pu-238 (99.85 keV, 152.7 keV, and 766.4 keV) providing three independent estimates of the mass of Pu-238 holdup in each of the cells. The weighted mean of these three results was used as the best estimate of Pu-238 holdup in the West Cell Line of PuFF. The results of the assay measurements are found in the table below along with the results from the scoping assay performed in 2006. All uncertainties in this table (as well as the rest of the report) are given as 1σ. The total holdup in the West Cell Line was 2.4 ± 0.7 grams. This result is 0.6 g higher than the previous estimate, a 0.4σ difference.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗