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Title: Using Machine Learning to Predict MCNP Bias

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1416276· OSTI ID:1416276
 [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

For many real-world applications in radiation transport where simulations are compared to experimental measurements, like in nuclear criticality safety, the bias (simulated - experimental keff) in the calculation is an extremely important quantity used for code validation. The objective of this project is to accurately predict the bias of MCNP6 [1] criticality calculations using machine learning (ML) algorithms, with the intention of creating a tool that can complement the current nuclear criticality safety methods. In the latest release of MCNP6, the Whisper tool is available for criticality safety analysts and includes a large catalogue of experimental benchmarks, sensitivity profiles, and nuclear data covariance matrices. This data, coming from 1100+ benchmark cases, is used in this study of ML algorithms for criticality safety bias predictions.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1416276
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-20175; TRN: US1900695
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English