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Ab Initio Evaluation of Uranium Carbide S(α,β) and Thermal Neutron Cross Sections

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1897965
 [1];  [1]
  1. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
Uranium Carbide (UC) is a nuclear fuel material which offers better neutron economy and lower fuel-cycle costs compared to conventional mixed-oxide fuels. UC’s lattice binding and dynamical properties impact thermal neutron scattering and low temperature epithermal resonance absorption. The Thermal Scattering Law (TSL) describes the scattering system available energy and momentum transfer states. There is no TSL evaluation for UC in the ENDF/B-VIII.0 database; herein, ab-initio lattice dynamics (AILD) techniques are invoked to calculate the phonon spectrum for UC using spin-orbit-coupling density functional theory (DFT). The TSLs, inelastic and elastic thermal scattering cross sections for Uranium and Carbon in UC, respectively, are calculated in FLASSH for use in higher fidelity reactor design calculations.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP)
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1897965
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English