Uncertainties in source term calculations generated by the ORIGEN2 computer code for Hanford Production Reactors

Technical Report · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6030571· OSTI ID:6030571

Heeb, C M

The ORIGEN2 computer code is the primary calculational tool for computing isotopic source terms for the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project. The ORIGEN2 code computes the amounts of radionuclides that are created or remain in spent nuclear fuel after neutron irradiation and radioactive decay have occurred as a result of nuclear reactor operation. ORIGEN2 was chosen as the primary code for these calculations because it is widely used and accepted by the nuclear industry, both in the United States and the rest of the world. Its comprehensive library of over 1,600 nuclides includes any possible isotope of interest to the HEDR Project. It is important to evaluate the uncertainties expected from use of ORIGEN2 in the HEDR Project because these uncertainties may have a pivotal impact on the final accuracy and credibility of the results of the project. There are three primary sources of uncertainty in an ORIGEN2 calculation: basic nuclear data uncertainty in neutron cross sections, radioactive decay constants, energy per fission, and fission product yields; calculational uncertainty due to input data; and code uncertainties (i.e., numerical approximations, and neutron spectrum-averaged cross-section values from the code library). 15 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6030571
• Report Number(s): PNL-7223-HEDR; ON: DE91009815
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220700 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Plutonium & Isotope Production Reactors
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ACCURACY
AFTER-HEAT
BATTELLE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LABORATORIES
BURNUP
CALCULATION METHODS
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CROSS SECTIONS
DATA COVARIANCES
DOSES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FISSION PRODUCT RELEASE
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUELS
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
HANFORD PRODUCTION REACTORS
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
ISOTOPES
LWGR TYPE REACTORS
MATERIALS
N-REACTOR
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NEUTRON SPECTRA
NUCLEAR DATA COLLECTIONS
NUCLEAR FUELS
O CODES
PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION REACTORS
POWER REACTORS
PRODUCTION REACTORS
QUALITY ASSURANCE
RADIATION DOSES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTORS
SAFETY
SIMULATION
SOURCE TERMS
SPECTRA
SPENT FUELS
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER COOLED REACTORS