Ensuring the Validity of Calculated Subcritical Limits

Conference · Sun Jun 18 04:00:00 EDT 1978 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:7055765

Clark, H. K. ^[1]

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1. Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River Lab.

The care taken at the Savannah River Laboratory and Plant to ensure the validity of calculated subcritical limits is described. Close attention is given to ANSI N16.1-1975, ''Validation of Calculational Methods for Nuclear Criticality Safety.'' The computer codes used for criticality safety computations, which are listed and are briefly described, have been placed in the SRL JOSHUA system to facilitate calculation and to reduce input errors. A driver module, KOKO, simplifies and standardizes input and links the codes together in various ways. For any criticality safety evaluation, correlations of the calculational methods are made with experiment to establish bias. Occasionally subcritical experiments are performed expressly to provide benchmarks. Calculated subcritical limits contain an adequate but not excessive margin to allow for uncertainty in the bias. The final step in any criticality safety evaluation is the writing of a report describing the calculations and justifying the margin.

• Research Organization: Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River Lab.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• OSTI ID: 7055765
• Report Number(s): DP-MS-77-125; CONF-780622-56
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Journal Volume: 28
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

420203* -- Engineering-- Handling Equipment & Procedures
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
ACCURACY
CALCULATION METHODS
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
COMPUTER CODES
CRITICALITY
Criticality Safety Evaluation
Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF)
FISSILE MATERIALS
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
Hansen-Roach Cross Sections
Hellstrand Resonance Integrals
KENO
KOKO
Monte Carlo Calculations
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SRL JOSHUA System
US AEC
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS