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Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis for Nuclear Criticality Safety Using KENO in the SCALE Code System

Conference ·
 [1]
  1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); ORNL

Sensitivity and uncertainty methods have been developed to aid in the establishment of areas of applicability and validation of computer codes and nuclear data for nuclear criticality safety studies. A key component in this work is the generation of sensitivity and uncertainty parameters for typically several hundred benchmarks experiments used in validation exercises. Previously, only one-dimensional sensitivity tools were available for this task, which necessitated the remodeling of multidimensional inputs in order for such an analysis to be performed. This paper describes the development of the SEN3 Monte Carlo based sensitivity analysis sequence for SCALE. Two options in the SEN3 package for the reconstruction of angular-dependent forward and adjoint fluxes are described and contrasted. These options are the direct calculation of flux moments versus the calculation of angular fluxes, with subsequent conversion to flux moments prior to sensitivity coefficient generation. The latter technique is found to be significantly more efficient.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
771558
Report Number(s):
P00--108458
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English