Evaluation of temperature-dependent critical experiments at the Walthousen reactor critical facility for benchmark development

Matthew D. Eklund; Peter J. Kowal; Mathieu N. Dupont; Wei Ji

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109440

Evaluation of temperature-dependent critical experiments at the Walthousen reactor critical facility for benchmark development

Matthew D. Eklund, Peter J. Kowal, Mathieu N. Dupont, Wei Ji

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Development of benchmark libraries based on accurate experimental measurements is crucial for validation of computational toolkits in nuclear reactor design and analysis. A benchmark library is developed based on the low-power isothermal critical experiments conducted at the Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility ranging in temperatures between 16 and 46 Celsius. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate uncertainties in reactivity and its temperature coefficient due to core geometry, material composition, and temperature based on the temperature-dependent experimental data. A comprehensive sensitivity study of the effect of nuclear data on criticality was also performed. The total combined uncertainty in criticality of the benchmark model due to geometry and material parameters is determined to be 144 pcm. Prediction of criticality from sample calculations lies within the benchmark model combined uncertainty from measurements, demonstrating the acceptance of these datasets for use as a benchmark for validation of simulation toolkits and evaluation of nuclear data libraries.

Original language	English
Article number	109440
Journal	Annals of Nuclear Energy
Volume	180
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109440
State	Published - Jan 2023
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The first author is supported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fellowship Program under the grant 31310018 M0003. The authors would like to acknowledge Peter Caracappa, Vijay Mahadevan (Argonne National Laboratory) and Changho Lee (Argonne National Laboratory) with their assistance throughout this work and the RCF reactor staff and operators, including Glenn Winters, Jason Thompson, and Emily Frantz. The authors would also like to acknowledge William B.J. Marshall (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) for his insights during the review process. The first author is supported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fellowship Program under the grant 31310018 M0003. The authors would like to acknowledge Peter Caracappa, Vijay Mahadevan (Argonne National Laboratory) and Changho Lee (Argonne National Laboratory) with their assistance throughout this work and the RCF reactor staff and operators, including Glenn Winters, Jason Thompson, and Emily Frantz. The authors would also like to acknowledge William B.J. Marshall (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) for his insights during the review process.

Funders	Funder number
Changho Lee
Glenn Winters
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission	31310018 M0003
Argonne National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Keywords

Benchmark Development
Collision History-Based Method
Critical Experiments
Monte Carlo
Sensitivity Analysis

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10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109440

Cite this

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title = "Evaluation of temperature-dependent critical experiments at the Walthousen reactor critical facility for benchmark development",

abstract = "Development of benchmark libraries based on accurate experimental measurements is crucial for validation of computational toolkits in nuclear reactor design and analysis. A benchmark library is developed based on the low-power isothermal critical experiments conducted at the Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility ranging in temperatures between 16 and 46 Celsius. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate uncertainties in reactivity and its temperature coefficient due to core geometry, material composition, and temperature based on the temperature-dependent experimental data. A comprehensive sensitivity study of the effect of nuclear data on criticality was also performed. The total combined uncertainty in criticality of the benchmark model due to geometry and material parameters is determined to be 144 pcm. Prediction of criticality from sample calculations lies within the benchmark model combined uncertainty from measurements, demonstrating the acceptance of these datasets for use as a benchmark for validation of simulation toolkits and evaluation of nuclear data libraries.",

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AU - Dupont, Mathieu N.

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PY - 2023/1

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AB - Development of benchmark libraries based on accurate experimental measurements is crucial for validation of computational toolkits in nuclear reactor design and analysis. A benchmark library is developed based on the low-power isothermal critical experiments conducted at the Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility ranging in temperatures between 16 and 46 Celsius. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate uncertainties in reactivity and its temperature coefficient due to core geometry, material composition, and temperature based on the temperature-dependent experimental data. A comprehensive sensitivity study of the effect of nuclear data on criticality was also performed. The total combined uncertainty in criticality of the benchmark model due to geometry and material parameters is determined to be 144 pcm. Prediction of criticality from sample calculations lies within the benchmark model combined uncertainty from measurements, demonstrating the acceptance of these datasets for use as a benchmark for validation of simulation toolkits and evaluation of nuclear data libraries.

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Evaluation of temperature-dependent critical experiments at the Walthousen reactor critical facility for benchmark development

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Keywords

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