Super-Phenix Benchmark used for Comparison of PNC and CEA Calculation Methods,and of JENDL-3.2 and CARNAVAL IV Nuclear Data

Hunter

The study was carried out within the framework of the PNC-CEA collaboration agreement. Data were provided, by CEA, for an experimental loading of a start-up core in Super-Phenix. This data was used at PNC to produce core flux snapshot calculations. CEA undertook a comparison of the PNC results with the equivalent calculations carried out by CEA, and also with experimental measurements from SPX. The resu1ts revealed a systematic radial flux tilt between the calculations and the reactor measurements, with the PNC tilts only 30-401 of those from CEA. CEA carried out an analysis of the component causes of the radial tilt. It was concluded that a major cause of radia1 tilt differences between the PNC and CEA calculations lay in the nuclear datasets used: JENDL-3.2 and CARNAVAL IV. For the final stage of the study, PNC undertook a sensitivity analysis, to examine the detailed differences between the two sets of nuclear data. The PNC flux calculations modelled SPX in both 2D (RZ) and 3D (hex-Z) geometries, using the diffusion programs CITATION and MOSES. The sensitivity analysis of the differences between the JENDL-3.2 and CARNAVAL IV nuclear datasets used the SAGEP calculational route. Both datasets were condensed to a single, non-standard, set of energy group boundaries. There were some incompatibilities in the cross-section formats of the two datasets. The sensitivity analysis showed that a relatively small number of nuclear data items contributed the bulk of the radial tilt difference between calculations with JENDL-3.2 and with CARNAVAL IV. A direct comparison between JENDL-3.2 and CARNAVAL IV data revealed the following. The Nu values showed little difference (<5|%). The only large fission cross-section differences were at low energy (<30% otherwise, with <10% typical). Although down-scattering reactions showed some large fractional differences, absolute differences were negligible compared with in-group scattering; for in-group scattering fractional ...