Comparison of the Reactivity Effects Calculated by DRAGON and Serpent for a PHWR 37-Element Fuel Bundle

Abstract

Deterministic and Monte Carlo methods are regularly employed to conduct lattice calculations. Monte Carlo methods can effectively model a large range of complex geometries and, compared to deterministic methods, they have the major advantage of reducing systematic errors and are computationally effective when integral quantities such as effective multiplication factor or reactivity are calculated. In contrast, deterministic methods do introduce discretization approximations but usually require shorter computation times than Monte Carlo methods when detailed flux and reaction-rate solutions are sought. This work compares the results of the deterministic code DRAGON to the Monte Carlo code Serpent in the calculation of the reactivity effects for a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) lattice cell containing a 37-element, natural uranium fuel bundle with heavy water coolant and moderator. The reactivity effects are determined for changes to the coolant, moderator, and fuel temperatures and to the coolant and moderator densities for zero-burnup, mid-burnup [3750 MWd/t(U)] and discharge burnup [7500 MWd/t(U)] fuel. It is found that the overall trend in the reactivity effects calculated using DRAGON match those calculated using Serpent for the burnup cases considered. However, differences that exceed the amount attributable to statistical error have been found for some reactivity effects, particularly for perturbations to coolant and moderator density and fuel temperature.