Development of the R2SUNED Code System for Shutdown Dose Rate Calculations

Abstract

R2SUNED is a code system implementing the mesh-based Rigorous-two-step method for shutdown dose rates calculations, making use of MCNP and ACAB codes. In addition to the most relevant features of state-of-the-art R2S systems, novel and unique features have been implemented in R2SUNED to overcome limitations common to the current mesh-based R2S implementations. One of particular interest is the cell-under-voxel approach intended to address most of the issues associated with the conventional averaging technique used in the neutron flux determination. The underlying idea is to identify the cells enclosed in each voxel and calculate the average value of the neutron flux within each cell fraction. Subsequently, the activation of each material, filling the cell delimited by the voxel, is calculated using the neutron flux evaluated in the corresponding cell. This capability enables to properly resolve the strong spatial gradients of the neutron flux independently of geometrical considerations. Another relevant feature is that a flexible decay gamma source sampling has been incorporated to assure an efficient decay gamma transport in a vast diversity of problems. A verification of R2SUNED has been addressed on the ITER computational shutdown dose rate benchmark. It is highlighted both the limitations of voxel averaged neutron flux standard approach, and the ability of R2SUNED to overcome this issue. The excellent agreement of the results with those obtained using a mesh matching perfectly the geometry tells that R2SUNED performs correctly. Finally, a description of the most representative applications carried out with R2SUNED is provided for fusion relevant facilities.