Recent progress in the application of the finite element method to the neutron transport equation

Abstract

The finite element technique is applied to the even-parity form of the neutron transport equation by means of a variational functional. A computer code, FELICIT, has been developed which solves criticality and source problems in R– Z and X– Y geometries assuming isotropic scattering in the lab-system. The code is compared with a number of exact analytic solutions in the P 1 approximation and in exact transport theory thus enabling an estimate of its accuracy to be made. Many tables and graphs are given which illustrate the usefulness of the method for a variety of source and criticality problems in complicated geometries.