Theory and applications of the fission matrix method for continuous-energy Monte Carlo

Abstract

The fission matrix method can be used to provide estimates of the fundamental mode fission distribution, the dominance ratio, the eigenvalue spectrum, and higher mode forward and adjoint eigenfunctions of the fission distribution. It can also be used to accelerate the convergence of power method iterations and to provide basis functions for higher-order perturbation theory. The higher-mode fission sources can be used to determine higher-mode forward fluxes and tallies, and work is underway to provide higher-mode adjoint-weighted fluxes and tallies. These aspects of the method are here both theoretically justified and demonstrated, and then used to investigate fundamental properties of the transport equation for a continuous-energy physics treatment. Implementation into the MCNP6 Monte Carlo code is also discussed, including a sparse representation of the fission matrix, which permits much larger and more accurate representations. Properties of the calculated eigenvalue spectrum of a 2D PWR problem are discussed: for a fine enough mesh and a sufficient degree of sampling, the spectrum both converges and has a negligible imaginary component. Calculation of the fundamental mode of the fission matrix for a fuel storage vault problem shows how convergence can be accelerated by over a factor of ten given a flat initial distribution. Forward fluxes and the relative uncertainties for a 2D PWR are shown, both of which qualitatively agree with expectation. Lastly, eigenmode expansions are performed during source convergence of the 2D PWR problem for two initial distributions; observed decay rates of coefficients agree closely with expectation.