Uncertainty quantification of criticality in light-water-moderated and graphite-reflected core with highly enriched uranium fuel at university teaching and research reactor

Abstract

ABSTRACT Neutronics characteristics are examined by the MCNP6.2 code with ENDF/B-VII.1 for a light-water-moderated and graphite-reflected core with highly enriched uranium fuel at the University Teaching and Research Reactor in Kindai University (UTR-KINKI), demonstrating the meaningful degree of computational accuracies of the criticality, the reactivity, and the reaction rates. The eigenvalue calculations, and the uncertainty analyses for criticality and reactivity are performed using the KENO-VI, the TSUNAMI-3D, and the TSAR modules of the SCALE code system, respectively. The eigenvalue calculations with MCNP6.2 and KENO-VI show a discrepancy between experimental and numerical results of the effective multiplication factor (k eff) in the UTR-KINKI core. Regarding TSUNAMI-3D calculations, the uncertainty of k eff is found to be attributable mainly to those of a series of uranium-235 cross-section data related to fission reactions with the support of uncertainty analyses of reactivity by TSAR.