March 2026

Conference Paper

Adapting CLUTCH methodology to multigroup TSUNAMI-3D for eigenvalue sensitivity calculations

By:
Bekar, Kursat B; Marshall, William J
Book Title:
Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC2023)
Publication Date:
March 2026
Publisher Location:
JAEA, Japan
Conference Name:
ICNC 2023: The 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety
Conference Location:
Miyagi, Japan
Conference Sponsor:
Nuclear Energy Agency
View DOI Listing:
https://doi.org/10.11484/jaea-conf-2024-001

Abstract

The sensitivity of the eigenvalue to uncertainties in nuclear data and its evaluation are important for nuclear criticality safety. TSUNAMI-3D sequences within the SCALE code system offer several options to the user community for calculating eigenvalue sensitivity coefficients with multigroup (MG) and continuous energy (CE) 3D transport capabilities. TSUNAMI-3D sequences implement the adjoint-based perturbation theory with MG KENO code, the Contributon Linked eigenvalue sensitivity/Uncertainty estimation via Track length importance CHaracterization (CLUTCH) method with CE KENO code, and the Iterated Fission Probability (IFP) method with CE KENO and Shift codes. Each method has benefits and limitations depending on the problem that is run. The work presented here aims to adapt the CLUTCH method, which enables the Contributon method's mesh-free, memory-efficient approach for calculating adjoint-weighted tallies for sensitivity calculations, to the MG TSUNAMI-3D sequence. This application would eliminate the explicit adjoint KENO calculation, as well as the memory-consuming mesh flux moment tallies required by the conventional MG TSUNAMI-3D. Smaller memory footprints in the CLUTCH methodology and relatively shorter runtimes in MG KENO transport can make MG TSUNAMI-3D a viable method for some complex problems. Moreover, this adaptation allows MG sensitivity calculations with Shift, ORNL's next-generation high-performance Monte Carlo transport code, which currently does not offer any sensitivity capabilities with MG particle transport simulations. Initial implementation of the new MG TSUNAMI-3D sequence and its preliminary results with a selected critical benchmark experiment in the Verified, Archived Library of Inputs and Data (VALID) are presented in this study.