September 2017

Conference Paper

MC21/CTF and VERA-CS Mutiphysics Solutions to VERA Core Physics Benchmark Problems 6 and 7

By:
Kelly, Daniel; Kelly, Ann; Aviles, Brian; Godfrey, Andrew T; Salko Jr, Robert K; Collins, Benjamin S
Book Title:
Transactions of M&C 2017 - International Conference on Mathematics & Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science & Engineering, Jeju, Korea, April 16-20, 2017, on USB (2017)
Publication Date:
September 2017
Conference Name:
2017 International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2017)
Conference Location:
Jeju Island, South Korea
Conference Sponsor:
ANS

Abstract

The continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code, MC21, was coupled to the CTF subchannel thermal-hydraulics code using a combination of CASL tools and in-house Python scripts. An MC21/CTF solution for VERA Core Physics Benchmark Progression Problem 6 demonstrated excellent agreement with MC21/COBRA-IE and VERA solutions. The MC21/CTF solution for VERA Core Physics Benchmark Progression Problem 7, Watts Bar Unit 1 at beginning of cycle (BOC) hot full power (HFP) equilibrium xenon conditions, is the first published coupled Monte Carlo neutronics / subchannel T-H solution for this problem. MC21/CTF predicted a critical boron concentration of 854.5 ppm, yielding a critical eigenvalue of 0.99994 ± 6.8E-6 (95% CI). Excellent agreement with a VERA solution of Problem 7 was also demonstrated for integral and local power and temperature parameters.

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