Zeitschrift für Kernenergiewissenschaft und Energieerzeugungstechnologie

Reactivity Prediction Calculations for Infinite Arrays of PWR MOX Fuel Pin Cells using MCNP5 and WIMSD-5B

Sonia M Reda

In the present paper, the effect of some major nuclides on the reactivity of nuclear fuel for fuel pin cell in the Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) was calculated using MCNP5_RSICC, 1.2 and WIMSD-5B codes. In order to assess our capabilities, the credit criticality Benchmark for infinite arrays of PWR MOX Fuel Pin Cells were calculated using two different codes and two different cross section libraries. Results were compared with similar published results by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD/NEA) Expert Group on Burn-up Credit. Good agreement was found for the value of keff with the corresponding codes and the reference mean solutions. The reactivity worth due to uranium, plutonium and curium isotopes was determined. The discrepancies between the present results and the reference mean results are within the range of the discrepancies for the participants with the reference mean results. The spread in the keff results with the mean results varies from -0.246 to 0.276 and from 0.05 to 0.793 for MCNP5 and WIMSD-5B respectively.