Document Type

Annual Report

Publication Date

2002

First page number:

1

Last page number:

2

Abstract

In the first year of the UNLV effort, researchers planned to develop the models of the experimental systems to predict the neutron flux and leakage from the experimental targets using the MCNPX code suite in order to help determine these missing parameters. To support these models, the researchers project, or estimate, values for the unknown parameters describing various events and phenomena occurring within the beam-target experiment. The results of these simulations will then be compared against the observed neutron leakage rates and energies. The estimates for the unknown parameters are then revised to correlate with the observed values (these parameters cannot be measured directly, and must be determined by inference). The resulting models will then be validated and benchmarked against data from future experiments. These models, even before being validated, have also been instrumental in designing the experiments themselves.

In the first year, the UNLV research team completed the modeling and analysis of experiments conducted to assess neutron leakage, sodium activation, actinide fission, and neutron multiplicity. Through participation in the MCNPX workshop at UNLV, the research team received the training in using the code that allowed the students to participate directly in the modeling and analysis of the experimental campaigns conducted at LANSCE. The first collaborative experimental campaign was the neutron leakage test experiments on LANSCE. Preliminary results from the experiment are in good agreement with the model projections for the neutron energy spectra. Refinements of the model to improve the agreement are currently underway.

Keywords

Accelerator-driven systems; Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX); Nuclear reactions – Computer simulation; Radioactive wastes — Transmutation; Spallation (Nuclear physics)

Controlled Subject

Neutron flux; Particles (Nuclear physics); Radioactive wastes--Transmutation

Disciplines

Nuclear | Oil, Gas, and Energy

File Format

pdf

File Size

149 KB

Language

English

Download


Share

COinS