Abstract
To validate lead (Pb) nuclear cross sections, a series of integral experiments to measure lead void reactivity worth was conducted systematically in three fast neutron spectra with different fuel compositions on the Comet critical assembly of the National Criticality Experiments Research Center. Previous experiments in high-enriched uranium (HEU)/Pb and low-enriched uranium (LEU)/Pb systems had been performed in 2016 and 2017, respectively. A follow-on experiment in a plutonium (Pu)/Pb system has been completed. The Pu/Pb system was constructed using lead plates and weapons-grade Pu plates that had been used in the Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) of Argonne National Laboratory until the 1990s. Furthermore, the HEU/Pb system was reexamined on the Comet critical assembly with a newly installed device that can measure the compression of the stack, improving reproducibility. Using the lead void reactivity worth measured in these three cores with different fuel compositions, the latest nuclear data libraries, JENDL-4.0 and ENDF/B-VIII.0, were tested with the Monte Carlo calculation code MCNP® version 6.1. As a result, the calculations by ENDF/B-VIII.0 were confirmed to agree with lead void reactivity worth measured in all the cores. It was furthermore found that the calculations by JENDL-4.0 overestimate by more than 20% for the Pu/Pb core while being in good agreement for the HEU/Pb and LEU/Pb cores.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Material Management and Minimization and by the DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program, funded and managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration for the DOE. The authors express thanks to all staff of the Device Assembly Facility and of the NCERC for supporting these experiments.
Notes
a MCNP® and Monte Carlo N-Particle® are registered trademarks owned by Triad National Security, LLC, manager and operator of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Any third-party use of such registered marks should be properly attributed to Triad National Security, LLC, including the use of the designation as appropriate. For the purposes of visual clarity, the registered trademark symbol is assumed for all references to MCNP within the remainder of this paper.