Improvement of Correlated Sampling Monte Carlo Methods for Reactivity Calculations

Abstract

Two correlated Monte Carlo methods, the similar flight path and the identical flight path methods, have been improved to evaluate up to the second order change of the reactivity perturbation. Secondary fission neutrons produced by neutrons having passed through perturbed regions in both unperturbed and perturbed systems are followed in a way to have a strong correlation between secondary neutrons in both the systems. These techniques are incorporated into the general purpose Monte Carlo code MORSE, so as to be able to estimate also the statistical error of the calculated reactivity change.

The control rod worths measured in the FCA V-3 assembly are analyzed with the present techniques, which are shown to predict the measured values within the standard deviations. The identical flight path method has revealed itself more useful than the similar flight path method for the analysis of the control rod worth.

KEYWORDS:

• Monte Carlo method
• reactivity
• similar flight path method
• identical flight path method
• second order perturbation
• computer calculations
• control rod worths
• neutron transport theory
• errors
• numerical solutions