Computational evaluation of two reactor benchmark problems

Abstract

A neutronic evaluation of two reactor benchmark problems was performed. The benchmark problems describe typical PWR uranium and plutonium (mixed oxide) fueled lattices. WIMSd4m, a neutron transport lattice code, was used to evaluate multigroup macroscopic cross sections for various pincell models in each benchmark problem. DEF3D, a multigroup multidimensional diffusion code, was used to evaluate the uranium-fueled lattice benchmark problem of the American Nuclear Society. TWODANT, a multigroup, two-dimensional transport code, was used to evaluate the mixed oxide lattice benchmark problem from the Nuclear Energy Agency. Both benchmark problems yielded results consistent with preliminary results submitted by other participants in the benchmarking exercises. Some suggestions are made to improve future benchmark evaluations.