The generation of high scattering order neutron scattering cross sections consistent with high-fidelity simulations remains an area of active research. Popular options include generating cross sections from continuous energy Monte Carlo calculations or from a deterministic neutron transport calculation with high-fidelity tabulated cross sections. Both options present challenges. Monte Carlo simulations can naturally process continuous energy cross-section data and allow for the general description of anisotropic neutron scattering given a scattering law. However, Monte Carlo simulations are inherently related to particle weighting and it has been suggested that this may be unacceptable for generating high-order neutron scattering cross sections. Deterministic neutron transport calculations can easily calculate high-order moments of the flux to appropriately calculate higher-order neutron scattering cross sections but are generally limited by discretization of space, energy, and angle. In this work, the trade-offs between generation of high-order neutron scattering cross sections via Monte Carlo and deterministic neutron transport methods are investigated. The methods implemented in the Monte Carlo computer program Serpent 2 and the deterministic fast reactor neutron cross section generator MC 2-3 are compared. Cross sections resulting from these methods are used in Rattlesnake, a deterministic neutron transport code developed by Idaho National Laboratory, and results are compared to a reference continuous energy Monte Carlo calculation. Whereas previous work investigating the effects of anisotropic neutron scattering has focused on light water reactor simulations, this work focuses on high-order neutron scattering cross sections as they relate to fast reactor simulations. To investigate the consequences of the Serpent 2 and MC 2-3 methodologies, a test problem is developed. The test problem is a one-dimensional geometry with fast reactor materials designed to demonstrate deep penetration and exacerbate the effects of high-order neutron scattering. Based on the results of the deep penetration test problem, it is concluded that P 3 neutron scattering cross sections are sufficient to describe anisotropic scattering in fast reactor materials. Any neutron scattering of order higher than P 3 offers negligible change in the eigenvalue of the test problem. Additionally, it is determined that the methodology as implemented in Serpent 2 is applicable for generating high-order neutron scattering cross sections through at least P 3 in fast reactor materials. List of Figures 1 Ultrafine Group (UFG) to Broad Group (BG) Group Condensation in MC 2-3
In neutron transport calculations, it is common to specify material compositions in terms of constituent isotopes. Material compositions may be described by isotope number densities and associated microscopic cross sections. For general reaction cross sections, the macroscopic cross sections of a composition are simply the summation of the sum of the products of isotope number densities and microscopic cross sections. A notable exception is the mixture of the neutron fission spectrum in fissile material. To demonstrate proper and improper mixture of the neutron fission spectrum, a zero-dimensional test problem is developed. Using the test problem, it is demonstrated that the improper mixing of the fission spectrum results in an eigenvalue error of approximately 65 pcm. Though this may seem small, any error in such a simple calculation is unacceptable. In similar infinite-homogeneous test problems, eigenvalue errors of more than 300 pcm have been observed. It is also shown that the error due to fission spectrum mixing can be exaggerated for computer program verification purposes. It is concluded that the proper mixture of the neutron fission spectrum is essential for accurate neutron transport simulations. The effect of improper neutron fission spectrum mixture is demonstrated and quantified and this test problem may be used for verification purposes in the future.
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