DRAGON and SERPENT 2-D Modelling of the SLOWPOKE-2 Reactor at École Polytechnique Montréal

Abstract

DRAGON is a deterministic code that can be used to perform lattice cell calculations based on numerical solutions of neutron transport equation. DRAGON can also be used for full core 2-D and 3-D simulations in transport. One alternative to the use of such a deterministic code consist in following the history of neutrons in the core based on statistical Monte Carlo simulation with codes like MCNP and SERPENT. This second calculation approach has been used successfully for SLOWPOKE-2 simulation in the past. Here we present a comparison between DRAGON and SERPENT calculations for the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor. We also compare the flux distribution obtained using both codes for a copper sample placed inside a small irradiation site.