Study, Verification and Validation of Nuclear Reactors Calculation Methodology in Serpent, Using IPEN/MB-01 Critical Unity Data

Abstract

We report our work to help on benchmarking using Serpent, a Monte-Carlo-based algorithm, and an issue of international interest. Serpent computes the radiation transport of geometrically defined system and it was used to model the configuration of a Reactor Physics experiment carried out by A. Dos Santos, et al [1], with the IPEN/MB-01 critical unity, a zero-power reactor for research. We analyze the distribution of neutrons of different energy groups in the reactor and calculate neutrons redistribution due to the insertion of a heavy-reflector material at its boundaries. The effective generation coefficient (K_eff) is calculated to quantify the perturbation on the system due to a carbon steel plate of considerable reflection coefficient inserted next to the reactor.