VVER-440 and VVER-1000 Reactor Dosimetry Benchmark —BUGLE-96 Versus ALPAN VII.0

Abstract

Analytical results of the vodo-vodyanoi energetichesky reactor- (VVER-) 440 and VVER-1000 reactor dosimetry benchmarks developed from engineering mockups at the Nuclear Research Institute Rez LR-0 reactor are discussed. These benchmarks provide accurate determination of radiation field parameters in the vicinity and over the thickness of the reactor pressure vessel. Measurements are compared to calculated results with two sets of tools: TORT discrete ordinates code and BUGLE-96 cross-section library versus the newly Westinghouse-developed RAPTOR-M3G and ALPAN VII.0. The parallel code RAPTOR-M3G enables detailed neutron distributions in energy and space in reduced computational time. ALPAN VII.0 cross-section library is based on ENDF/B-VII.0 and is designed for reactor dosimetry applications. It uses a unique broad group structure to enhance resolution in thermal-neutron-energy range compared to other analogous libraries. The comparison of fast neutron (E > 0.5 MeV) results shows good agreement (within 10 %) between BUGLE-96 and ALPAN VII.0 libraries. Furthermore, the results compare well with analogous results of participants of the REDOS program (2005). Finally, the analytical results for fast neutrons agree within 15 % with the measurements, for most locations in all three mockups. In general, however, the analytical results underestimate the attenuation through the reactor pressure vessel thickness compared to the measurements.