UNCERTAINTY CHARACTERIZATION FRAMEWORK FOR STEADY-STATE AND TRANSIENT NEUTRONICS SIMULATIONS OF A CANDU REACTOR

Abstract

This paper reports on the development and testing of a comprehensive few-group cross section input uncertainty library for the NESTLE-C nodal diffusion-based nuclear reactor core simulator. This library represents the first milestone of a first-of-a-kind framework for the integrated characterization of uncertainties in steady-state and transient CANDU reactor simulations. The objective of this framework is to propagate, prioritize and devise a mapping capability for uncertainties in support of model validation of best-estimate calculations. A complete framework would factor both input and modeling uncertainty contributions. The scope of the present work is limited to the propagation of multi-group cross-section uncertainties through lattice physics calculations down to the few-group format, representing the input to the NESTLE-C core simulator, and finally to core responses of interest.

Keywords

• uncertainty characterization
• candu neutronics core simulation
• reduced order modeling