Reanalysis of the Gas-cooled fast reactor experiments at the zero power facility Proteus – Spectral indices

Abstract

PROTEUS is a zero power reactor at the Paul Scherrer Institute which has been employed during the 1970’s to study experimentally the physics of the gas-cooled fast reactor. Reaction rate distributions, flux spectrum and reactivity effects have been measured in several configurations featuring PuO2/UO2 fuel, absorbers, large iron shields, and thorium oxide and thorium metal fuel either distributed quasihomogeneously in the reference PuO2/UO2 lattice or introduced in the form of radial and axial blanket zones. This papers focus on the spectral indices – including fission and capture in 232Th and 237Np - measured in the reference PuO2/UO2 lattices and their predictions with an MCNPX model specially developed for the PROTEUS-GCFR core. Predictions were obtained with JEFF-3.1 and -3.11, ENDF/B-VII.0 and VII.1, and JENDL-3.3 and -4.0. A general good agreement was demonstrated. The ratio of 232Th fission to 239Pu fission, however, was under-predicted by 8.7±2.1% and 6.5±2.1% using ENDF/B-VII.0 and VII.1, respectively. Finally, the capture rates in 237Np tended to be underpredicted by the JEFF and JENDL libraries, although the new cross section in JEFF-3.1.1 slightly improved the 237Np capture to 239Pu fission results (3.4±2.4%).