Evaluation of ENDF B-VI.8 and ENDF B-VII.0 nuclear data libraries using osmose samples of minerve reactor

Abstract EN

The evaluation of nuclear data libraries is an important tool to develop nuclear technology.

To achieve this goal, OSMOSE program utilized samples that are composed of separated actinides which contain isotopes of americium, plutonium, uranium, and thorium.

By inserting those samples in the core configuration of MINERVE reactor, they can be used for improvement of nuclear cross-section databases by cross checking their calculated reactivity worth per each sample using several nuclear data library versions and experimental measurements.

The present study investigated the effect of the used nuclear data library on the calculated reactivity of MINERVE reactor with several OSMOSE samples employed in R1-UO2, R1-UO2, and R1-MOX core configurations.

The study performed a comparison between the calculated effective multiplication factor using MCNPX code with ENDF/BVI.8 and ENDF/BVII.0 nuclear data libraries.

Moreover, the relative difference between the calculated reactivity worth by ENDF/BVI.8 and ENDF/BVII.0 was examined and discussed using available experimental results of the relevant core.