HORUS3D/N Neutron Calculation Tool, a Deterministic Scheme Dedicated to JHR Design and Safety Studies

Abstract

The international Jules Horowitz Material Testing Reactor (JHR) is under construction at CEA Cadarache research center, in southern France. Its first criticality is foreseen by the beginning of the next decade. In order to perform JHR neutron simulations, a specific calculation scheme, named HORUS3D/N (Horowitz Reactor simulation Unified System 3-Dimention/Neutron), was developed since the 2000's for the very first JHR definition studies. Then, it was improved and modified in parallel with the JHR design evolution, integrating the most accurate neutron codes and nuclear data libraries. This paper describes the very latest version of HORUS3D/N, named HORUS3D/N v4.2. The industrial route is based on APOLLO2.8-4 and CRONOS2.10 deterministic codes, and the European nuclear data library JEFF3.1.1. Besides, HORUS3D/N v4.2 includes the APOLLO2.8/REL2005/CEA2005 package recommendations applied for light reactor studies. The paper provides also the performance quantification of HORUS3D/Nv4.2 as a result of the Verification & Validation-Uncertainty Quantification process (or V&V-UQ process). This reference calculation scheme is now a basis for the development of the neutron calculation tool dedicated to JHR operation and loading studies.

A FULL REFERENCE APOLLO3® DETERMINISTIC SCHEME FOR THE JHR MATERIAL TESTING REACTOR

“…To estimate the separate effects of condensation and solver options, the results are compared without condensation at 41 groups with a MOC2D calculation and a MINARET2D Sn calculation. Comparison between ( 1) and (2) shows a small bias between the Sn and MOC solvers for our model. The bias on each plate is under 4%.…”

“…Another goal is to produce 99 Mo for medical diagnostics. Neutronics calculations on JHR are routinely performed with a 2-step deterministic scheme [2]. This neutronic scheme is currently based on the APOLLO2 [3]/CRONOS2 [4] codes to carry out respectively lattice and core calculations.…”