Neutronic Parameters Evaluation for an Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactor Designed for Nuclear Energy Generation and Nuclear Waste Transmutation

Abstract

In the present study, the FAst Spectrum Transmutation Experimental Facility ‎‎(FASTEF) core proposed for the MYRRHA reactor in Belgium is considered and ‎modeled using Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code. ‎ The effect of changing the type of material and radius of the cylindrical target source ‎as well as the proton beam energy on the final neutron production and the subcritical ‎system multiplication are evaluated. Subcritical models of the investigated reactor ‎have been numerically investigated as well.‎ six target materials; uranium (U), lead-‎bismuth eutectic (LBE), tungsten (W), lead (Pb), bismuth (Bi), and copper (Cu) are ‎used‏ ‏with varying target radii from 3.5 to 20 cm. The beam energy is varied from 0.2 ‎to 2.0GeV. The present investigation is based on the numerical calculations of the ‎subcritical multiplication factor and the external source efficiency using Monte Carlo ‎MCNPX 2.6.0 code. The obtained results revealed that the favorable target material, ‎radius,‎‏ ‏and beam energy can be precisely determined.‎