On-The-Fly Neutron Doppler Broadening in MCNP

¹ University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
² Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
³ Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA

^* E-mail: wrm@umich.edu

Abstract

Multi-physics calculations may involve coupling continuous-energy Monte Carlo neutronics codes to CFD codes that provide many thousands or even millions of region temperatures. The traditional Monte Carlo approach – using precalculated Doppler broadened nuclear cross-sections – is not feasible for these large multiphysics problems. Instead, an On-the-Fly (OTF) Doppler broadening methodology is required, whereby neutron cross-sections are broadened during the Monte Carlo transport. To this end, we have developed a methodology for MCNP to provide OTF broadening based on cell temperatures during neutron tracking. The method enables the use of many thousands or more temperatures in MCNP Monte Carlo calculations for multiphysics applications, significantly advancing the state-of-the-art by permitting the solution of problems that were not previously possible with continuous-energy Monte Carlo codes. A production library with an extended set of isotopes has been developed for use with MCNP6. Calculations of test problems with MCNP6 and the new library demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the OTF approach.