Application of the SCALE TSUNAMI Tools for the Validation of Criticality Safety Calculations Involving ²³³U (ORNL/TM-2008/196)

The Radiochemical Development Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been storing solid materials containing ²³³U for decades. Preparations are under way to process these materials into a form that is inherently safe from a nuclear criticality safety perspective. This will be accomplished by down-blending the ²³³U materials with depleted or natural uranium. At the request of the U.S. Department of Energy, a study has been performed using the SCALE sensitivity and uncertainty analysis tools to demonstrate how these tools could be used to validate nuclear criticality safety calculations of selected process and storage configurations. ISOTEK nuclear criticality safety staff provided four models that are representative of the criticality safety calculations for which validation will be needed. The SCALE TSUNAMI-1D and TSUNAMI-3D sequences were used to generate energy-dependent k_eff sensitivity profiles for each nuclide and reaction present in the four safety analysis models, also referred to as the applications, and in a large set of critical experiments. The SCALE TSUNAMI-IP module was used together with the sensitivity profiles and the cross-section uncertainty data contained in the SCALE covariance data files to propagate the cross-section uncertainties (Δσ/σ) to k_eff uncertainties (Δk/k) for each application model. The SCALE TSUNAMI-IP module was also used to evaluate the similarity of each of the 672 critical experiments with each application. Results of the uncertainty analysis and similarity assessment are presented in this report. A total of 142 experiments were judged to be similar to application 1, and 68 experiments were judged to be similar to application 2. None of the 672 experiments were judged to be adequately similar to applications 3 and 4. Discussion of the uncertainty analysis and similarity assessment is provided for each of the four applications. Example upper subcritical limits (USLs) were generated for application 1 based on trending of the energy of average lethargy of neutrons causing fission, trending of the TSUNAMI similarity parameters, and use of data adjustment techniques.