Comparative Study on Neutronics Characteristics of a 1500 MWe Metal Fuel Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

Under the cooperative effort of the Civil Nuclear Energy R&D Working Group within the framework of the U.S.-Japan bilateral, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have been performing benchmark study using Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) design with metal fuel. In this benchmark study, core characteristic parameters at the beginning of cycle were evaluated by the best estimate deterministic and stochastic methodologies of ANL and JAEA. The results obtained by both institutions are agreed well with less than 200 pcm of discrepancy on the neutron multiplication factor, and less than 3% of discrepancy on the sodium void reactivity, Doppler reactivity, and control rod worth. The results by the stochastic and deterministic were compared in each party to investigate impacts of the deterministic approximation and to understand potential variations in the results due to different calculation methodologies employed. Impacts of the nuclear data libraries were also investigated using a sensitivity analysis methodology.