Development and validation of fully open-source R2S shutdown dose rate capabilities in OpenMC

• Published in: Nuclear fusion Vol. 64; no. 5; pp. 56011 - 56025
• Main Authors: Peterson, Ethan E., Romano, Paul K., Shriwise, Patrick C., Myers, Patrick A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IAEA IOP Publishing 01.05.2024
• Subjects: fusion neutronics; OpenMC; R2S; shutdown dose rate
• ISSN: 0029-5515; 1741-4326
• DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/ad32dd

Abstract We present the first fully open-source capabilities for shutdown dose rate (SDR) calculations of fusion energy facilities based on the Rigorous 2-Step (R2S) methodology. These capabilities have been implemented in the OpenMC Monte Carlo particle transport code, building on its existing capabilities while also leveraging new features that have been added to the code to support SDR calculations, such as decay photon source generation. Each of the individual physics components in the R2S workflow—neutron transport, activation, decay photon source generation, and photon transport—have been verified through code-to-code comparisons with MCNP6.2 and FISPACT-II 4.0. These comparisons generally demonstrate excellent agreement between codes for each of the physics components. The full cell-based R2S workflow was validated by performing a simulation of the first experimental campaign from the Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) ITER dose rate benchmark problem from the Shielding INtegral Benchmark Archive and Database (SINBAD). For short cooling times, the dose calculated by OpenMC agrees with the experimental measurements within the stated experimental uncertainties. For longer cooling times, an overprediction of the shutdown dose was observed relative to experiment, which is consistent with previous studies in the literature. Altogether, these features constitute a combination of capabilities in a single, open-source codebase to provide the fusion community with a readily-accessible option for SDR calculations and a platform for rapidly analyzing the performance of fusion technology.