Benchmark analysis of high temperature engineering test reactor core using McCARD code
A benchmark calculation has been performed for a startup core physics test of Japan's High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR). The calculation is carried out by the McCARD code, which adopts the Monte Carlo method. The cross section library is ENDF-B/VII.0. The fuel cell is modeled by the reactivity-equivalent physical transform (RPT) method. Effective multiplication factors with different numbers of fuel columns have been analyzed. The calculation shows that the HTTR becomes critical with 19 fuel columns with an excess reactivity of 0.84% Δk/k. The discrepancies between the measurements and Monte Carlo calculations are 2.2 and 1.4 % Δk/k for 24 and 30 columns, respectively. The reasons for the discrepancy are thought to be the current version of cross section library and the impurity in the graphite which is represented by the boron concentration. In the future, the depletion results will be proposed for further benchmark calculations. (authors)