Monte Carlo power iteration: Entropy and spatial correlations

The behavior of Monte Carlo criticality simulations is often assessed by examining the convergence of the so-called entropy function. In this work, we shall show that the entropy function may lead to a misleading interpretation, and that potential issues occur when spatial correlations induced by fi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nowak, Michel (Author), Dumonteil, Eric (Author), Onillon, Anthony (Author), Zoia, Andrea (Author), Miao, Jilang (Contributor), Forget, Benoit Robert Yves (Contributor), Smith, Kord S. (Contributor)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier BV, 2018-10-11T20:04:11Z.
Subjects:
Online Access:Get fulltext
LEADER 01861 am a22002533u 4500
001 118451
042 |a dc 
100 1 0 |a Nowak, Michel  |e author 
100 1 0 |a Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Miao, Jilang  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Forget, Benoit Robert Yves  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Smith, Kord S.  |e contributor 
700 1 0 |a Dumonteil, Eric  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Onillon, Anthony  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Zoia, Andrea  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Miao, Jilang  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Forget, Benoit Robert Yves  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Smith, Kord S.  |e author 
245 0 0 |a Monte Carlo power iteration: Entropy and spatial correlations 
260 |b Elsevier BV,   |c 2018-10-11T20:04:11Z. 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118451 
520 |a The behavior of Monte Carlo criticality simulations is often assessed by examining the convergence of the so-called entropy function. In this work, we shall show that the entropy function may lead to a misleading interpretation, and that potential issues occur when spatial correlations induced by fission events are important. We will support our analysis by examining the higher-order moments of the entropy function and the center of mass of the neutron population. Within the framework of a simplified model based on branching processes, we will relate the behavior of the spatial fluctuations of the fission chains to the key parameters of the simulated system, namely, the number of particles per generation, the reactor size and the migration area. Numerical simulations of a fuel rod and of a whole core suggest that the obtained results are quite general and hold true also for real-world applications. Keywords: Entropy; Clustering; Power iteration; OpenMC; Tripoli-4® 
655 7 |a Article 
773 |t Annals of Nuclear Energy