Artigo de peri??dico
The correlation matrix for the effective delayed neutron parameters of the IPEN/MB-01 reactor
Registro en:
0306-4549
136
10.1016/j.anucene.2019.107008
72.06
67.00
Autor
SANTOS, ADIMIR dos
DINIZ, RICARDO
Resumen
The correlation matrix for the effective delayed neutron parameters of the IPEN/MB-01 reactor has been
successfully built in this work. A standard procedure employed in several least-squares approaches was
adopted to cope with this task. One of the most important applications of the effective delayed neutron
parameters is to serve as input data for the relationship between reactivity and asymptotic period of a
nuclear reactor given by the Inhour equation. Employing this equation, the reactivity was calculated
for several periods both negative and positive. The reactivity error propagation was considered with
and without the correlation matrix. The analyses of this procedure reveal that the consideration of the
correlation matrix is very important. In general, the introduction of the correlation matrix reduces the
overall uncertainty by a reasonable amount. There are huge cancellations in the uncertainty analyses.
The analyses also reveal that the uncertainty in the reactivity will depend on the specific period range
where this quantity is considered. Considering the correlation and for most of the period range considered,
the reactivity uncertainties for negative periods are around 3.5% while for positive ones they are
nearly 2%. If the correlation matrix is not considered the reactivity uncertainties are as high as 6%. All
uncertainties considered in this work are 1-r values. There are two extreme cases where the correlation
matrix plays no role; very large negative periods and very small positive periods. In the first case, the first
decay constant plays a fundamental role while in the second the prompt neutron generation is of major
importance. The experiments performed at the IPEN/MB-01 reactor and evaluated for inclusion in the
IRPhE handbook for the determination of the effective delayed neutron parameters will be extremely
benefited considering the inclusion of their correlation matrix. The final product can be considered extremely
useful to validate methods and nuclear data related to the reactivity determination of thermal reactors
fueled with Uranium. Funda????o de Amparo ?? Pesquisa do Estado de S??o Paulo (FAPESP) FAPESP: 11/50516-8