Calculations of the thermal and fast neutron fluxes in the Syrian miniature neutron source reactor using the MCNP-4C code

The MCNP-4C code, based on the probabilistic approach, was used to model the 3D configuration of the core of the Syrian miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR). The continuous energy neutron cross sections from the ENDF/B-VI library were used to calculate the thermal and fast neutron fluxes in the inner and outer irradiation sites of MNSR. The thermal fluxes in the MNSR inner irradiation sites were also measured experimentally by the multiple foil activation method (197Au (n, γ) 198Au and 59Co (n, γ) 60Co). The foils were irradiated simultaneously in each of the five MNSR inner irradiation sites to measure the thermal neutron flux and the epithermal index in each site. The calculated and measured results agree well.