MCNP5 modeling of the IPR-R1 TRIGA reactor for criticality calculation and reactivity determination

The IPR-R1 TRIGA is a research nuclear reactor managed and located at the Nuclear Technology Development Center (CDTN) a research institute of the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN). It is mainly used to radioisotopes production, scientific experiments, training of nuclear engineers for research and nuclear power plant reactor operation, experiments with materials and minerals and neutron activation analysis. In this work, criticality calculation and reactivity changes are presented and discussed using two modelings of the IPR-R1 TRIGA in the MCNP5 code. The first model (Model 1) analyzes the criticality over the reactor. On the other hand, the second model (Model 2) includes the possibility of radial and axial neutron flux evaluation with different operation conditions. The calculated results are compared with experimental data in different situations. For the two models, the standard deviation and relative error presented values of around 4.9 × 10−4. Both models present good agreement with respect to the experimental data. The goal is to validate the models that could be used to determine the neutron flux profiles to optimize the irradiation conditions, as well as to study reactivity insertion experiments and also to evaluate the fuel composition.

► Two models of IPR-R1 TRIGA using the MCNP5 code were simulated.
► It obtained keff values in some different situations of the reactor operation.
► The first model analyzes the criticality and the neutronic flux over the reactor.
► The second model includes the radial and axial neutron flux evaluation with different operation conditions.
► The results present good agreement with respect to the experimental data.