Preventing xenon oscillations in Monte Carlo burnup calculations by enforcing equilibrium xenon distribution

Existing Monte Carlo burnup codes suffer from instabilities caused by spatial xenon oscillations. These oscillations can be prevented by forcing equilibrium between the neutron flux and saturated xenon distribution. The equilibrium calculation can be integrated to Monte Carlo neutronics, which provides a simple and lightweight solution that can be used with any of the existing burnup calculation algorithms. The stabilizing effect of this approach, as well as its limitations are demonstrated using the reactor physics code Serpent.