Generation of Optimal Weight Values Based on the Recursive Monte Carlo Method for Use in Monte Carlo Deep Penetration Calculations

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Pratibha Yadav - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Technische Universität München (Autor:in)
  • Reuven Rachamin - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Autor:in)
  • Jörg Konheiser - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Autor:in)
  • Silvio Baier - , Professur für Radiochemie/Radioökologie (gB/HZDR) (AnC2), Technische Universität Dresden (Autor:in)

Abstract

In nuclear engineering, Monte Carlo (MC) methods are commonly used for reactor analysis and radiation shielding problems. These methods are capable of dealing with both simple and complex system models with accuracy. The application of MC methods experiences challenges when dealing with the deep penetration problems that are typically encountered in radiation shielding cases. It is difficult to produce statistically reliable results due to poor particle sampling in the region of interest. Therefore, such calculations are performed by the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport (MCNP) code in association with the weight window (WW) variance reduction technique, which increases the particle statistics in the desired tally region. However, for large problems, MCNP’s built-in weight window generator (WWG) produces zero WW parameters for tally regions located far from the source. To address this issue, the recursive Monte Carlo (RMC) method was proposed. This paper focuses on the RMC methodology and its implementation in the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf’s (HZDR’s) in-house code TRAWEI, which is responsible for producing optimal zone weight parameters used for optimizing deep penetration MC calculations. In addition, this paper discusses the verification of the TRAWEI weight generator program to that of an existing MCNP WWG. The performance of TRAWEI-generated weight values is assessed using a handful of test cases involving two shield materials. Globally, the TRAWEI-generated weight values improved not only the statistical variance and computational efficiency of the MC run compared to the analog MCNP simulation but also those of the simulation with WW values generated by the standard MCNP WWG.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)497-507
Seitenumfang11
FachzeitschriftNuclear Science and Engineering
Jahrgang198
Ausgabenummer2
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 2024
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Schlagworte

Schlagwörter

  • deep penetration problem, Monte Carlo, recursive Monte Carlo, weight window