Preliminary Flux Measurements at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor

Abstract

Lattice physics codes predict the neutron flux space-energy dependence with fuel depletion, however the determination of uncertainty in these predictions is difficult. Irradiation studies can be used to experimentally determine the MNR flux spectrum at several core positions. Preliminary results of the vertical flux profile and thermal flux are presented, and methods to map the epithermal and fast flux are introduced. The vertical flux profile is consistent with the solution to the diffusion equation for a parallelepiped reactor, however the absolute thermal flux is compared with a 2015 MCNP core simulation. Further investigation is required to quantify these differences.