Comparison between SERPENT and MONTEBURNS codes applied to burnup calculations of a GFR-like configuration

Highlights: • MC codes are widely adopted to analyze nuclear facilities, including GEN-IV reactors. • Burnup calculations are an efficient tool to test neutronic Monte Carlo codes. • In this comparison the used codes show some differences but a good agreement exists. - Abstract: This paper presents the comparison between two Monte Carlo based burnup codes: SERPENT and MONTEBURNS. Monte Carlo codes are fully and worldwide adopted to perform analyses on nuclear facilities, also in the frame of Generation IV advanced reactors simulations. Thus, faster and most powerful calculation codes are needed with the aim to analyze complex geometries and specific neutronic behaviors. Burnup calculations are an efficient tool to test neutronic Monte Carlo codes: indeed these calculations couple transport and depletion procedures, so that neutronic reactor behavior can be simulated in its totality. Comparisons have been performed on a configuration representing the Allegro MOX 75 MWth reactor proposed by the European GoFastR (Gas-cooled Fast Reactor) Project in the frame of the 7th Euratom Framework Program. Although in burnup and criticality comparisons the codes used in simulations show different calculation times and some differences in amounts and in precision (in term of statistical errors), a reasonably good agreement between them exists