SIMULATE-4 multigroup nodal code with microscopic depletion model

SIMULATE-4 is a three-dimensional multigroup analytical nodal code with microscopic depletion capability. It has been developed employing 'first principal models' thus avoiding ad hoc approximations. The multigroup diffusion equations or, optionally, the simplified P3 equations are solved. Cross sections are described by a hybrid microscopic-macroscopic model that includes approximately 50 heavy nuclides and fission products. Heterogeneities in the axial direction of an assembly are treated systematically. Radially, the assembly is divided into heterogeneous sub-meshes, thereby overcoming the shortcomings of spatially-averaged assembly cross sections and discontinuity factors generated with zero net-current boundary conditions. Numerical tests against higher order transport methods and critical experiments show substantial improvements compared to results of existing nodal models. (authors)