Reactivity impact of delayed neutron spectra on MCNP calculations

The new features in MCNP4C, the latest version of the MCNP Monte Carlo code, include the capability to sample from delayed as well as prompt fission emission spectra. Previous versions of MCNP all have sampled exclusively from prompt spectra. Delayed neutrons typically account for <1% of all neutrons emitted from fission, but the emission spectra for delayed neutrons are somewhat softer than those for prompt neutrons. Because of the softer spectrum, delayed neutrons are less likely to leak from the system, and they also are less likely to cause fission in isotopes that have an effective threshold for fission (e.g., 238U and 240Pu). Consequently, the inclusion of delayed neutron spectra can have a small but significant effect on reactivity calculations. This study performs MCNP4C calculations for a series of established benchmarks and quantifies the reactivity impact of the delayed neutron spectra