Covariance analysis in reactor physics experiments

Experimental reactor physics is an essential element of physics design of a nuclear reactor and plays an important role in the safe design and operation of nuclear reactors. Approximations in modelling the reactor using computer codes and the 'uncertainty in the nuclear data' that goes as input into these codes contribute to the uncertainty of the theoretically computed design parameters. Reactor physics experiments provide estimates of the uncertainty in the design by comparing the measured and computed values of these parameters. A thorium fuel cycle based advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) is being designed in Reactor Physics Design Division, BARC. A zero power critical facility (CF) was commissioned to generate the experimental data for physics design validation of AHWR. A number of experiments were carried out in CF which includes the measurement of differential/integral parameters and various reaction rates. The covariance analysis of these measurement will be carried out to generate the relevant covariance matrices