A spectrum correction method for fuel assembly rehomogenization

To overcome the limitation of existing homogenization methods based on the single assembly calculation with zero current boundary condition, we propose a new rehomogenization method, named spectrum correction method (SCM), consisting of the multigroup energy spectrum approximation by spectrum correction and the condensed two-group heterogeneous single assembly calculations with non-zero current boundary condition. In SCM, the spectrum shifting phenomena caused by current across assembly interfaces are considered by the spectrum correction at group condensation stage at first. Then, heterogeneous single assembly calculations with two-group cross sections condensed by using corrected multigroup energy spectrum are performed to obtain rehomogenized nodal diffusion parameters, i.e., assembly-wise homogenized cross sections and discontinuity factors. To evaluate the performance of SCM, it was applied to the analytic function expansion nodal (AFEN) method and several test problems were solved. The results show that SCM can reduce the errors significantly both in multiplication factors and assembly averaged power distributions