Flux-synthesis calculations for fast reactors with axial Helmholtz modes

The application of continuous space-dependent synthesis using axial Helmholtz modes to 2-D fast-reactor diffusion-theory calculations is reported. The standard Galerkin weighting procedure is used to obtain a set of coupled 1-D diffusion equations, which are then solved iteratively using the finite-difference method. The speed and accuracy of the procedure are compared with normal 2-D finite-difference calculations for some fast-reactor configurations. The success obtained by this application shows that the procedure would be useful for 3-D fast-reactor computations. (author)