On the Diffusion Coefficient of Two-step Method for LWR analysis

The few-group constants including diffusion coefficients are generated from the assembly calculation results. Once the assembly calculation is done, the cross sections (XSs) are spatially homogenized, and a critical spectrum calculation is performed in order to take into account the neutron leakages of the lattice. The diffusion coefficient is also generated through the critical spectrum calculation. Three different methods of the critical spectrum calculation such as B1 method, P1 method, and fundamental mode (FM) calculation method are considered in this paper. The diffusion coefficients can also be affected by transport approximations for the transport XS calculation which is used in the assembly transport lattice calculation in order to account for the anisotropic scattering effects. The outflow transport approximation and the inflow transport approximation are investigated in this paper. The accuracy of the few group data especially the diffusion coefficients has been studied to optimize the combination of the transport correction methods and the critical spectrum calculation methods using the UNIST lattice physics code STREAM. The combination of the inflow transport approximation and the FM method is shown to provide the highest accuracy in the LWR core calculations. The methodologies to calculate the diffusion coefficients have been reviewed, and the performances of them have been investigated with a LWR core problem. The combination of the inflow transport approximation and the fundamental mode critical spectrum calculation shows the smallest errors in terms of assembly power distribution