Results of MCNP analysis for Moroccan TRIGA Mark-II Reactor

The construction work on the Moroccan Triga Mark II research reactor has already started and the first criticality is planned for the near future. The main objective of this study is to ensure that the calculations tools available at CNESTEN as the operator of this reactor are sufficiently adequate for the prediction of the neutronic and the operating characteristics of the first Moroccan research reactor. In this work, we have analyzed the 2 MW Triga Mark II reactor using the Monte Carlo code MCNP. In order to reduce possible errors due to inexact core geometry specification, a complete and exact 3D model of this reactor was developed. The parameters of interest in this study are the core excess reactivity, the critical size of the cold and clean core, the total reactivity worth of the control rods and the verification of the shutdown margin. (author)