Validation of absolute axial neutron flux distribution calculations with MCNP with 197Au(n,γ)198Au reaction rate distribution measurements at the JSI TRIGA Mark II reactor

The calculation of axial neutron flux distributions with the MCNP code at the JSI TRIGA Mark II reactor has been validated with experimental measurements of the 197Au(n,γ)198Au reaction rate. The calculated absolute reaction rate values, scaled according to the reactor power and corrected for the flux redistribution effect, are in good agreement with the experimental results. The effect of different cross-section libraries on the calculations has been investigated and shown to be minor. - Author-Highlights: • Measurements of the axial distributions of 197Au(n,γ)198Au reaction rates were made. • The axial distributions were calculated with the MCNP code. • The calculated and the measured distributions are in very good agreement. • The calculation of axial neutron flux distributions with MCNP is validated