ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Dec 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
Deep Fission to break ground this week
With about seven months left in the race to bring DOE-authorized test reactors on line by July 4, 2026, via the Reactor Pilot Program, Deep Fission has announced that it will break ground on its associated project on December 9 in Parsons, Kansas. It’s one of many companies in the program that has made significant headway in recent months.
Hangbok Choi, Gyuhong Roh
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 146 | Number 2 | February 2004 | Pages 188-199
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE04-A2402
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Benchmark calculations have been performed for the conventional Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) core analysis code RFSP and the Monte Carlo code MCNP-4B using experimental data from the deuterium critical assembly. The benchmark calculation was carried out for the effective multiplication factor (keff), void reactivity, local power peaking factor (LPPF), and power distribution of a uniform core with 1.2 wt% UO2 and two-region cores with PuO2-UO2 fuels. The RFSP calculation was performed with two energy groups, using lattice parameters generated by WIMS-AECL with the ENDF/B-V cross-section library. The RFSP calculation has shown that the root-mean-square (rms) errors of the keff and the void reactivity are within 0.6% k and 0.3% (1/k), respectively. The MCNP simulation was performed using a fully heterogeneous core model that explicitly describes the individual fuel rod and channel. The simulation showed an excellent agreement for the keff against the measurement, while the rms error of the void reactivity was 0.4% (1/k). The LPPF and core power distribution estimated by both codes matched those of the measurements within 4 and 9%, respectively. Conclusively, the physics analysis by the RFSP code in conjunction with the WIMS-AECL produces credible results for the light water-cooled and heavy water-moderated system. In addition, the MCNP-4B code has proved its potential as a computational benchmarking tool for the heavy water-moderated system.