Parallel processing of Monte Carlo code MCNP for particle transport problem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Higuchi, Kenji; Kawasaki, Takuji

1996-06-01

It is possible to vectorize or parallelize Monte Carlo codes (MC code) for photon and neutron transport problem, making use of independency of the calculation for each particle. Applicability of existing MC code to parallel processing is mentioned. As for parallel computer, we have used both vector-parallel processor and scalar-parallel processor in performance evaluation. We have made (i) vector-parallel processing of MCNP code on Monte Carlo machine Monte-4 with four vector processors, (ii) parallel processing on Paragon XP/S with 256 processors. In this report we describe the methodology and results for parallel processing on two types of parallel or distributed memory computers. In addition, we mention the evaluation of parallel programming environments for parallel computers used in the present work as a part of the work developing STA (Seamless Thinking Aid) Basic Software. (author)

Automatic modeling for the monte carlo transport TRIPOLI code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Junjun; Zeng Qin; Wu Yican; Wang Guozhong; FDS Team

2010-01-01

TRIPOLI, developed by CEA, France, is Monte Carlo particle transport simulation code. It has been widely applied to nuclear physics, shielding design, evaluation of nuclear safety. However, it is time-consuming and error-prone to manually describe the TRIPOLI input file. This paper implemented bi-directional conversion between CAD model and TRIPOLI model. Its feasibility and efficiency have been demonstrated by several benchmarking examples. (authors)

Srna - Monte Carlo codes for proton transport simulation in combined and voxelized geometries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilić Radovan D.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes new Monte Carlo codes for proton transport simulations in complex geometrical forms and in materials of different composition. The SRNA codes were developed for three dimensional (3D dose distribution calculation in proton therapy and dosimetry. The model of these codes is based on the theory of proton multiple scattering and a simple model of compound nucleus decay. The developed package consists of two codes: SRNA-2KG and SRNA-VOX. The first code simulates proton transport in combined geometry that can be described by planes and second order surfaces. The second one uses the voxelized geometry of material zones and is specifically adopted for the application of patient computer tomography data. Transition probabilities for both codes are given by the SRNADAT program. In this paper, we will present the models and algorithms of our programs, as well as the results of the numerical experiments we have carried out applying them, along with the results of proton transport simulation obtained through the PETRA and GEANT programs. The simulation of the proton beam characterization by means of the Multi-Layer Faraday Cup and spatial distribution of positron emitters obtained by our program indicate the imminent application of Monte Carlo techniques in clinical practice.

Design of sampling tools for Monte Carlo particle transport code JMCT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shangguan Danhua; Li Gang; Zhang Baoyin; Deng Li

2012-01-01

A class of sampling tools for general Monte Carlo particle transport code JMCT is designed. Two ways are provided to sample from distributions. One is the utilization of special sampling methods for special distribution; the other is the utilization of general sampling methods for arbitrary discrete distribution and one-dimensional continuous distribution on a finite interval. Some open source codes are included in the general sampling method for the maximum convenience of users. The sampling results show sampling correctly from distribution which are popular in particle transport can be achieved with these tools, and the user's convenience can be assured. (authors)

Antiproton annihilation physics annihilation physics in the Monte Carlo particle transport code particle transport code SHIELD-HIT12A

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taasti, Vicki Trier; Knudsen, Helge; Holzscheiter, Michael

2015-01-01

The Monte Carlo particle transport code SHIELD-HIT12A is designed to simulate therapeutic beams for cancer radiotherapy with fast ions. SHIELD-HIT12A allows creation of antiproton beam kernels for the treatment planning system TRiP98, but first it must be benchmarked against experimental data. An...

Systems guide to MCNP (Monte Carlo Neutron and Photon Transport Code)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirk, B.L.; West, J.T.

1984-06-01

The subject of this report is the implementation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Monte Carlo Neutron and Photon Transport Code - Version 3 (MCNP) on the different types of computer systems, especially the IBM MVS system. The report supplements the documentation of the RSIC computer code package CCC-200/MCNP. Details of the procedure to follow in executing MCNP on the IBM computers, either in batch mode or interactive mode, are provided

General-purpose Monte Carlo codes for neutron and photon transport calculations. MVP version 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu

2017-01-01

JAEA has developed a general-purpose neutron/photon transport Monte Carlo code MVP. This paper describes the recent development of the MVP code and reviews the basic features and capabilities. In addition, capabilities implemented in Version 3 are also described. (author)

Present status of transport code development based on Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagawa, Masayuki

1985-01-01

The present status of development in Monte Carlo code is briefly reviewed. The main items are the followings; Application fields, Methods used in Monte Carlo code (geometry spectification, nuclear data, estimator and variance reduction technique) and unfinished works, Typical Monte Carlo codes and Merits of continuous energy Monte Carlo code. (author)

Design of tallying function for general purpose Monte Carlo particle transport code JMCT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shangguan Danhua; Li Gang; Deng Li; Zhang Baoyin

2013-01-01

A new postponed accumulation algorithm was proposed. Based on JCOGIN (J combinatorial geometry Monte Carlo transport infrastructure) framework and the postponed accumulation algorithm, the tallying function of the general purpose Monte Carlo neutron-photon transport code JMCT was improved markedly. JMCT gets a higher tallying efficiency than MCNP 4C by 28% for simple geometry model, and JMCT is faster than MCNP 4C by two orders of magnitude for complicated repeated structure model. The available ability of tallying function for JMCT makes firm foundation for reactor analysis and multi-step burnup calculation. (authors)

Tripoli-4, a three-dimensional poly-kinetic particle transport Monte-Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Both, J.P.; Lee, Y.K.; Mazzolo, A.; Peneliau, Y.; Petit, O.; Roesslinger, B.; Soldevila, M.

2003-01-01

In this updated of the Monte-Carlo transport code Tripoli-4, we list and describe its current main features. The code computes coupled neutron-photon propagation as well as the electron-photon cascade shower. While providing the user with common biasing techniques, it also implements an automatic weighting scheme. Tripoli-4 enables the user to compute the following physical quantities: a flux, a multiplication factor, a current, a reaction rate, a dose equivalent rate as well as deposit of energy and recoil energies. For each interesting physical quantity, a Monte-Carlo simulation offers different types of estimators. Tripoli-4 has support for execution in parallel mode. Special features and applications are also presented

Tripoli-4, a three-dimensional poly-kinetic particle transport Monte-Carlo code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Both, J P; Lee, Y K; Mazzolo, A; Peneliau, Y; Petit, O; Roesslinger, B; Soldevila, M [CEA Saclay, Dir. de l' Energie Nucleaire (DEN/DM2S/SERMA/LEPP), 91 - Gif sur Yvette (France)

2003-07-01

In this updated of the Monte-Carlo transport code Tripoli-4, we list and describe its current main features. The code computes coupled neutron-photon propagation as well as the electron-photon cascade shower. While providing the user with common biasing techniques, it also implements an automatic weighting scheme. Tripoli-4 enables the user to compute the following physical quantities: a flux, a multiplication factor, a current, a reaction rate, a dose equivalent rate as well as deposit of energy and recoil energies. For each interesting physical quantity, a Monte-Carlo simulation offers different types of estimators. Tripoli-4 has support for execution in parallel mode. Special features and applications are also presented.

Srna-Monte Carlo codes for proton transport simulation in combined and voxelized geometries

CERN Document Server

Ilic, R D; Stankovic, S J

2002-01-01

This paper describes new Monte Carlo codes for proton transport simulations in complex geometrical forms and in materials of different composition. The SRNA codes were developed for three dimensional (3D) dose distribution calculation in proton therapy and dosimetry. The model of these codes is based on the theory of proton multiple scattering and a simple model of compound nucleus decay. The developed package consists of two codes: SRNA-2KG and SRNA-VOX. The first code simulates proton transport in combined geometry that can be described by planes and second order surfaces. The second one uses the voxelized geometry of material zones and is specifically adopted for the application of patient computer tomography data. Transition probabilities for both codes are given by the SRNADAT program. In this paper, we will present the models and algorithms of our programs, as well as the results of the numerical experiments we have carried out applying them, along with the results of proton transport simulation obtaine...

A portable, parallel, object-oriented Monte Carlo neutron transport code in C++

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.R.; Cummings, J.C.; Nolen, S.D.

1997-01-01

We have developed a multi-group Monte Carlo neutron transport code using C++ and the Parallel Object-Oriented Methods and Applications (POOMA) class library. This transport code, called MC++, currently computes k and α-eigenvalues and is portable to and runs parallel on a wide variety of platforms, including MPPs, clustered SMPs, and individual workstations. It contains appropriate classes and abstractions for particle transport and, through the use of POOMA, for portable parallelism. Current capabilities of MC++ are discussed, along with physics and performance results on a variety of hardware, including all Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) hardware. Current parallel performance indicates the ability to compute α-eigenvalues in seconds to minutes rather than hours to days. Future plans and the implementation of a general transport physics framework are also discussed

TOPIC: a debugging code for torus geometry input data of Monte Carlo transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iida, Hiromasa; Kawasaki, Hiromitsu.

1979-06-01

TOPIC has been developed for debugging geometry input data of the Monte Carlo transport code. the code has the following features: (1) It debugs the geometry input data of not only MORSE-GG but also MORSE-I capable of treating torus geometry. (2) Its calculation results are shown in figures drawn by Plotter or COM, and the regions not defined or doubly defined are easily detected. (3) It finds a multitude of input data errors in a single run. (4) The input data required in this code are few, so that it is readily usable in a time sharing system of FACOM 230-60/75 computer. Example TOPIC calculations in design study of tokamak fusion reactors (JXFR, INTOR-J) are presented. (author)

ITS - The integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halbleib, J.A.; Mehlhorn, T.A.

1985-01-01

The TIGER series of time-independent coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes is a group of multimaterial, multidimensional codes designed to provide a state-of-the-art description of the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade. The codes follow both electrons and photons from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV, and the user has the option of combining the collisional transport with transport in macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Source particles can be either electrons or photons. The most important output data are (a) charge and energy deposition profiles, (b) integral and differential escape coefficients for both electrons and photons, (c) differential electron and photon flux, and (d) pulse-height distributions for selected regions of the problem geometry. The base codes of the series differ from one another primarily in their dimensionality and geometric modeling. They include (a) a one-dimensional multilayer code, (b) a code that describes the transport in two-dimensional axisymmetric cylindrical material geometries with a fully three-dimensional description of particle trajectories, and (c) a general three-dimensional transport code which employs a combinatorial geometry scheme. These base codes were designed primarily for describing radiation transport for those situations in which the detailed atomic structure of the transport medium is not important. For some applications, it is desirable to have a more detailed model of the low energy transport. The system includes three additional codes that contain a more elaborate ionization/relaxation model than the base codes. Finally, the system includes two codes that combine the collisional transport of the multidimensional base codes with transport in macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence

Academic Training - The use of Monte Carlo radiation transport codes in radiation physics and dosimetry

CERN Multimedia

Françoise Benz

2006-01-01

2005-2006 ACADEMIC TRAINING PROGRAMME LECTURE SERIES 27, 28, 29 June 11:00-12:00 - TH Conference Room, bldg. 4 The use of Monte Carlo radiation transport codes in radiation physics and dosimetry F. Salvat Gavalda,Univ. de Barcelona, A. FERRARI, CERN-AB, M. SILARI, CERN-SC Lecture 1. Transport and interaction of electromagnetic radiation F. Salvat Gavalda,Univ. de Barcelona Interaction models and simulation schemes implemented in modern Monte Carlo codes for the simulation of coupled electron-photon transport will be briefly reviewed. Different schemes for simulating electron transport will be discussed. Condensed algorithms, which rely on multiple-scattering theories, are comparatively fast, but less accurate than mixed algorithms, in which hard interactions (with energy loss or angular deflection larger than certain cut-off values) are simulated individually. The reliability, and limitations, of electron-interaction models and multiple-scattering theories will be analyzed. Benchmark comparisons of simu...

Premar-2: a Monte Carlo code for radiative transport simulation in atmospheric environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cupini, E.

1999-01-01

The peculiarities of the PREMAR-2 code, aimed at radiation transport Monte Carlo simulation in atmospheric environments in the infrared-ultraviolet frequency range, are described. With respect to the previously developed PREMAR code, besides plane multilayers, spherical multilayers and finite sequences of vertical layers, each one with its own atmospheric behaviour, are foreseen in the new code, together with the refraction phenomenon, so that long range, highly slanted paths can now be more faithfully taken into account. A zenithal angular dependence of the albedo coefficient has moreover been introduced. Lidar systems, with spatially independent source and telescope, are allowed again to be simulated, and, in this latest version of the code, sensitivity analyses to be performed. According to this last feasibility, consequences on radiation transport of small perturbations in physical components of the atmospheric environment may be analyze and the related effects on searched results estimated. The availability of a library of physical data (reaction coefficients, phase functions and refraction indexes) is required by the code, providing the essential features of the environment of interest needed of the Monte Carlo simulation. Variance reducing techniques have been enhanced in the Premar-2 code, by introducing, for instance, a local forced collision technique, especially apt to be used in Lidar system simulations. Encouraging comparisons between code and experimental results carried out at the Brasimone Centre of ENEA, have so far been obtained, even if further checks of the code are to be performed [it

Igo - A Monte Carlo Code For Radiotherapy Planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldstein, M.; Regev, D.

1999-01-01

The goal of radiation therapy is to deliver a lethal dose to the tumor, while minimizing the dose to normal tissues and vital organs. To carry out this task, it is critical to calculate correctly the 3-D dose delivered. Monte Carlo transport methods (especially the Adjoint Monte Carlo have the potential to provide more accurate predictions of the 3-D dose the currently used methods. IG0 is a Monte Carlo code derived from the general Monte Carlo Program - MCNP, tailored specifically for calculating the effects of radiation therapy. This paper describes the IG0 transport code, the PIG0 interface and some preliminary results

KAMCCO, a reactor physics Monte Carlo neutron transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnecke, G.; Borgwaldt, H.; Brandl, V.; Lalovic, M.

1976-06-01

KAMCCO is a 3-dimensional reactor Monte Carlo code for fast neutron physics problems. Two options are available for the solution of 1) the inhomogeneous time-dependent neutron transport equation (census time scheme), and 2) the homogeneous static neutron transport equation (generation cycle scheme). The user defines the desired output, e.g. estimates of reaction rates or neutron flux integrated over specified volumes in phase space and time intervals. Such primary quantities can be arbitrarily combined, also ratios of these quantities can be estimated with their errors. The Monte Carlo techniques are mostly analogue (exceptions: Importance sampling for collision processes, ELP/MELP, Russian roulette and splitting). Estimates are obtained from the collision and track length estimators. Elastic scattering takes into account first order anisotropy in the center of mass system. Inelastic scattering is processed via the evaporation model or via the excitation of discrete levels. For the calculation of cross sections, the energy is treated as a continuous variable. They are computed by a) linear interpolation, b) from optionally Doppler broadened single level Breit-Wigner resonances or c) from probability tables (in the region of statistically distributed resonances). (orig.) [de

A user's manual for the three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport code SPARTAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bending, R.C.; Heffer, P.J.H.

1975-09-01

SPARTAN is a general-purpose Monte Carlo particle transport code intended for neutron or gamma transport problems in reactor physics, health physics, shielding, and safety studies. The code used a very general geometry system enabling a complex layout to be described and allows the user to obtain physics data from a number of different types of source library. Special tracking and scoring techniques are used to improve the quality of the results obtained. To enable users to run SPARTAN, brief descriptions of the facilities available in the code are given and full details of data input and job control language, as well as examples of complete calculations, are included. It is anticipated that changes may be made to SPARTAN from time to time, particularly in those parts of the code which deal with physics data processing. The load module is identified by a version number and implementation date, and updates of sections of this manual will be issued when significant changes are made to the code. (author)

Monte Carlo electron/photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mack, J.M.; Morel, J.E.; Hughes, H.G.

1985-01-01

A review of nonplasma coupled electron/photon transport using Monte Carlo method is presented. Remarks are mainly restricted to linerarized formalisms at electron energies from 1 keV to 1000 MeV. Applications involving pulse-height estimation, transport in external magnetic fields, and optical Cerenkov production are discussed to underscore the importance of this branch of computational physics. Advances in electron multigroup cross-section generation is reported, and its impact on future code development assessed. Progress toward the transformation of MCNP into a generalized neutral/charged-particle Monte Carlo code is described. 48 refs

Successful vectorization - reactor physics Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, W.R.

1989-01-01

Most particle transport Monte Carlo codes in use today are based on the ''history-based'' algorithm, wherein one particle history at a time is simulated. Unfortunately, the ''history-based'' approach (present in all Monte Carlo codes until recent years) is inherently scalar and cannot be vectorized. In particular, the history-based algorithm cannot take advantage of vector architectures, which characterize the largest and fastest computers at the current time, vector supercomputers such as the Cray X/MP or IBM 3090/600. However, substantial progress has been made in recent years in developing and implementing a vectorized Monte Carlo algorithm. This algorithm follows portions of many particle histories at the same time and forms the basis for all successful vectorized Monte Carlo codes that are in use today. This paper describes the basic vectorized algorithm along with descriptions of several variations that have been developed by different researchers for specific applications. These applications have been mainly in the areas of neutron transport in nuclear reactor and shielding analysis and photon transport in fusion plasmas. The relative merits of the various approach schemes will be discussed and the present status of known vectorization efforts will be summarized along with available timing results, including results from the successful vectorization of 3-D general geometry, continuous energy Monte Carlo. (orig.)

Accelerating execution of the integrated TIGER series Monte Carlo radiation transport codes

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, L. M.; Hochstedler, R. D.

1997-02-01

Execution of the integrated TIGER series (ITS) of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo radiation transport codes has been accelerated by modifying the FORTRAN source code for more efficient computation. Each member code of ITS was benchmarked and profiled with a specific test case that directed the acceleration effort toward the most computationally intensive subroutines. Techniques for accelerating these subroutines included replacing linear search algorithms with binary versions, replacing the pseudo-random number generator, reducing program memory allocation, and proofing the input files for geometrical redundancies. All techniques produced identical or statistically similar results to the original code. Final benchmark timing of the accelerated code resulted in speed-up factors of 2.00 for TIGER (the one-dimensional slab geometry code), 1.74 for CYLTRAN (the two-dimensional cylindrical geometry code), and 1.90 for ACCEPT (the arbitrary three-dimensional geometry code).

Accelerating execution of the integrated TIGER series Monte Carlo radiation transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, L.M.; Hochstedler, R.D.

1997-01-01

Execution of the integrated TIGER series (ITS) of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo radiation transport codes has been accelerated by modifying the FORTRAN source code for more efficient computation. Each member code of ITS was benchmarked and profiled with a specific test case that directed the acceleration effort toward the most computationally intensive subroutines. Techniques for accelerating these subroutines included replacing linear search algorithms with binary versions, replacing the pseudo-random number generator, reducing program memory allocation, and proofing the input files for geometrical redundancies. All techniques produced identical or statistically similar results to the original code. Final benchmark timing of the accelerated code resulted in speed-up factors of 2.00 for TIGER (the one-dimensional slab geometry code), 1.74 for CYLTRAN (the two-dimensional cylindrical geometry code), and 1.90 for ACCEPT (the arbitrary three-dimensional geometry code)

Parallelization of a Monte Carlo particle transport simulation code

Science.gov (United States)

Hadjidoukas, P.; Bousis, C.; Emfietzoglou, D.

2010-05-01

We have developed a high performance version of the Monte Carlo particle transport simulation code MC4. The original application code, developed in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for Microsoft Excel, was first rewritten in the C programming language for improving code portability. Several pseudo-random number generators have been also integrated and studied. The new MC4 version was then parallelized for shared and distributed-memory multiprocessor systems using the Message Passing Interface. Two parallel pseudo-random number generator libraries (SPRNG and DCMT) have been seamlessly integrated. The performance speedup of parallel MC4 has been studied on a variety of parallel computing architectures including an Intel Xeon server with 4 dual-core processors, a Sun cluster consisting of 16 nodes of 2 dual-core AMD Opteron processors and a 200 dual-processor HP cluster. For large problem size, which is limited only by the physical memory of the multiprocessor server, the speedup results are almost linear on all systems. We have validated the parallel implementation against the serial VBA and C implementations using the same random number generator. Our experimental results on the transport and energy loss of electrons in a water medium show that the serial and parallel codes are equivalent in accuracy. The present improvements allow for studying of higher particle energies with the use of more accurate physical models, and improve statistics as more particles tracks can be simulated in low response time.

The use of Monte Carlo radiation transport codes in radiation physics and dosimetry

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; Ferrari, Alfredo; Silari, Marco

2006-01-01

Transport and interaction of electromagnetic radiation Interaction models and simulation schemes implemented in modern Monte Carlo codes for the simulation of coupled electron-photon transport will be briefly reviewed. In these codes, photon transport is simulated by using the detailed scheme, i.e., interaction by interaction. Detailed simulation is easy to implement, and the reliability of the results is only limited by the accuracy of the adopted cross sections. Simulations of electron and positron transport are more difficult, because these particles undergo a large number of interactions in the course of their slowing down. Different schemes for simulating electron transport will be discussed. Condensed algorithms, which rely on multiple-scattering theories, are comparatively fast, but less accurate than mixed algorithms, in which hard interactions (with energy loss or angular deflection larger than certain cut-off values) are simulated individually. The reliability, and limitations, of electron-interacti...

Monte Carlo codes use in neutron therapy; Application de codes Monte Carlo en neutrontherapie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paquis, P.; Mokhtari, F.; Karamanoukian, D. [Hopital Pasteur, 06 - Nice (France); Pignol, J.P. [Hopital du Hasenrain, 68 - Mulhouse (France); Cuendet, P. [CEA Centre d' Etudes de Saclay, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France). Direction des Reacteurs Nucleaires; Fares, G.; Hachem, A. [Faculte des Sciences, 06 - Nice (France); Iborra, N. [Centre Antoine-Lacassagne, 06 - Nice (France)

1998-04-01

Monte Carlo calculation codes allow to study accurately all the parameters relevant to radiation effects, like the dose deposition or the type of microscopic interactions, through one by one particle transport simulation. These features are very useful for neutron irradiations, from device development up to dosimetry. This paper illustrates some applications of these codes in Neutron Capture Therapy and Neutron Capture Enhancement of fast neutrons irradiations. (authors)

Monte Carlo code development in Los Alamos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carter, L.L.; Cashwell, E.D.; Everett, C.J.; Forest, C.A.; Schrandt, R.G.; Taylor, W.M.; Thompson, W.L.; Turner, G.D.

1974-01-01

The present status of Monte Carlo code development at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory is discussed. A brief summary is given of several of the most important neutron, photon, and electron transport codes. 17 references. (U.S.)

Penelope-2006: a code system for Monte Carlo simulation of electron and photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

The computer code system PENELOPE (version 2006) performs Monte Carlo simulation of coupled electron-photon transport in arbitrary materials for a wide energy range, from a few hundred eV to about 1 GeV. Photon transport is simulated by means of the standard, detailed simulation scheme. Electron and positron histories are generated on the basis of a mixed procedure, which combines detailed simulation of hard events with condensed simulation of soft interactions. A geometry package called PENGEOM permits the generation of random electron-photon showers in material systems consisting of homogeneous bodies limited by quadric surfaces, i.e. planes, spheres, cylinders, etc. This report is intended not only to serve as a manual of the PENELOPE code system, but also to provide the user with the necessary information to understand the details of the Monte Carlo algorithm. These proceedings contain the corresponding manual and teaching notes of the PENELOPE-2006 workshop and training course, held on 4-7 July 2006 in Barcelona, Spain. (author)

MC++: A parallel, portable, Monte Carlo neutron transport code in C++

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.R.; Cummings, J.C.; Nolen, S.D.

1997-01-01

MC++ is an implicit multi-group Monte Carlo neutron transport code written in C++ and based on the Parallel Object-Oriented Methods and Applications (POOMA) class library. MC++ runs in parallel on and is portable to a wide variety of platforms, including MPPs, SMPs, and clusters of UNIX workstations. MC++ is being developed to provide transport capabilities to the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI). It is also intended to form the basis of the first transport physics framework (TPF), which is a C++ class library containing appropriate abstractions, objects, and methods for the particle transport problem. The transport problem is briefly described, as well as the current status and algorithms in MC++ for solving the transport equation. The alpha version of the POOMA class library is also discussed, along with the implementation of the transport solution algorithms using POOMA. Finally, a simple test problem is defined and performance and physics results from this problem are discussed on a variety of platforms

AREVA Developments for an Efficient and Reliable use of Monte Carlo codes for Radiation Transport Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Chapoutier, Nicolas; Mollier, François; Nolin, Guillaume; Culioli, Matthieu; Mace, Jean-Reynald

2017-09-01

In the context of the rising of Monte Carlo transport calculations for any kind of application, AREVA recently improved its suite of engineering tools in order to produce efficient Monte Carlo workflow. Monte Carlo codes, such as MCNP or TRIPOLI, are recognized as reference codes to deal with a large range of radiation transport problems. However the inherent drawbacks of theses codes - laboring input file creation and long computation time - contrast with the maturity of the treatment of the physical phenomena. The goals of the recent AREVA developments were to reach similar efficiency as other mature engineering sciences such as finite elements analyses (e.g. structural or fluid dynamics). Among the main objectives, the creation of a graphical user interface offering CAD tools for geometry creation and other graphical features dedicated to the radiation field (source definition, tally definition) has been reached. The computations times are drastically reduced compared to few years ago thanks to the use of massive parallel runs, and above all, the implementation of hybrid variance reduction technics. From now engineering teams are capable to deliver much more prompt support to any nuclear projects dealing with reactors or fuel cycle facilities from conceptual phase to decommissioning.

The vector and parallel processing of MORSE code on Monte Carlo Machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Yukihiro; Higuchi, Kenji.

1995-11-01

Multi-group Monte Carlo Code for particle transport, MORSE is modified for high performance computing on Monte Carlo Machine Monte-4. The method and the results are described. Monte-4 was specially developed to realize high performance computing of Monte Carlo codes for particle transport, which have been difficult to obtain high performance in vector processing on conventional vector processors. Monte-4 has four vector processor units with the special hardware called Monte Carlo pipelines. The vectorization and parallelization of MORSE code and the performance evaluation on Monte-4 are described. (author)

Load balancing in highly parallel processing of Monte Carlo code for particle transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higuchi, Kenji; Takemiya, Hiroshi; Kawasaki, Takuji

1998-01-01

In parallel processing of Monte Carlo (MC) codes for neutron, photon and electron transport problems, particle histories are assigned to processors making use of independency of the calculation for each particle. Although we can easily parallelize main part of a MC code by this method, it is necessary and practically difficult to optimize the code concerning load balancing in order to attain high speedup ratio in highly parallel processing. In fact, the speedup ratio in the case of 128 processors remains in nearly one hundred times when using the test bed for the performance evaluation. Through the parallel processing of the MCNP code, which is widely used in the nuclear field, it is shown that it is difficult to attain high performance by static load balancing in especially neutron transport problems, and a load balancing method, which dynamically changes the number of assigned particles minimizing the sum of the computational and communication costs, overcomes the difficulty, resulting in nearly fifteen percentage of reduction for execution time. (author)

MCNP: a general Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-11-01

The general-purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP ca be used for neutron, photon, or coupled neutron-photon transport, including the capability to calculate eigenvalues for critical systems. The code treats an arbitrary three-dimensional configuration of materials in geometric cells bounded by first- and second-degree surfaces and some special fourth-degree surfaces (elliptical tori). Pointwise cross-section data are used. For neutrons, all reactions given in a particular cross-section evaluation are accounted for. Thermal neutrons are described by both the free-gas and S(α,β) models. For photons, the code takes account of incoherent and coherent scattering, the possibility of fluorescent emission following photoelectric absorption, and absorption in pair production with local emission of annihilation radiation. MCNP includes an elaborate, interactive plotting capability that allows the user to view his input geometry to help check for setup errors. Standard features which are available to improve computational efficiency include geometry splitting and Russian roulette, weight cutoff with Russian roulette, correlated sampling, analog capture or capture by weight reduction, the exponential transformation, energy splitting, forced collisions in designated cells, flux estimates at point or ring detectors, deterministically transporting pseudo-particles to designated regions, track-length estimators, source biasing, and several parameter cutoffs. Extensive summary information is provided to help the user better understand the physics and Monte Carlo simulation of his problem. The standard, user-defined output of MCNP includes two-way current as a function of direction across any set of surfaces or surface segments in the problem. Flux across any set of surfaces or surface segments is available. 58 figures, 28 tables

Monte Carlo codes and Monte Carlo simulator program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higuchi, Kenji; Asai, Kiyoshi; Suganuma, Masayuki.

1990-03-01

Four typical Monte Carlo codes KENO-IV, MORSE, MCNP and VIM have been vectorized on VP-100 at Computing Center, JAERI. The problems in vector processing of Monte Carlo codes on vector processors have become clear through the work. As the result, it is recognized that these are difficulties to obtain good performance in vector processing of Monte Carlo codes. A Monte Carlo computing machine, which processes the Monte Carlo codes with high performances is being developed at our Computing Center since 1987. The concept of Monte Carlo computing machine and its performance have been investigated and estimated by using a software simulator. In this report the problems in vectorization of Monte Carlo codes, Monte Carlo pipelines proposed to mitigate these difficulties and the results of the performance estimation of the Monte Carlo computing machine by the simulator are described. (author)

TART 2000: A Coupled Neutron-Photon, 3-D, Combinatorial Geometry, Time Dependent, Monte Carlo Transport Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullen, D.E

2000-01-01

TART2000 is a coupled neutron-photon, 3 Dimensional, combinatorial geometry, time dependent Monte Carlo radiation transport code. This code can run on any modern computer. It is a complete system to assist you with input Preparation, running Monte Carlo calculations, and analysis of output results. TART2000 is also incredibly FAST; if you have used similar codes, you will be amazed at how fast this code is compared to other similar codes. Use of the entire system can save you a great deal of time and energy. TART2000 is distributed on CD. This CD contains on-line documentation for all codes included in the system, the codes configured to run on a variety of computers, and many example problems that you can use to familiarize yourself with the system. TART2000 completely supersedes all older versions of TART, and it is strongly recommended that users only use the most recent version of TART2000 and its data files

TART 2000 A Coupled Neutron-Photon, 3-D, Combinatorial Geometry, Time Dependent, Monte Carlo Transport Code

CERN Document Server

Cullen, D

2000-01-01

TART2000 is a coupled neutron-photon, 3 Dimensional, combinatorial geometry, time dependent Monte Carlo radiation transport code. This code can run on any modern computer. It is a complete system to assist you with input Preparation, running Monte Carlo calculations, and analysis of output results. TART2000 is also incredibly FAST; if you have used similar codes, you will be amazed at how fast this code is compared to other similar codes. Use of the entire system can save you a great deal of time and energy. TART2000 is distributed on CD. This CD contains on-line documentation for all codes included in the system, the codes configured to run on a variety of computers, and many example problems that you can use to familiarize yourself with the system. TART2000 completely supersedes all older versions of TART, and it is strongly recommended that users only use the most recent version of TART2000 and its data files.

AREVA Developments for an Efficient and Reliable use of Monte Carlo codes for Radiation Transport Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chapoutier Nicolas

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the context of the rising of Monte Carlo transport calculations for any kind of application, AREVA recently improved its suite of engineering tools in order to produce efficient Monte Carlo workflow. Monte Carlo codes, such as MCNP or TRIPOLI, are recognized as reference codes to deal with a large range of radiation transport problems. However the inherent drawbacks of theses codes - laboring input file creation and long computation time - contrast with the maturity of the treatment of the physical phenomena. The goals of the recent AREVA developments were to reach similar efficiency as other mature engineering sciences such as finite elements analyses (e.g. structural or fluid dynamics. Among the main objectives, the creation of a graphical user interface offering CAD tools for geometry creation and other graphical features dedicated to the radiation field (source definition, tally definition has been reached. The computations times are drastically reduced compared to few years ago thanks to the use of massive parallel runs, and above all, the implementation of hybrid variance reduction technics. From now engineering teams are capable to deliver much more prompt support to any nuclear projects dealing with reactors or fuel cycle facilities from conceptual phase to decommissioning.

ITS Version 3.0: The Integrated TIGER Series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halbleib, J.A.; Kensek, R.P.; Valdez, G.D.; Mehlhorn, T.A.; Seltzer, S.M.; Berger, M.J.

1993-01-01

ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state-of-the-art Monte Carlo solution of linear time-independent coupled electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields. It combines operational simplicity and physical accuracy in order to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Flexibility of construction permits tailoring of the codes to specific applications and extension of code capabilities to more complex applications through simple update procedures

ITS Version 3.0: The Integrated TIGER Series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Halbleib, J.A.; Kensek, R.P.; Valdez, G.D.; Mehlhorn, T.A. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Seltzer, S.M.; Berger, M.J. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Ionizing Radiation Div.

1993-06-01

ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state-of-the-art Monte Carlo solution of linear time-independent coupled electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields. It combines operational simplicity and physical accuracy in order to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Flexibility of construction permits tailoring of the codes to specific applications and extension of code capabilities to more complex applications through simple update procedures.

A Monte Carlo burnup code linking MCNP and REBUS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanan, N.A.; Olson, A.P.; Pond, R.B.; Matos, J.E.

1998-01-01

The REBUS-3 burnup code, used in the anl RERTR Program, is a very general code that uses diffusion theory (DIF3D) to obtain the fluxes required for reactor burnup analyses. Diffusion theory works well for most reactors. However, to include the effects of exact geometry and strong absorbers that are difficult to model using diffusion theory, a Monte Carlo method is required. MCNP, a general-purpose, generalized-geometry, time-dependent, Monte Carlo transport code, is the most widely used Monte Carlo code. This paper presents a linking of the MCNP code and the REBUS burnup code to perform these difficult analyses. The linked code will permit the use of the full capabilities of REBUS which include non-equilibrium and equilibrium burnup analyses. Results of burnup analyses using this new linked code are also presented. (author)

A Monte Carlo burnup code linking MCNP and REBUS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanan, N. A.

1998-01-01

The REBUS-3 burnup code, used in the ANL RERTR Program, is a very general code that uses diffusion theory (DIF3D) to obtain the fluxes required for reactor burnup analyses. Diffusion theory works well for most reactors. However, to include the effects of exact geometry and strong absorbers that are difficult to model using diffusion theory, a Monte Carlo method is required. MCNP, a general-purpose, generalized-geometry, time-dependent, Monte Carlo transport code, is the most widely used Monte Carlo code. This paper presents a linking of the MCNP code and the REBUS burnup code to perform these difficult burnup analyses. The linked code will permit the use of the full capabilities of REBUS which include non-equilibrium and equilibrium burnup analyses. Results of burnup analyses using this new linked code are also presented

BALTORO a general purpose code for coupling discrete ordinates and Monte-Carlo radiation transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zazula, J.M.

1983-01-01

The general purpose code BALTORO was written for coupling the three-dimensional Monte-Carlo /MC/ with the one-dimensional Discrete Ordinates /DO/ radiation transport calculations. The quantity of a radiation-induced /neutrons or gamma-rays/ nuclear effect or the score from a radiation-yielding nuclear effect can be analysed in this way. (author)

Parallelization of MCNP Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code in parallel virtual machine and message passing interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Li; Xie Zhongsheng

1999-01-01

The coupled neutron and photon transport Monte Carlo code MCNP (version 3B) has been parallelized in parallel virtual machine (PVM) and message passing interface (MPI) by modifying a previous serial code. The new code has been verified by solving sample problems. The speedup increases linearly with the number of processors and the average efficiency is up to 99% for 12-processor. (author)

Implementation, capabilities, and benchmarking of Shift, a massively parallel Monte Carlo radiation transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandya, Tara M.; Johnson, Seth R.; Evans, Thomas M.; Davidson, Gregory G.; Hamilton, Steven P.; Godfrey, Andrew T.

2015-01-01

This paper discusses the implementation, capabilities, and validation of Shift, a massively parallel Monte Carlo radiation transport package developed and maintained at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It has been developed to scale well from laptop to small computing clusters to advanced supercomputers. Special features of Shift include hybrid capabilities for variance reduction such as CADIS and FW-CADIS, and advanced parallel decomposition and tally methods optimized for scalability on supercomputing architectures. Shift has been validated and verified against various reactor physics benchmarks and compares well to other state-of-the-art Monte Carlo radiation transport codes such as MCNP5, CE KENO-VI, and OpenMC. Some specific benchmarks used for verification and validation include the CASL VERA criticality test suite and several Westinghouse AP1000 ® problems. These benchmark and scaling studies show promising results

Improved diffusion coefficients generated from Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herman, B. R.; Forget, B.; Smith, K.; Aviles, B. N.

2013-01-01

Monte Carlo codes are becoming more widely used for reactor analysis. Some of these applications involve the generation of diffusion theory parameters including macroscopic cross sections and diffusion coefficients. Two approximations used to generate diffusion coefficients are assessed using the Monte Carlo code MC21. The first is the method of homogenization; whether to weight either fine-group transport cross sections or fine-group diffusion coefficients when collapsing to few-group diffusion coefficients. The second is a fundamental approximation made to the energy-dependent P1 equations to derive the energy-dependent diffusion equations. Standard Monte Carlo codes usually generate a flux-weighted transport cross section with no correction to the diffusion approximation. Results indicate that this causes noticeable tilting in reconstructed pin powers in simple test lattices with L2 norm error of 3.6%. This error is reduced significantly to 0.27% when weighting fine-group diffusion coefficients by the flux and applying a correction to the diffusion approximation. Noticeable tilting in reconstructed fluxes and pin powers was reduced when applying these corrections. (authors)

Development of Monte Carlo decay gamma-ray transport calculation system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, Satoshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Naka, Ibaraki (Japan). Naka Fusion Research Establishment; Kawasaki, Nobuo [Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Kume, Etsuo [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering, Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan)

2001-06-01

In the DT fusion reactor, it is critical concern to evaluate the decay gamma-ray biological dose rates after the reactor shutdown exactly. In order to evaluate the decay gamma-ray biological dose rates exactly, three dimensional Monte Carlo decay gamma-ray transport calculation system have been developed by connecting the three dimensional Monte Carlo particle transport calculation code and the induced activity calculation code. The developed calculation system consists of the following four functions. (1) The operational neutron flux distribution is calculated by the three dimensional Monte Carlo particle transport calculation code. (2) The induced activities are calculated by the induced activity calculation code. (3) The decay gamma-ray source distribution is obtained from the induced activities. (4) The decay gamma-rays are generated by using the decay gamma-ray source distribution, and the decay gamma-ray transport calculation is conducted by the three dimensional Monte Carlo particle transport calculation code. In order to reduce the calculation time drastically, a biasing system for the decay gamma-ray source distribution has been developed, and the function is also included in the present system. In this paper, the outline and the detail of the system, and the execution example are reported. The evaluation for the effect of the biasing system is also reported. (author)

PEREGRINE: An all-particle Monte Carlo code for radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartmann Siantar, C.L.; Chandler, W.P.; Rathkopf, J.A.; Svatos, M.M.; White, R.M.

1994-09-01

The goal of radiation therapy is to deliver a lethal dose to the tumor while minimizing the dose to normal tissues. To carry out this task, it is critical to calculate correctly the distribution of dose delivered. Monte Carlo transport methods have the potential to provide more accurate prediction of dose distributions than currently-used methods. PEREGRINE is a new Monte Carlo transport code developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the specific purpose of modeling the effects of radiation therapy. PEREGRINE transports neutrons, photons, electrons, positrons, and heavy charged-particles, including protons, deuterons, tritons, helium-3, and alpha particles. This paper describes the PEREGRINE transport code and some preliminary results for clinically relevant materials and radiation sources

METHES: A Monte Carlo collision code for the simulation of electron transport in low temperature plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Rabie, M.; Franck, C. M.

2016-06-01

We present a freely available MATLAB code for the simulation of electron transport in arbitrary gas mixtures in the presence of uniform electric fields. For steady-state electron transport, the program provides the transport coefficients, reaction rates and the electron energy distribution function. The program uses established Monte Carlo techniques and is compatible with the electron scattering cross section files from the open-access Plasma Data Exchange Project LXCat. The code is written in object-oriented design, allowing the tracing and visualization of the spatiotemporal evolution of electron swarms and the temporal development of the mean energy and the electron number due to attachment and/or ionization processes. We benchmark our code with well-known model gases as well as the real gases argon, N2, O2, CF4, SF6 and mixtures of N2 and O2.

Monte-Carlo Impurity transport simulations in the edge of the DIII-D tokamak using the MCI code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, T.E.; Mahdavi, M.A.; Sager, G.T.; West, W.P.; Fenstermacher, M.E.; Meyer, W.H.; Porter, G.D.

1995-07-01

A Monte-Carlo Impurity (MCI) transport code is used to follow trace impurities through multiple ionization states in realistic 2-D tokamak geometries. The MCI code is used to study impurity transport along the open magnetic field lines of the Scrape-off Layer (SOL) and to understand how impurities get into the core from the SOL. An MCI study concentrating on the entrainment of carbon impurities ions by deuterium background plasma into the DIII-D divertor is discussed. MCI simulation results are compared to experimental DIII-D carbon measurements

Monte-Carlo Impurity transport simulations in the edge of the DIII-D tokamak using the MCI code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, T.E.; Sager, G.T.; Mahdavi, M.A.; Porter, G.D.; Fenstermacher, M.E.; Meyer, W.H.

1995-01-01

A Monte-Carlo Impurity (MCI) transport code is used to follow trace impurities through multiple ionization states in realistic 2-D tokamak geometries. The MCI code is used to study impurity transport along the open magnetic field lines of the Scrape-off Layer (SOL) and to understand how impurities get into the core from the SOL. An MCI study concentrating on the entrainment of carbon impurities ions by deuterium background plasma into the DII-D divertor is discussed. MCI simulation results are compared to experimental DII-D carbon measurements. 2 refs

Proton therapy Monte Carlo SRNA-VOX code

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilić Radovan D.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The most powerful feature of the Monte Carlo method is the possibility of simulating all individual particle interactions in three dimensions and performing numerical experiments with a preset error. These facts were the motivation behind the development of a general-purpose Monte Carlo SRNA program for proton transport simulation in technical systems described by standard geometrical forms (plane, sphere, cone, cylinder, cube. Some of the possible applications of the SRNA program are: (a a general code for proton transport modeling, (b design of accelerator-driven systems, (c simulation of proton scattering and degrading shapes and composition, (d research on proton detectors; and (e radiation protection at accelerator installations. This wide range of possible applications of the program demands the development of various versions of SRNA-VOX codes for proton transport modeling in voxelized geometries and has, finally, resulted in the ISTAR package for the calculation of deposited energy distribution in patients on the basis of CT data in radiotherapy. All of the said codes are capable of using 3-D proton sources with an arbitrary energy spectrum in an interval of 100 keV to 250 MeV.

Accuracy estimation for intermediate and low energy neutron transport calculation with Monte Carlo code MCNP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotegawa, Hiroshi; Sasamoto, Nobuo; Tanaka, Shun-ichi

1987-02-01

Both ''measured radioactive inventory due to neutron activation in the shield concrete of JPDR'' and ''measured intermediate and low energy neutron spectra penetrating through a graphite sphere'' are analyzed using a continuous energy model Monte Carlo code MCNP so as to estimate calculational accuracy of the code for neutron transport in thermal and epithermal energy regions. Analyses reveal that MCNP calculates thermal neutron spectra fairly accurately, while it apparently over-estimates epithermal neutron spectra (of approximate 1/E distribution) as compared with the measurements. (author)

SERPENT Monte Carlo reactor physics code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leppaenen, J.

2010-01-01

SERPENT is a three-dimensional continuous-energy Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation code, developed at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland since 2004. The code is specialized in lattice physics applications, but the universe-based geometry description allows transport simulation to be carried out in complicated three-dimensional geometries as well. The suggested applications of SERPENT include generation of homogenized multi-group constants for deterministic reactor simulator calculations, fuel cycle studies involving detailed assembly-level burnup calculations, validation of deterministic lattice transport codes, research reactor applications, educational purposes and demonstration of reactor physics phenomena. The Serpent code has been publicly distributed by the OECD/NEA Data Bank since May 2009 and RSICC in the U. S. since March 2010. The code is being used in some 35 organizations in 20 countries around the world. This paper presents an overview of the methods and capabilities of the Serpent code, with examples in the modelling of WWER-440 reactor physics. (Author)

Specialized Monte Carlo codes versus general-purpose Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moskvin, Vadim; DesRosiers, Colleen; Papiez, Lech; Lu, Xiaoyi

2002-01-01

The possibilities of Monte Carlo modeling for dose calculations and optimization treatment are quite limited in radiation oncology applications. The main reason is that the Monte Carlo technique for dose calculations is time consuming while treatment planning may require hundreds of possible cases of dose simulations to be evaluated for dose optimization. The second reason is that general-purpose codes widely used in practice, require an experienced user to customize them for calculations. This paper discusses the concept of Monte Carlo code design that can avoid the main problems that are preventing wide spread use of this simulation technique in medical physics. (authors)

Monte Carlo codes use in neutron therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paquis, P.; Mokhtari, F.; Karamanoukian, D.; Pignol, J.P.; Cuendet, P.; Iborra, N.

1998-01-01

Monte Carlo calculation codes allow to study accurately all the parameters relevant to radiation effects, like the dose deposition or the type of microscopic interactions, through one by one particle transport simulation. These features are very useful for neutron irradiations, from device development up to dosimetry. This paper illustrates some applications of these codes in Neutron Capture Therapy and Neutron Capture Enhancement of fast neutrons irradiations. (authors)

Development of Monte Carlo-based pebble bed reactor fuel management code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Setiadipura, Topan; Obara, Toru

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A new Monte Carlo-based fuel management code for OTTO cycle pebble bed reactor was developed. • The double-heterogeneity was modeled using statistical method in MVP-BURN code. • The code can perform analysis of equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase. • Code-to-code comparisons for Once-Through-Then-Out case were investigated. • Ability of the code to accommodate the void cavity was confirmed. - Abstract: A fuel management code for pebble bed reactors (PBRs) based on the Monte Carlo method has been developed in this study. The code, named Monte Carlo burnup analysis code for PBR (MCPBR), enables a simulation of the Once-Through-Then-Out (OTTO) cycle of a PBR from the running-in phase to the equilibrium condition. In MCPBR, a burnup calculation based on a continuous-energy Monte Carlo code, MVP-BURN, is coupled with an additional utility code to be able to simulate the OTTO cycle of PBR. MCPBR has several advantages in modeling PBRs, namely its Monte Carlo neutron transport modeling, its capability of explicitly modeling the double heterogeneity of the PBR core, and its ability to model different axial fuel speeds in the PBR core. Analysis at the equilibrium condition of the simplified PBR was used as the validation test of MCPBR. The calculation results of the code were compared with the results of diffusion-based fuel management PBR codes, namely the VSOP and PEBBED codes. Using JENDL-4.0 nuclide library, MCPBR gave a 4.15% and 3.32% lower k eff value compared to VSOP and PEBBED, respectively. While using JENDL-3.3, MCPBR gave a 2.22% and 3.11% higher k eff value compared to VSOP and PEBBED, respectively. The ability of MCPBR to analyze neutron transport in the top void of the PBR core and its effects was also confirmed

Verification of three dimensional triangular prismatic discrete ordinates transport code ENSEMBLE-TRIZ by comparison with Monte Carlo code GMVP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Homma, Y.; Moriwaki, H.; Ikeda, K.; Ohdi, S.

2013-01-01

This paper deals with the verification of the 3 dimensional triangular prismatic discrete ordinates transport calculation code ENSEMBLE-TRIZ by comparison with the multi-group Monte Carlo calculation code GMVP in a large fast breeder reactor. The reactor is a 750 MWe electric power sodium cooled reactor. Nuclear characteristics are calculated at the beginning of cycle of an initial core and at the beginning and the end of cycle of an equilibrium core. According to the calculations, the differences between the two methodologies are smaller than 0.0002 Δk in the multiplication factor, relatively about 1% in the control rod reactivity, and 1% in the sodium void reactivity. (authors)

ITS Version 6 : the integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franke, Brian Claude; Kensek, Ronald Patrick; Laub, Thomas William

2008-04-01

ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state-of-the-art Monte Carlo solution of lineartime-independent coupled electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Our goal has been to simultaneously maximize operational simplicity and physical accuracy. Through a set of preprocessor directives, the user selects one of the many ITS codes. The ease with which the makefile system is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is provided by employing accurate cross sections, sampling distributions, and physical models for describing the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. The availability of source code permits the more sophisticated user to tailor the codes to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the codes to more complex applications. Version 6, the latest version of ITS, contains (1) improvements to the ITS 5.0 codes, and (2) conversion to Fortran 90. The general user friendliness of the software has been enhanced through memory allocation to reduce the need for users to modify and recompile the code.

Solution of charged particle transport equation by Monte-Carlo method in the BRANDZ code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artamonov, S.N.; Androsenko, P.A.; Androsenko, A.A.

1992-01-01

Consideration is given to the issues of Monte-Carlo employment for the solution of charged particle transport equation and its implementation in the BRANDZ code system under the conditions of real 3D geometry and all the data available on radiation-to-matter interaction in multicomponent and multilayer targets. For the solution of implantation problem the results of BRANDZ data comparison with the experiments and calculations by other codes in complexes systems are presented. The results of direct nuclear pumping process simulation for laser-active media by a proton beam are also included. 4 refs.; 7 figs

Guideline of Monte Carlo calculation. Neutron/gamma ray transport simulation by Monte Carlo method

CERN Document Server

2002-01-01

This report condenses basic theories and advanced applications of neutron/gamma ray transport calculations in many fields of nuclear energy research. Chapters 1 through 5 treat historical progress of Monte Carlo methods, general issues of variance reduction technique, cross section libraries used in continuous energy Monte Carlo codes. In chapter 6, the following issues are discussed: fusion benchmark experiments, design of ITER, experiment analyses of fast critical assembly, core analyses of JMTR, simulation of pulsed neutron experiment, core analyses of HTTR, duct streaming calculations, bulk shielding calculations, neutron/gamma ray transport calculations of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Chapters 8 and 9 treat function enhancements of MCNP and MVP codes, and a parallel processing of Monte Carlo calculation, respectively. An important references are attached at the end of this report.

Evaluation of Monte Carlo electron-Transport algorithms in the integrated Tiger series codes for stochastic-media simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franke, B.C.; Kensek, R.P.; Prinja, A.K.

2013-01-01

Stochastic-media simulations require numerous boundary crossings. We consider two Monte Carlo electron transport approaches and evaluate accuracy with numerous material boundaries. In the condensed-history method, approximations are made based on infinite-medium solutions for multiple scattering over some track length. Typically, further approximations are employed for material-boundary crossings where infinite-medium solutions become invalid. We have previously explored an alternative 'condensed transport' formulation, a Generalized Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck (GBFP) method, which requires no special boundary treatment but instead uses approximations to the electron-scattering cross sections. Some limited capabilities for analog transport and a GBFP method have been implemented in the Integrated Tiger Series (ITS) codes. Improvements have been made to the condensed history algorithm. The performance of the ITS condensed-history and condensed-transport algorithms are assessed for material-boundary crossings. These assessments are made both by introducing artificial material boundaries and by comparison to analog Monte Carlo simulations. (authors)

Considerations of MCNP Monte Carlo code to be used as a radiotherapy treatment planning tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Juste, B; Miro, R; Gallardo, S; Verdu, G; Santos, A

2005-01-01

The present work has simulated the photon and electron transport in a Theratron 780® (MDS Nordion)60Co radiotherapy unit, using the Monte Carlo transport code, MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle). This project explains mainly the different methodologies carried out to speedup calculations in order to apply this code efficiently in radiotherapy treatment planning.

User manual for version 4.3 of the Tripoli-4 Monte-Carlo method particle transport computer code; Notice d'utilisation du code Tripoli-4, version 4.3: code de transport de particules par la methode de Monte Carlo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Both, J.P.; Mazzolo, A.; Peneliau, Y.; Petit, O.; Roesslinger, B

2003-07-01

This manual relates to Version 4.3 TRIPOLI-4 code. TRIPOLI-4 is a computer code simulating the transport of neutrons, photons, electrons and positrons. It can be used for radiation shielding calculations (long-distance propagation with flux attenuation in non-multiplying media) and neutronic calculations (fissile medium, criticality or sub-criticality basis). This makes it possible to calculate k{sub eff} (for criticality), flux, currents, reaction rates and multi-group cross-sections. TRIPOLI-4 is a three-dimensional code that uses the Monte-Carlo method. It allows for point-wise description in terms of energy of cross-sections and multi-group homogenized cross-sections and features two modes of geometrical representation: surface and combinatorial. The code uses cross-section libraries in ENDF/B format (such as JEF2-2, ENDF/B-VI and JENDL) for point-wise description cross-sections in APOTRIM format (from the APOLLO2 code) or a format specific to TRIPOLI-4 for multi-group description. (authors)

NASA space radiation transport code development consortium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Townsend, L. W.

2005-01-01

Recently, NASA established a consortium involving the Univ. of Tennessee (lead institution), the Univ. of Houston, Roanoke College and various government and national laboratories, to accelerate the development of a standard set of radiation transport computer codes for NASA human exploration applications. This effort involves further improvements of the Monte Carlo codes HETC and FLUKA and the deterministic code HZETRN, including developing nuclear reaction databases necessary to extend the Monte Carlo codes to carry out heavy ion transport, and extending HZETRN to three dimensions. The improved codes will be validated by comparing predictions with measured laboratory transport data, provided by an experimental measurements consortium, and measurements in the upper atmosphere on the balloon-borne Deep Space Test Bed (DSTB). In this paper, we present an overview of the consortium members and the current status and future plans of consortium efforts to meet the research goals and objectives of this extensive undertaking. (authors)

Application of OMEGA Monte Carlo codes for radiation therapy treatment planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayyangar, Komanduri M.; Jiang, Steve B.

1998-01-01

The accuracy of conventional dose algorithms for radiosurgery treatment planning is limited, due to the inadequate consideration of the lateral radiation transport and the difficulty of acquiring accurate dosimetric data for very small beams. In the present paper, some initial work on the application of Monte Carlo method in radiation treatment planning in general, and in radiosurgery treatment planning in particular, has been presented. Two OMEGA Monte Carlo codes, BEAM and DOSXYZ, are used. The BEAM code is used to simulate the transport of particles in the linac treatment head and radiosurgery collimator. A phase space file is obtained from the BEAM simulation for each collimator size. The DOSXYZ code is used to calculate the dose distribution in the patient's body reconstructed from CT slices using the phase space file as input. The accuracy of OMEGA Monte Carlo simulation for radiosurgery dose calculation is verified by comparing the calculated and measured basic dosimetric data for several radiosurgery beams and a 4 x 4 cm 2 conventional beam. The dose distributions for three clinical cases are calculated using OMEGA codes as the dose engine for an in-house developed radiosurgery treatment planning system. The verification using basic dosimetric data and the dose calculation for clinical cases demonstrate the feasibility of applying OMEGA Monte Carlo code system to radiosurgery treatment planning. (author)

Review of Hybrid (Deterministic/Monte Carlo) Radiation Transport Methods, Codes, and Applications at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, John C.; Peplow, Douglas E.; Mosher, Scott W.; Evans, Thomas M.

2010-01-01

This paper provides a review of the hybrid (Monte Carlo/deterministic) radiation transport methods and codes used at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and examples of their application for increasing the efficiency of real-world, fixed-source Monte Carlo analyses. The two principal hybrid methods are (1) Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) for optimization of a localized detector (tally) region (e.g., flux, dose, or reaction rate at a particular location) and (2) Forward Weighted CADIS (FW-CADIS) for optimizing distributions (e.g., mesh tallies over all or part of the problem space) or multiple localized detector regions (e.g., simultaneous optimization of two or more localized tally regions). The two methods have been implemented and automated in both the MAVRIC sequence of SCALE 6 and ADVANTG, a code that works with the MCNP code. As implemented, the methods utilize the results of approximate, fast-running 3-D discrete ordinates transport calculations (with the Denovo code) to generate consistent space- and energy-dependent source and transport (weight windows) biasing parameters. These methods and codes have been applied to many relevant and challenging problems, including calculations of PWR ex-core thermal detector response, dose rates throughout an entire PWR facility, site boundary dose from arrays of commercial spent fuel storage casks, radiation fields for criticality accident alarm system placement, and detector response for special nuclear material detection scenarios and nuclear well-logging tools. Substantial computational speed-ups, generally O(10 2-4 ), have been realized for all applications to date. This paper provides a brief review of the methods, their implementation, results of their application, and current development activities, as well as a considerable list of references for readers seeking more information about the methods and/or their applications.

Review of Hybrid (Deterministic/Monte Carlo) Radiation Transport Methods, Codes, and Applications at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, John C.; Peplow, Douglas E.; Mosher, Scott W.; Evans, Thomas M.

2010-01-01

This paper provides a review of the hybrid (Monte Carlo/deterministic) radiation transport methods and codes used at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and examples of their application for increasing the efficiency of real-world, fixed-source Monte Carlo analyses. The two principal hybrid methods are (1) Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) for optimization of a localized detector (tally) region (e.g., flux, dose, or reaction rate at a particular location) and (2) Forward Weighted CADIS (FW-CADIS) for optimizing distributions (e.g., mesh tallies over all or part of the problem space) or multiple localized detector regions (e.g., simultaneous optimization of two or more localized tally regions). The two methods have been implemented and automated in both the MAVRIC sequence of SCALE 6 and ADVANTG, a code that works with the MCNP code. As implemented, the methods utilize the results of approximate, fast-running 3-D discrete ordinates transport calculations (with the Denovo code) to generate consistent space- and energy-dependent source and transport (weight windows) biasing parameters. These methods and codes have been applied to many relevant and challenging problems, including calculations of PWR ex-core thermal detector response, dose rates throughout an entire PWR facility, site boundary dose from arrays of commercial spent fuel storage casks, radiation fields for criticality accident alarm system placement, and detector response for special nuclear material detection scenarios and nuclear well-logging tools. Substantial computational speed-ups, generally O(102-4), have been realized for all applications to date. This paper provides a brief review of the methods, their implementation, results of their application, and current development activities, as well as a considerable list of references for readers seeking more information about the methods and/or their applications.

Review of hybrid (deterministic/Monte Carlo) radiation transport methods, codes, and applications at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, J.C.; Peplow, D.E.; Mosher, S.W.; Evans, T.M.

2010-01-01

This paper provides a review of the hybrid (Monte Carlo/deterministic) radiation transport methods and codes used at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and examples of their application for increasing the efficiency of real-world, fixed-source Monte Carlo analyses. The two principal hybrid methods are (1) Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) for optimization of a localized detector (tally) region (e.g., flux, dose, or reaction rate at a particular location) and (2) Forward Weighted CADIS (FW-CADIS) for optimizing distributions (e.g., mesh tallies over all or part of the problem space) or multiple localized detector regions (e.g., simultaneous optimization of two or more localized tally regions). The two methods have been implemented and automated in both the MAVRIC sequence of SCALE 6 and ADVANTG, a code that works with the MCNP code. As implemented, the methods utilize the results of approximate, fast-running 3-D discrete ordinates transport calculations (with the Denovo code) to generate consistent space- and energy-dependent source and transport (weight windows) biasing parameters. These methods and codes have been applied to many relevant and challenging problems, including calculations of PWR ex-core thermal detector response, dose rates throughout an entire PWR facility, site boundary dose from arrays of commercial spent fuel storage casks, radiation fields for criticality accident alarm system placement, and detector response for special nuclear material detection scenarios and nuclear well-logging tools. Substantial computational speed-ups, generally O(10 2-4 ), have been realized for all applications to date. This paper provides a brief review of the methods, their implementation, results of their application, and current development activities, as well as a considerable list of references for readers seeking more information about the methods and/or their applications. (author)

Practical Application of Monte Carlo Code in RTP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamad Hairie Rabir; Julia Abdul Karim; Muhammad Rawi Mohamed Zin; Na'im Syauqi Hamzah; Mark Dennis Anak Usang; Abi Muttaqin Jalal Bayar; Muhammad Khairul Ariff Mustafa

2015-01-01

Monte Carlo neutron transport codes are widely used in various reactor physics applications in RTP and other related nuclear and radiation research in Nuklear Malaysia. The main advantage of the method is the capability to model geometry and interaction physics without major approximations. The disadvantage is that the modelling of complicated systems is very computing-intensive, which restricts the applications to some extent. The importance of Monte Carlo calculation is likely to increase in the future, along with the development in computer capacities and parallel calculation. This paper presents several calculation activities, its achievements and challenges in using MCNP code for neutronics analysis, nuclide inventory and source term calculation, shielding and dose evaluation. (author)

Measured performances on vectorization and multitasking with a Monte Carlo code for neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chauvet, Y.

1985-01-01

This paper summarized two improvements of a real production code by using vectorization and multitasking techniques. After a short description of Monte Carlo algorithms employed in neutron transport problems, the authors briefly describe the work done in order to get a vector code. Vectorization principles are presented and measured performances on the CRAY 1S, CYBER 205 and CRAY X-MP compared in terms of vector lengths. The second part of this work is an adaptation to multitasking on the CRAY X-MP using exclusively standard multitasking tools available with FORTRAN under the COS 1.13 system. Two examples are presented. The goal of the first one is to measure the overhead inherent to multitasking when tasks become too small and to define a granularity threshold, that is to say a minimum size for a task. With the second example they propose a method that is very X-MP oriented in order to get the best speedup factor on such a computer. In conclusion they prove that Monte Carlo algorithms are very well suited to future vector and parallel computers

Development and validation of ALEPH Monte Carlo burn-up code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stankovskiy, A.; Van den Eynde, G.; Vidmar, T.

2011-01-01

The Monte-Carlo burn-up code ALEPH is being developed in SCK-CEN since 2004. Belonging to the category of shells coupling Monte Carlo transport (MCNP or MCNPX) and 'deterministic' depletion codes (ORIGEN-2.2), ALEPH possess some unique features that distinguish it from other codes. The most important feature is full data consistency between steady-state Monte Carlo and time-dependent depletion calculations. Recent improvements of ALEPH concern full implementation of general-purpose nuclear data libraries (JEFF-3.1.1, ENDF/B-VII, JENDL-3.3). The upgraded version of the code is capable to treat isomeric branching ratios, neutron induced fission product yields, spontaneous fission yields and energy release per fission recorded in ENDF-formatted data files. The alternative algorithm for time evolution of nuclide concentrations is added. A predictor-corrector mechanism and the calculation of nuclear heating are available as well. The validation of the code on REBUS experimental programme results has been performed. The upgraded version of ALEPH has shown better agreement with measured data than other codes, including previous version of ALEPH. (authors)

Comparison of calculations of a reflected reactor with diffusion, SN and Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGregor, B.

1975-01-01

A diffusion theory code, POW, was compared with a Monte Carlo transport theory code, KENO, for the calculation of a small C/ 235 U cylindrical core with a graphite reflector. The calculated multiplication factors were in good agreement but differences were noted in region-averaged group fluxes. A one-dimensional spherical geometry was devised to approximate cylindrical geometry. Differences similar to those already observed were noted when the region-averaged fluxes from a diffusion theory (POW) calculation were compared with an SN transport theory (ANAUSN) calculation for the spherical model. Calculations made with SN and Monte Carlo transport codes were in good agreement. It was concluded that observed flux differences were attributable to the POW code, and were not inconsistent with inherent diffusion theory approximations. (author)

New features of the mercury Monte Carlo particle transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Procassini, Richard; Brantley, Patrick; Dawson, Shawn

2010-01-01

Several new capabilities have been added to the Mercury Monte Carlo transport code over the past four years. The most important algorithmic enhancement is a general, extensible infrastructure to support source, tally and variance reduction actions. For each action, the user defines a phase space, as well as any number of responses that are applied to a specified event. Tallies are accumulated into a correlated, multi-dimensional. Cartesian-product result phase space. Our approach employs a common user interface to specify the data sets and distributions that define the phase, response and result for each action. Modifications to the particle trackers include the use of facet halos (instead of extrapolative fuzz) for robust tracking, and material interface reconstruction for use in shape overlaid meshes. Support for expected-value criticality eigenvalue calculations has also been implemented. Computer science enhancements include an in-line Python interface for user customization of problem setup and output. (author)

PBMC: Pre-conditioned Backward Monte Carlo code for radiative transport in planetary atmospheres

Science.gov (United States)

García Muñoz, A.; Mills, F. P.

2017-08-01

PBMC (Pre-Conditioned Backward Monte Carlo) solves the vector Radiative Transport Equation (vRTE) and can be applied to planetary atmospheres irradiated from above. The code builds the solution by simulating the photon trajectories from the detector towards the radiation source, i.e. in the reverse order of the actual photon displacements. In accounting for the polarization in the sampling of photon propagation directions and pre-conditioning the scattering matrix with information from the scattering matrices of prior (in the BMC integration order) photon collisions, PBMC avoids the unstable and biased solutions of classical BMC algorithms for conservative, optically-thick, strongly-polarizing media such as Rayleigh atmospheres.

Burnup code for fuel assembly by Monte Carlo code. MKENO-BURN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naito, Yoshitaka; Suyama, Kenya; Masukawa, Fumihiro; Matsumoto, Kiyoshi; Kurosawa, Masayoshi; Kaneko, Toshiyuki.

1996-12-01

The evaluation of neutron spectrum is so important for burnup calculation of the heterogeneous geometry like recent BWR fuel assembly. MKENO-BURN is a multi dimensional burnup code that based on the three dimensional monte carlo neutron transport code 'MULTI-KENO' and the routine for the burnup calculation of the one dimensional burnup code 'UNITBURN'. MKENO-BURN analyzes the burnup problem of arbitrary regions after evaluating the neutron spectrum and making one group cross section in three dimensional geometry with MULTI-KENO. It enables us to do three dimensional burnup calculation. This report consists of general description of MKENO-BURN and the input data. (author)

Burnup code for fuel assembly by Monte Carlo code. MKENO-BURN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naito, Yoshitaka; Suyama, Kenya; Masukawa, Fumihiro; Matsumoto, Kiyoshi; Kurosawa, Masayoshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment; Kaneko, Toshiyuki

1996-12-01

The evaluation of neutron spectrum is so important for burnup calculation of the heterogeneous geometry like recent BWR fuel assembly. MKENO-BURN is a multi dimensional burnup code that based on the three dimensional monte carlo neutron transport code `MULTI-KENO` and the routine for the burnup calculation of the one dimensional burnup code `UNITBURN`. MKENO-BURN analyzes the burnup problem of arbitrary regions after evaluating the neutron spectrum and making one group cross section in three dimensional geometry with MULTI-KENO. It enables us to do three dimensional burnup calculation. This report consists of general description of MKENO-BURN and the input data. (author)

Space applications of the MITS electron-photon Monte Carlo transport code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kensek, R.P.; Lorence, L.J.; Halbleib, J.A.; Morel, J.E.

1996-01-01

The MITS multigroup/continuous-energy electron-photon Monte Carlo transport code system has matured to the point that it is capable of addressing more realistic three-dimensional adjoint applications. It is first employed to efficiently predict point doses as a function of source energy for simple three-dimensional experimental geometries exposed to simulated uniform isotropic planar sources of monoenergetic electrons up to 4.0 MeV. Results are in very good agreement with experimental data. It is then used to efficiently simulate dose to a detector in a subsystem of a GPS satellite due to its natural electron environment, employing a relatively complex model of the satellite. The capability for survivability analysis of space systems is demonstrated, and results are obtained with and without variance reduction

Radiation transport simulation in gamma irradiator systems using E G S 4 Monte Carlo code and dose mapping calculations based on point kernel technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raisali, G.R.

1992-01-01

A series of computer codes based on point kernel technique and also Monte Carlo method have been developed. These codes perform radiation transport calculations for irradiator systems having cartesian, cylindrical and mixed geometries. The monte Carlo calculations, the computer code 'EGS4' has been applied to a radiation processing type problem. This code has been acompanied by a specific user code. The set of codes developed include: GCELLS, DOSMAPM, DOSMAPC2 which simulate the radiation transport in gamma irradiator systems having cylinderical, cartesian, and mixed geometries, respectively. The program 'DOSMAP3' based on point kernel technique, has been also developed for dose rate mapping calculations in carrier type gamma irradiators. Another computer program 'CYLDETM' as a user code for EGS4 has been also developed to simulate dose variations near the interface of heterogeneous media in gamma irradiator systems. In addition a system of computer codes 'PRODMIX' has been developed which calculates the absorbed dose in the products with different densities. validation studies of the calculated results versus experimental dosimetry has been performed and good agreement has been obtained

Recent developments in the Los Alamos radiation transport code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forster, R.A.; Parsons, K.

1997-01-01

A brief progress report on updates to the Los Alamos Radiation Transport Code System (LARTCS) for solving criticality and fixed-source problems is provided. LARTCS integrates the Diffusion Accelerated Neutral Transport (DANT) discrete ordinates codes with the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. The LARCTS code is being developed with a graphical user interface for problem setup and analysis. Progress in the DANT system for criticality applications include a two-dimensional module which can be linked to a mesh-generation code and a faster iteration scheme. Updates to MCNP Version 4A allow statistical checks of calculated Monte Carlo results

Weighted-delta-tracking for Monte Carlo particle transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgan, L.W.G.; Kotlyar, D.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • This paper presents an alteration to the Monte Carlo Woodcock tracking technique. • The alteration improves computational efficiency within regions of high absorbers. • The rejection technique is replaced by a statistical weighting mechanism. • The modified Woodcock method is shown to be faster than standard Woodcock tracking. • The modified Woodcock method achieves a lower variance, given a specified accuracy. - Abstract: Monte Carlo particle transport (MCPT) codes are incredibly powerful and versatile tools to simulate particle behavior in a multitude of scenarios, such as core/criticality studies, radiation protection, shielding, medicine and fusion research to name just a small subset applications. However, MCPT codes can be very computationally expensive to run when the model geometry contains large attenuation depths and/or contains many components. This paper proposes a simple modification to the Woodcock tracking method used by some Monte Carlo particle transport codes. The Woodcock method utilizes the rejection method for sampling virtual collisions as a method to remove collision distance sampling at material boundaries. However, it suffers from poor computational efficiency when the sample acceptance rate is low. The proposed method removes rejection sampling from the Woodcock method in favor of a statistical weighting scheme, which improves the computational efficiency of a Monte Carlo particle tracking code. It is shown that the modified Woodcock method is less computationally expensive than standard ray-tracing and rejection-based Woodcock tracking methods and achieves a lower variance, given a specified accuracy

MVP/GMVP version 3. General purpose Monte Carlo codes for neutron and photon transport calculations based on continuous energy and multigroup methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Okumura, Keisuke; Sakurai, Takeshi; Mori, Takamasa

2017-03-01

In order to realize fast and accurate Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and photon transport problems, two Monte Carlo codes MVP (continuous-energy method) and GMVP (multigroup method) have been developed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The codes have adopted a vectorized algorithm and have been developed for vector-type supercomputers. They also support parallel processing with a standard parallelization library MPI and thus a speed-up of Monte Carlo calculations can be achieved on general computing platforms. The first and second versions of the codes were released in 1994 and 2005, respectively. They have been extensively improved and new capabilities have been implemented. The major improvements and new capabilities are as follows: (1) perturbation calculation for effective multiplication factor, (2) exact resonant elastic scattering model, (3) calculation of reactor kinetics parameters, (4) photo-nuclear model, (5) simulation of delayed neutrons, (6) generation of group constants. This report describes the physical model, geometry description method used in the codes, new capabilities and input instructions. (author)

Parallel MCNP Monte Carlo transport calculations with MPI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, J.C.; Haghighat, A.

1996-01-01

The steady increase in computational performance has made Monte Carlo calculations for large/complex systems possible. However, in order to make these calculations practical, order of magnitude increases in performance are necessary. The Monte Carlo method is inherently parallel (particles are simulated independently) and thus has the potential for near-linear speedup with respect to the number of processors. Further, the ever-increasing accessibility of parallel computers, such as workstation clusters, facilitates the practical use of parallel Monte Carlo. Recognizing the nature of the Monte Carlo method and the trends in available computing, the code developers at Los Alamos National Laboratory implemented the message-passing general-purpose Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP (version 4A). The PVM package was chosen by the MCNP code developers because it supports a variety of communication networks, several UNIX platforms, and heterogeneous computer systems. This PVM version of MCNP has been shown to produce speedups that approach the number of processors and thus, is a very useful tool for transport analysis. Due to software incompatibilities on the local IBM SP2, PVM has not been available, and thus it is not possible to take advantage of this useful tool. Hence, it became necessary to implement an alternative message-passing library package into MCNP. Because the message-passing interface (MPI) is supported on the local system, takes advantage of the high-speed communication switches in the SP2, and is considered to be the emerging standard, it was selected

Transport theory and codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clancy, B.E.

1986-01-01

This chapter begins with a neutron transport equation which includes the one dimensional plane geometry problems, the one dimensional spherical geometry problems, and numerical solutions. The section on the ANISN code and its look-alikes covers problems which can be solved; eigenvalue problems; outer iteration loop; inner iteration loop; and finite difference solution procedures. The input and output data for ANISN is also discussed. Two dimensional problems such as the DOT code are given. Finally, an overview of the Monte-Carlo methods and codes are elaborated on

Transport methods: general. 1. The Analytical Monte Carlo Method for Radiation Transport Calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, William R.; Brown, Forrest B.

2001-01-01

We present an alternative Monte Carlo method for solving the coupled equations of radiation transport and material energy. This method is based on incorporating the analytical solution to the material energy equation directly into the Monte Carlo simulation for the radiation intensity. This method, which we call the Analytical Monte Carlo (AMC) method, differs from the well known Implicit Monte Carlo (IMC) method of Fleck and Cummings because there is no discretization of the material energy equation since it is solved as a by-product of the Monte Carlo simulation of the transport equation. Our method also differs from the method recently proposed by Ahrens and Larsen since they use Monte Carlo to solve both equations, while we are solving only the radiation transport equation with Monte Carlo, albeit with effective sources and cross sections to represent the emission sources. Our method bears some similarity to a method developed and implemented by Carter and Forest nearly three decades ago, but there are substantive differences. We have implemented our method in a simple zero-dimensional Monte Carlo code to test the feasibility of the method, and the preliminary results are very promising, justifying further extension to more realistic geometries. (authors)

Measured performances on vectorization and multitasking with a Monte Carlo code for neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chauvet, Y.

1985-01-01

This paper summarized two improvements of a real production code by using vectorization and multitasking techniques. After a short description of Monte Carlo algorithms employed in our neutron transport problems, we briefly describe the work we have done in order to get a vector code. Vectorization principles will be presented and measured performances on the CRAY 1S, CYBER 205 and CRAY X-MP compared in terms of vector lengths. The second part of this work is an adaptation to multitasking on the CRAY X-MP using exclusively standard multitasking tools available with FORTRAN under the COS 1.13 system. Two examples will be presented. The goal of the first one is to measure the overhead inherent to multitasking when tasks become too small and to define a granularity threshold, that is to say a minimum size for a task. With the second example we propose a method that is very X-MP oriented in order to get the best speedup factor on such a computer. In conclusion we prove that Monte Carlo algorithms are very well suited to future vector and parallel computers. (orig.)

Penelope - a code system for Monte Carlo simulation of electron and photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

Radiation is used in many applications of modern technology. Its proper handling requires competent knowledge of the basic physical laws governing its interaction with matter. To ensure its safe use, appropriate tools for predicting radiation fields and doses, as well as pertinent regulations, are required. One area of radiation physics that has received much attention concerns electron-photon transport in matter. PENELOPE is a modern, general-purpose Monte Carlo tool for simulating the transport of electrons and photons, which is applicable for arbitrary materials and in a wide energy range. PENELOPE provides quantitative guidance for many practical situations and techniques, including electron and X-ray spectroscopies, electron microscopy and microanalysis, biophysics, dosimetry, medical diagnostics and radiotherapy, as well as radiation damage and shielding. These proceedings contain the extensively revised teaching notes of the second workshop/training course on PENELOPE held in 2003, along with a detailed description of the improved physic models, numerical algorithms and structure of the code system. (author)

Monte Carlo Codes Invited Session

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trama, J.C.; Malvagi, F.; Brown, F.

2013-01-01

This document lists 22 Monte Carlo codes used in radiation transport applications throughout the world. For each code the names of the organization and country and/or place are given. We have the following computer codes. 1) ARCHER, USA, RPI; 2) COG11, USA, LLNL; 3) DIANE, France, CEA/DAM Bruyeres; 4) FLUKA, Italy and CERN, INFN and CERN; 5) GEANT4, International GEANT4 collaboration; 6) KENO and MONACO (SCALE), USA, ORNL; 7) MC21, USA, KAPL and Bettis; 8) MCATK, USA, LANL; 9) MCCARD, South Korea, Seoul National University; 10) MCNP6, USA, LANL; 11) MCU, Russia, Kurchatov Institute; 12) MONK and MCBEND, United Kingdom, AMEC; 13) MORET5, France, IRSN Fontenay-aux-Roses; 14) MVP2, Japan, JAEA; 15) OPENMC, USA, MIT; 16) PENELOPE, Spain, Barcelona University; 17) PHITS, Japan, JAEA; 18) PRIZMA, Russia, VNIITF; 19) RMC, China, Tsinghua University; 20) SERPENT, Finland, VTT; 21) SUPERMONTECARLO, China, CAS INEST FDS Team Hefei; and 22) TRIPOLI-4, France, CEA Saclay

SPHERE: a spherical-geometry multimaterial electron/photon Monte Carlo transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halbleib, J.A. Sr.

1977-06-01

SPHERE provides experimenters and theorists with a method for the routine solution of coupled electron/photon transport through multimaterial configurations possessing spherical symmetry. Emphasis is placed upon operational simplicity without sacrificing the rigor of the model. SPHERE combines condensed-history electron Monte Carlo with conventional single-scattering photon Monte Carlo in order to describe the transport of all generations of particles from several MeV down to 1.0 and 10.0 keV for electrons and photons, respectively. The model is more accurate at the higher energies, with a less rigorous description of the particle cascade at energies where the shell structure of the transport media becomes important. Flexibility of construction permits the user to tailor the model to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the model to more sophisticated applications through relatively simple update procedures. 8 figs., 3 tables

MCPT: A Monte Carlo code for simulation of photon transport in tomographic scanners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prettyman, T.H.; Gardner, R.P.; Verghese, K.

1990-01-01

MCPT is a special-purpose Monte Carlo code designed to simulate photon transport in tomographic scanners. Variance reduction schemes and sampling games present in MCPT were selected to characterize features common to most tomographic scanners. Combined splitting and biasing (CSB) games are used to systematically sample important detection pathways. An efficient splitting game is used to tally particle energy deposition in detection zones. The pulse height distribution of each detector can be found by convolving the calculated energy deposition distribution with the detector's resolution function. A general geometric modelling package, HERMETOR, is used to describe the geometry of the tomographic scanners and provide MCPT information needed for particle tracking. MCPT's modelling capabilites are described and preliminary experimental validation is presented. (orig.)

Criticality coefficient calculation for a small PWR using Monte Carlo Transport Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trombetta, Debora M.; Su, Jian, E-mail: dtrombetta@nuclear.ufrj.br, E-mail: sujian@nuclear.ufrj.br [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao em Engenharia (COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Chirayath, Sunil S., E-mail: sunilsc@tamu.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute, Texas A and M University, TX (United States)

2015-07-01

Computational models of reactors are increasingly used to predict nuclear reactor physics parameters responsible for reactivity changes which could lead to accidents and losses. In this work, preliminary results for criticality coefficient calculation using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNPX were presented for a small PWR. The computational modeling developed consists of the core with fuel elements, radial reflectors, and control rods inside a pressure vessel. Three different geometries were simulated, a single fuel pin, a fuel assembly and the core, with the aim to compare the criticality coefficients among themselves.The criticality coefficients calculated were: Doppler Temperature Coefficient, Coolant Temperature Coefficient, Coolant Void Coefficient, Power Coefficient, and Control Rod Worth. The coefficient values calculated by the MCNP code were compared with literature results, showing good agreement with reference data, which validate the computational model developed and allow it to be used to perform more complex studies. Criticality Coefficient values for the three simulations done had little discrepancy for almost all coefficients investigated, the only exception was the Power Coefficient. Preliminary results presented show that simple modelling as a fuel assembly can describe changes at almost all the criticality coefficients, avoiding the need of a complex core simulation. (author)

Vectorization and multitasking with a Monte-Carlo code for neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chauvet, Y.

1985-04-01

This paper summarizes two improvements of a Monte Carlo code by resorting to vectorization and multitasking techniques. After a short presentation of the physical problem to solve and a description of the main difficulties to produce an efficient coding, this paper introduces the vectorization principles employed and briefly describes how the vectorized algorithm works. Next, measured performances on CRAY 1S, CYBER 205 and CRAY X-MP are compared. The second part of this paper is devoted to multitasking technique. Starting from the standard multitasking tools available with FORTRAN on CRAY X-MP/4, a multitasked algorithm and its measured speed-ups are presented. In conclusion we prove that vector and parallel computers are a great opportunity for such Monte Carlo algorithms

Tripoli-3: monte Carlo transport code for neutral particles - version 3.5 - users manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vergnaud, Th.; Nimal, J.C.; Chiron, M.

2001-01-01

The TRIPOLI-3 code applies the Monte Carlo method to neutron, gamma-ray and coupled neutron and gamma-ray transport calculations in three-dimensional geometries, either in steady-state conditions or having a time dependence. It can be used to study problems where there is a high flux attenuation between the source zone and the result zone (studies of shielding configurations or source driven sub-critical systems, with fission being taken into account), as well as problems where there is a low flux attenuation (neutronic calculations -- in a fuel lattice cell, for example -- where fission is taken into account, usually with the calculation on the effective multiplication factor, fine structure studies, numerical experiments to investigate methods approximations, etc). TRIPOLI-3 has been operational since 1995 and is the version of the TRIPOLI code that follows on from TRIPOLI-2; it can be used on SUN, RISC600 and HP workstations and on PC using the Linux or Windows/NT operating systems. The code uses nuclear data libraries generated using the THEMIS/NJOY system. The current libraries were derived from ENDF/B6 and JEF2. There is also a response function library based on a number of evaluations, notably the dosimetry libraries IRDF/85, IRDF/90 and also evaluations from JEF2. The treatment of particle transport is the same in version 3.5 as in version 3.4 of the TRIPOLI code; but the version 3.5 is more convenient for preparing the input data and for reading the output. The french version of the user's manual exists. (authors)

MVP/GMVP Version 3. General purpose Monte Carlo codes for neutron and photon transport calculations based on continuous energy and multigroup methods (Translated document)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Okumura, Keisuke; Sakurai, Takeshi; Mori, Takamasa

2017-03-01

In order to realize fast and accurate Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and photon transport problems, two Monte Carlo codes MVP (continuous-energy method) and GMVP (multigroup method) have been developed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The codes have adopted a vectorized algorithm and have been developed for vector-type supercomputers. They also support parallel processing with a standard parallelization library MPI and thus a speed-up of Monte Carlo calculations can be achieved on general computing platforms. The first and second versions of the codes were released in 1994 and 2005, respectively. They have been extensively improved and new capabilities have been implemented. The major improvements and new capabilities are as follows: (1) perturbation calculation for effective multiplication factor, (2) exact resonant elastic scattering model, (3) calculation of reactor kinetics parameters, (4) photo-nuclear model, (5) simulation of delayed neutrons, (6) generation of group constants. This report describes the physical model, geometry description method used in the codes, new capabilities and input instructions. (author)

ITS version 5.0 :the integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/Photon monte carlo transport codes with CAD geometry.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franke, Brian Claude; Kensek, Ronald Patrick; Laub, Thomas William

2005-09-01

ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state-of-the-art Monte Carlo solution of linear time-independent coupled electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Our goal has been to simultaneously maximize operational simplicity and physical accuracy. Through a set of preprocessor directives, the user selects one of the many ITS codes. The ease with which the makefile system is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is provided by employing accurate cross sections, sampling distributions, and physical models for describing the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. The availability of source code permits the more sophisticated user to tailor the codes to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the codes to more complex applications. Version 5.0, the latest version of ITS, contains (1) improvements to the ITS 3.0 continuous-energy codes, (2) multigroup codes with adjoint transport capabilities, (3) parallel implementations of all ITS codes, (4) a general purpose geometry engine for linking with CAD or other geometry formats, and (5) the Cholla facet geometry library. Moreover, the general user friendliness of the software has been enhanced through increased internal error checking and improved code portability.

User manual for version 4.3 of the Tripoli-4 Monte-Carlo method particle transport computer code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Both, J.P.; Mazzolo, A.; Peneliau, Y.; Petit, O.; Roesslinger, B.

2003-01-01

This manual relates to Version 4.3 TRIPOLI-4 code. TRIPOLI-4 is a computer code simulating the transport of neutrons, photons, electrons and positrons. It can be used for radiation shielding calculations (long-distance propagation with flux attenuation in non-multiplying media) and neutronic calculations (fissile medium, criticality or sub-criticality basis). This makes it possible to calculate k eff (for criticality), flux, currents, reaction rates and multi-group cross-sections. TRIPOLI-4 is a three-dimensional code that uses the Monte-Carlo method. It allows for point-wise description in terms of energy of cross-sections and multi-group homogenized cross-sections and features two modes of geometrical representation: surface and combinatorial. The code uses cross-section libraries in ENDF/B format (such as JEF2-2, ENDF/B-VI and JENDL) for point-wise description cross-sections in APOTRIM format (from the APOLLO2 code) or a format specific to TRIPOLI-4 for multi-group description. (authors)

Voxel2MCNP: a framework for modeling, simulation and evaluation of radiation transport scenarios for Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pölz, Stefan; Laubersheimer, Sven; Eberhardt, Jakob S; Harrendorf, Marco A; Keck, Thomas; Benzler, Andreas; Breustedt, Bastian

2013-01-01

The basic idea of Voxel2MCNP is to provide a framework supporting users in modeling radiation transport scenarios using voxel phantoms and other geometric models, generating corresponding input for the Monte Carlo code MCNPX, and evaluating simulation output. Applications at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are primarily whole and partial body counter calibration and calculation of dose conversion coefficients. A new generic data model describing data related to radiation transport, including phantom and detector geometries and their properties, sources, tallies and materials, has been developed. It is modular and generally independent of the targeted Monte Carlo code. The data model has been implemented as an XML-based file format to facilitate data exchange, and integrated with Voxel2MCNP to provide a common interface for modeling, visualization, and evaluation of data. Also, extensions to allow compatibility with several file formats, such as ENSDF for nuclear structure properties and radioactive decay data, SimpleGeo for solid geometry modeling, ImageJ for voxel lattices, and MCNPX’s MCTAL for simulation results have been added. The framework is presented and discussed in this paper and example workflows for body counter calibration and calculation of dose conversion coefficients is given to illustrate its application. (paper)

DEEP code to calculate dose equivalents in human phantom for external photon exposure by Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, Yasuhiro

1991-01-01

The present report describes a computer code DEEP which calculates the organ dose equivalents and the effective dose equivalent for external photon exposure by the Monte Carlo method. MORSE-CG, Monte Carlo radiation transport code, is incorporated into the DEEP code to simulate photon transport phenomena in and around a human body. The code treats an anthropomorphic phantom represented by mathematical formulae and user has a choice for the phantom sex: male, female and unisex. The phantom can wear personal dosimeters on it and user can specify their location and dimension. This document includes instruction and sample problem for the code as well as the general description of dose calculation, human phantom and computer code. (author)

MCNP: a general Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport. Version 3A. Revision 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briesmeister, J.F.

1986-09-01

This manual is a practical guide for the use of our general-purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP. The first chapter is a primer for the novice user. The second chapter describes the mathematics, data, physics, and Monte Carlo simulation found in MCNP. This discussion is not meant to be exhaustive - details of the particular techniques and of the Monte Carlo method itself will have to be found elsewhere. The third chapter shows the user how to prepare input for the code. The fourth chapter contains several examples, and the fifth chapter explains the output. The appendices show how to use MCNP on particular computer systems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and also give details about some of the code internals that those who wish to modify the code may find useful. 57 refs

Monte Carlo burnup codes acceleration using the correlated sampling method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieudonne, C.

2013-01-01

For several years, Monte Carlo burnup/depletion codes have appeared, which couple Monte Carlo codes to simulate the neutron transport to deterministic methods, which handle the medium depletion due to the neutron flux. Solving Boltzmann and Bateman equations in such a way allows to track fine 3-dimensional effects and to get rid of multi-group hypotheses done by deterministic solvers. The counterpart is the prohibitive calculation time due to the Monte Carlo solver called at each time step. In this document we present an original methodology to avoid the repetitive and time-expensive Monte Carlo simulations, and to replace them by perturbation calculations: indeed the different burnup steps may be seen as perturbations of the isotopic concentration of an initial Monte Carlo simulation. In a first time we will present this method, and provide details on the perturbative technique used, namely the correlated sampling. In a second time we develop a theoretical model to study the features of the correlated sampling method to understand its effects on depletion calculations. In a third time the implementation of this method in the TRIPOLI-4 code will be discussed, as well as the precise calculation scheme used to bring important speed-up of the depletion calculation. We will begin to validate and optimize the perturbed depletion scheme with the calculation of a REP-like fuel cell depletion. Then this technique will be used to calculate the depletion of a REP-like assembly, studied at beginning of its cycle. After having validated the method with a reference calculation we will show that it can speed-up by nearly an order of magnitude standard Monte-Carlo depletion codes. (author) [fr

Premar-2: a Monte Carlo code for radiative transport simulation in atmospheric environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cupini, E. [ENEA, Centro Ricerche Ezio Clementel, Bologna, (Italy). Dipt. Innovazione

1999-07-01

The peculiarities of the PREMAR-2 code, aimed at radiation transport Monte Carlo simulation in atmospheric environments in the infrared-ultraviolet frequency range, are described. With respect to the previously developed PREMAR code, besides plane multilayers, spherical multilayers and finite sequences of vertical layers, each one with its own atmospheric behaviour, are foreseen in the new code, together with the refraction phenomenon, so that long range, highly slanted paths can now be more faithfully taken into account. A zenithal angular dependence of the albedo coefficient has moreover been introduced. Lidar systems, with spatially independent source and telescope, are allowed again to be simulated, and, in this latest version of the code, sensitivity analyses to be performed. According to this last feasibility, consequences on radiation transport of small perturbations in physical components of the atmospheric environment may be analyze and the related effects on searched results estimated. The availability of a library of physical data (reaction coefficients, phase functions and refraction indexes) is required by the code, providing the essential features of the environment of interest needed of the Monte Carlo simulation. Variance reducing techniques have been enhanced in the Premar-2 code, by introducing, for instance, a local forced collision technique, especially apt to be used in Lidar system simulations. Encouraging comparisons between code and experimental results carried out at the Brasimone Centre of ENEA, have so far been obtained, even if further checks of the code are to be performed. [Italian] Nel presente rapporto vengono descritte le principali caratteristiche del codice di calcolo PREMAR-2, che esegue la simulazione Montecarlo del trasporto della radiazione elettromagnetica nell'atmosfera, nell'intervallo di frequenza che va dall'infrarosso all'ultravioletto. Rispetto al codice PREMAR precedentemente sviluppato, il codice

Feasibility Study of Core Design with a Monte Carlo Code for APR1400 Initial core

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jinsun; Chang, Do Ik; Seong, Kibong [KEPCO NF, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The Monte Carlo calculation becomes more popular and useful nowadays due to the rapid progress in computing power and parallel calculation techniques. There have been many attempts to analyze a commercial core by Monte Carlo transport code using the enhanced computer capability, recently. In this paper, Monte Carlo calculation of APR1400 initial core has been performed and the results are compared with the calculation results of conventional deterministic code to find out the feasibility of core design using Monte Carlo code. SERPENT, a 3D continuous-energy Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation code is used for this purpose and the KARMA-ASTRA code system, which is used for a deterministic code of comparison. The preliminary investigation for the feasibility of commercial core design with Monte Carlo code was performed in this study. Simplified core geometry modeling was performed for the reactor core surroundings and reactor coolant model is based on two region model. The reactivity difference at HZP ARO condition between Monte Carlo code and the deterministic code is consistent with each other and the reactivity difference during the depletion could be reduced by adopting the realistic moderator temperature. The reactivity difference calculated at HFP, BOC, ARO equilibrium condition was 180 ±9 pcm, with axial moderator temperature of a deterministic code. The computing time will be a significant burden at this time for the application of Monte Carlo code to the commercial core design even with the application of parallel computing because numerous core simulations are required for actual loading pattern search. One of the remedy will be a combination of Monte Carlo code and the deterministic code to generate the physics data. The comparison of physics parameters with sophisticated moderator temperature modeling and depletion will be performed for a further study.

Electron transport code theoretical basis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubi, A.; Horowitz, Y.S.

1978-04-01

This report mainly describes the physical and mathematical considerations involved in the treatment of the multiple collision processes. A brief description is given of the traditional methods used in electron transport via Monte Carlo, and a somewhat more detailed description, of the approach to be used in the presently developed code

VIM: a continuous energy Monte Carlo code at ANL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blomquist, R.N.; Lell, R.M.; Gelbard, E.M.

1980-01-01

The continuous-energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code VIM and its auxiliaries are briefly described. The ENDF/B cross section data processing procedure is summarized and its benchmarking against MC 2 -2 is reviewed. Several representative applications at ANL are described, including fast critical assembly benchmark calculations and STF and TREAT Upgrade benchmark calculations. 2 figures

A GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation code for photon transport in a voxel phantom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellezzo, M.; Do Nascimento, E.; Yoriyaz, H., E-mail: mbellezzo@gmail.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares / CNEN, Av. Lineu Prestes 2242, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-000 Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2014-08-15

As the most accurate method to estimate absorbed dose in radiotherapy, Monte Carlo method has been widely used in radiotherapy treatment planning. Nevertheless, its efficiency can be improved for clinical routine applications. In this paper, we present the CUBMC code, a GPU-based Mc photon transport algorithm for dose calculation under the Compute Unified Device Architecture platform. The simulation of physical events is based on the algorithm used in Penelope, and the cross section table used is the one generated by the Material routine, als present in Penelope code. Photons are transported in voxel-based geometries with different compositions. To demonstrate the capabilities of the algorithm developed in the present work four 128 x 128 x 128 voxel phantoms have been considered. One of them is composed by a homogeneous water-based media, the second is composed by bone, the third is composed by lung and the fourth is composed by a heterogeneous bone and vacuum geometry. Simulations were done considering a 6 MeV monoenergetic photon point source. There are two distinct approaches that were used for transport simulation. The first of them forces the photon to stop at every voxel frontier, the second one is the Woodcock method, where the photon stop in the frontier will be considered depending on the material changing across the photon travel line. Dose calculations using these methods are compared for validation with Penelope and MCNP5 codes. Speed-up factors are compared using a NVidia GTX 560-Ti GPU card against a 2.27 GHz Intel Xeon CPU processor. (Author)

A GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation code for photon transport in a voxel phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellezzo, M.; Do Nascimento, E.; Yoriyaz, H.

2014-08-01

As the most accurate method to estimate absorbed dose in radiotherapy, Monte Carlo method has been widely used in radiotherapy treatment planning. Nevertheless, its efficiency can be improved for clinical routine applications. In this paper, we present the CUBMC code, a GPU-based Mc photon transport algorithm for dose calculation under the Compute Unified Device Architecture platform. The simulation of physical events is based on the algorithm used in Penelope, and the cross section table used is the one generated by the Material routine, als present in Penelope code. Photons are transported in voxel-based geometries with different compositions. To demonstrate the capabilities of the algorithm developed in the present work four 128 x 128 x 128 voxel phantoms have been considered. One of them is composed by a homogeneous water-based media, the second is composed by bone, the third is composed by lung and the fourth is composed by a heterogeneous bone and vacuum geometry. Simulations were done considering a 6 MeV monoenergetic photon point source. There are two distinct approaches that were used for transport simulation. The first of them forces the photon to stop at every voxel frontier, the second one is the Woodcock method, where the photon stop in the frontier will be considered depending on the material changing across the photon travel line. Dose calculations using these methods are compared for validation with Penelope and MCNP5 codes. Speed-up factors are compared using a NVidia GTX 560-Ti GPU card against a 2.27 GHz Intel Xeon CPU processor. (Author)

Tripoli-3: monte Carlo transport code for neutral particles - version 3.5 - users manual; Tripoli-3: code de transport des particules neutres par la methode de monte carlo - version 3.5 - manuel d'utilisation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vergnaud, Th; Nimal, J C; Chiron, M

2001-07-01

The TRIPOLI-3 code applies the Monte Carlo method to neutron, gamma-ray and coupled neutron and gamma-ray transport calculations in three-dimensional geometries, either in steady-state conditions or having a time dependence. It can be used to study problems where there is a high flux attenuation between the source zone and the result zone (studies of shielding configurations or source driven sub-critical systems, with fission being taken into account), as well as problems where there is a low flux attenuation (neutronic calculations -- in a fuel lattice cell, for example -- where fission is taken into account, usually with the calculation on the effective multiplication factor, fine structure studies, numerical experiments to investigate methods approximations, etc). TRIPOLI-3 has been operational since 1995 and is the version of the TRIPOLI code that follows on from TRIPOLI-2; it can be used on SUN, RISC600 and HP workstations and on PC using the Linux or Windows/NT operating systems. The code uses nuclear data libraries generated using the THEMIS/NJOY system. The current libraries were derived from ENDF/B6 and JEF2. There is also a response function library based on a number of evaluations, notably the dosimetry libraries IRDF/85, IRDF/90 and also evaluations from JEF2. The treatment of particle transport is the same in version 3.5 as in version 3.4 of the TRIPOLI code; but the version 3.5 is more convenient for preparing the input data and for reading the output. The french version of the user's manual exists. (authors)

Randomly dispersed particle fuel model in the PSG Monte Carlo neutron transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leppaenen, J.

2007-01-01

High-temperature gas-cooled reactor fuels are composed of thousands of microscopic fuel particles, randomly dispersed in a graphite matrix. The modelling of such geometry is complicated, especially using continuous-energy Monte Carlo codes, which are unable to apply any deterministic corrections in the calculation. This paper presents the geometry routine developed for modelling randomly dispersed particle fuels using the PSG Monte Carlo reactor physics code. The model is based on the delta-tracking method, and it takes into account the spatial self-shielding effects and the random dispersion of the fuel particles. The calculation routine is validated by comparing the results to reference MCNP4C calculations using uranium and plutonium based fuels. (authors)

Applications of the Los Alamos High Energy Transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waters, L.; Gavron, A.; Prael, R.E.

1992-01-01

Simulation codes reliable through a large range of energies are essential to analyze the environment of vehicles and habitats proposed for space exploration. The LAHET monte carlo code has recently been expanded to track high energy hadrons with FLUKA, while retaining the original Los Alamos version of HETC at lower energies. Electrons and photons are transported with EGS4, and an interface to the MCNP monte carlo code is provided to analyze neutrons with kinetic energies less than 20 MeV. These codes are benchmarked by comparison of LAHET/MCNP calculations to data from the Brookhaven experiment E814 participant calorimeter

Monte Carlo Transport for Electron Thermal Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Chenhall, Jeffrey; Cao, Duc; Moses, Gregory

2015-11-01

The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet multigroup electron thermal transport method of Cao et al. is adapted into a Monte Carlo transport method in order to better model the effects of non-local behavior. The end goal is a hybrid transport-diffusion method that combines Monte Carlo Transport with a discrete diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC). The hybrid method will combine the efficiency of a diffusion method in short mean free path regions with the accuracy of a transport method in long mean free path regions. The Monte Carlo nature of the approach allows the algorithm to be massively parallelized. Work to date on the method will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratory - Albuquerque and the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Electron transport in radiotherapy using local-to-global Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svatos, M.M.; Chandler, W.P.; Siantar, C.L.H.; Rathkopf, J.A.; Ballinger, C.T.

1994-09-01

Local-to-Global (L-G) Monte Carlo methods are a way to make three-dimensional electron transport both fast and accurate relative to other Monte Carlo methods. This is achieved by breaking the simulation into two stages: a local calculation done over small geometries having the size and shape of the ''steps'' to be taken through the mesh; and a global calculation which relies on a stepping code that samples the stored results of the local calculation. The increase in speed results from taking fewer steps in the global calculation than required by ordinary Monte Carlo codes and by speeding up the calculation per step. The potential for accuracy comes from the ability to use long runs of detailed codes to compile probability distribution functions (PDFs) in the local calculation. Specific examples of successful Local-to-Global algorithms are given

MCNP: a general Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-07-01

The general-purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP can be used for neutron, photon, or coupled neutron--photon transport. The code treats an arbitrary three-dimensional configuration of materials in geometric cells bounded by first- and second-degree surfaces and some special fourth-degree surfaces (elliptical tori). Pointwise cross-section data are used. For neutrons, all reactions given in a particular cross-section evaluation (such as ENDF/B-IV) are accounted for. For photons, the code takes account of incoherent and coherent scattering, the possibility of fluorescent emission following photoelectric absorption, and absorption in pair production with local emission of annihilation radiation. Standard optional variance reduction schemes include geometry splitting and Russian roulette, the exponential transformation, energy splitting, forced collisions in designated cells, flux estimates at point detectors, track-length estimators, and source biasing. The standard output of MCNP includes two-way current as a function of energy, time, and angle with the normal, across any subset of bounding surfaces in the problem. Fluxes across any set of bounding surfaces are available as a function of time and energy. Similarly, the flux at designated points and the average flux in a cell (track length per unit volume) are standard tallies. Reactions such as fissions or absorptions may be obtained in a subset of geometric cells. The heating tallies give the energy deposition per starting particle. In addition, particles may be flagged when they cross specified surfaces or enter designated cells, and the contributions of these flagged particles to certain of the tallies are listed separately. All quantities printed out have their relative errors listed also. 11 figures, 27 tables

Packing simulation code to calculate distribution function of hard spheres by Monte Carlo method : MCRDF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murata, Isao; Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Shirai, Hiroshi.

1996-03-01

High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs) employ spherical fuels named coated fuel particles (CFPs) consisting of a microsphere of low enriched UO 2 with coating layers in order to prevent FP release. There exist many spherical fuels distributed randomly in the cores. Therefore, the nuclear design of HTGRs is generally performed on the basis of the multigroup approximation using a diffusion code, S N transport code or group-wise Monte Carlo code. This report summarizes a Monte Carlo hard sphere packing simulation code to simulate the packing of equal hard spheres and evaluate the necessary probability distribution of them, which is used for the application of the new Monte Carlo calculation method developed to treat randomly distributed spherical fuels with the continuous energy Monte Carlo method. By using this code, obtained are the various statistical values, namely Radial Distribution Function (RDF), Nearest Neighbor Distribution (NND), 2-dimensional RDF and so on, for random packing as well as ordered close packing of FCC and BCC. (author)

Effects of physics change in Monte Carlo code on electron pencil beam dose distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toutaoui, Abdelkader; Khelassi-Toutaoui, Nadia; Brahimi, Zakia; Chami, Ahmed Chafik

2012-01-01

Pencil beam algorithms used in computerized electron beam dose planning are usually described using the small angle multiple scattering theory. Alternatively, the pencil beams can be generated by Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport. In a previous work, the 4th version of the Electron Gamma Shower (EGS) Monte Carlo code was used to obtain dose distributions from monoenergetic electron pencil beam, with incident energy between 1 MeV and 50 MeV, interacting at the surface of a large cylindrical homogeneous water phantom. In 2000, a new version of this Monte Carlo code has been made available by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), which includes various improvements in its electron-transport algorithms. In the present work, we were interested to see if the new physics in this version produces pencil beam dose distributions very different from those calculated with oldest one. The purpose of this study is to quantify as well as to understand these differences. We have compared a series of pencil beam dose distributions scored in cylindrical geometry, for electron energies between 1 MeV and 50 MeV calculated with two versions of the Electron Gamma Shower Monte Carlo Code. Data calculated and compared include isodose distributions, radial dose distributions and fractions of energy deposition. Our results for radial dose distributions show agreement within 10% between doses calculated by the two codes for voxels closer to the pencil beam central axis, while the differences are up to 30% for longer distances. For fractions of energy deposition, the results of the EGS4 are in good agreement (within 2%) with those calculated by EGSnrc at shallow depths for all energies, whereas a slightly worse agreement (15%) is observed at deeper distances. These differences may be mainly attributed to the different multiple scattering for electron transport adopted in these two codes and the inclusion of spin effect, which produces an increase of the effective range of

A computer code package for Monte Carlo photon-electron transport simulation Comparisons with experimental benchmarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popescu, Lucretiu M.

2000-01-01

A computer code package (PTSIM) for particle transport Monte Carlo simulation was developed using object oriented techniques of design and programming. A flexible system for simulation of coupled photon, electron transport, facilitating development of efficient simulation applications, was obtained. For photons: Compton and photo-electric effects, pair production and Rayleigh interactions are simulated, while for electrons, a class II condensed history scheme was considered, in which catastrophic interactions (Moeller electron-electron interaction, bremsstrahlung, etc.) are treated in detail and all other interactions with reduced individual effect on electron history are grouped together using continuous slowing down approximation and energy straggling theories. Electron angular straggling is simulated using Moliere theory or a mixed model in which scatters at large angles are treated as distinct events. Comparisons with experimentally benchmarks for electron transmission and bremsstrahlung emissions energy and angular spectra, and for dose calculations are presented

Tripoli-3: monte Carlo transport code for neutral particles - version 3.5 - users manual; Tripoli-3: code de transport des particules neutres par la methode de monte carlo - version 3.5 - manuel d'utilisation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vergnaud, Th.; Nimal, J.C.; Chiron, M

2001-07-01

The TRIPOLI-3 code applies the Monte Carlo method to neutron, gamma-ray and coupled neutron and gamma-ray transport calculations in three-dimensional geometries, either in steady-state conditions or having a time dependence. It can be used to study problems where there is a high flux attenuation between the source zone and the result zone (studies of shielding configurations or source driven sub-critical systems, with fission being taken into account), as well as problems where there is a low flux attenuation (neutronic calculations -- in a fuel lattice cell, for example -- where fission is taken into account, usually with the calculation on the effective multiplication factor, fine structure studies, numerical experiments to investigate methods approximations, etc). TRIPOLI-3 has been operational since 1995 and is the version of the TRIPOLI code that follows on from TRIPOLI-2; it can be used on SUN, RISC600 and HP workstations and on PC using the Linux or Windows/NT operating systems. The code uses nuclear data libraries generated using the THEMIS/NJOY system. The current libraries were derived from ENDF/B6 and JEF2. There is also a response function library based on a number of evaluations, notably the dosimetry libraries IRDF/85, IRDF/90 and also evaluations from JEF2. The treatment of particle transport is the same in version 3.5 as in version 3.4 of the TRIPOLI code; but the version 3.5 is more convenient for preparing the input data and for reading the output. The french version of the user's manual exists. (authors)

SWAT4.0 - The integrated burnup code system driving continuous energy Monte Carlo codes MVP, MCNP and deterministic calculation code SRAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashima, Takao; Suyama, Kenya; Takada, Tomoyuki

2015-03-01

There have been two versions of SWAT depending on details of its development history: the revised SWAT that uses the deterministic calculation code SRAC as a neutron transportation solver, and the SWAT3.1 that uses the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP or MCNP5 for the same purpose. It takes several hours, however, to execute one calculation by the continuous energy Monte Carlo code even on the super computer of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Moreover, two-dimensional burnup calculation is not practical using the revised SWAT because it has problems on production of effective cross section data and applying them to arbitrary fuel geometry when a calculation model has multiple burnup zones. Therefore, SWAT4.0 has been developed by adding, to SWAT3.1, a function to utilize the deterministic code SARC2006, which has shorter calculation time, as an outer module of neutron transportation solver for burnup calculation. SWAT4.0 has been enabled to execute two-dimensional burnup calculation by providing an input data template of SRAC2006 to SWAT4.0 input data, and updating atomic number densities of burnup zones in each burnup step. This report describes outline, input data instruction, and examples of calculations of SWAT4.0. (author)

Monte Carlo simulation of nuclear energy study (II). Annual report on Nuclear Code Evaluation Committee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-01-01

In the report, research results discussed in 1999 fiscal year at Nuclear Code Evaluation Committee of Nuclear Code Research Committee were summarized. Present status of Monte Carlo simulation on nuclear energy study was described. Especially, besides of criticality, shielding and core analyses, present status of applications to risk and radiation damage analyses, high energy transport and nuclear theory calculations of Monte Carlo Method was described. The 18 papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

Comparative Criticality Analysis of Two Monte Carlo Codes on Centrifugal Atomizer: MCNPS and SCALE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, H-S; Jang, M-S; Kim, S-R; Park, J-M; Kim, K-N

2015-01-01

There are two well-known Monte Carlo codes for criticality analysis, MCNP5 and SCALE. MCNP5 is a general-purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle code that can be used for neutron, photon, electron or coupled neutron / photon / electron transport, including the capability to calculate eigenvalues for critical system as a main analysis code. SCALE provides a comprehensive, verified and validated, user-friendly tool set for criticality safety, reactor physics, radiation shielding, radioactive source term characterization, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. SCALE was conceived and funded by US NRC to perform standardized computer analysis for licensing evaluation and is used widely in the world. We performed a validation test of MCNP5 and a comparative analysis of Monte Carlo codes, MCNP5 and SCALE, in terms of the critical analysis of centrifugal atomizer. In the criticality analysis using MCNP5 code, we obtained the statistically reliable results by using a large number of source histories per cycle and performing of uncertainty analysis

Comparative Criticality Analysis of Two Monte Carlo Codes on Centrifugal Atomizer: MCNPS and SCALE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, H-S; Jang, M-S; Kim, S-R [NESS, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, J-M; Kim, K-N [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

There are two well-known Monte Carlo codes for criticality analysis, MCNP5 and SCALE. MCNP5 is a general-purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle code that can be used for neutron, photon, electron or coupled neutron / photon / electron transport, including the capability to calculate eigenvalues for critical system as a main analysis code. SCALE provides a comprehensive, verified and validated, user-friendly tool set for criticality safety, reactor physics, radiation shielding, radioactive source term characterization, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. SCALE was conceived and funded by US NRC to perform standardized computer analysis for licensing evaluation and is used widely in the world. We performed a validation test of MCNP5 and a comparative analysis of Monte Carlo codes, MCNP5 and SCALE, in terms of the critical analysis of centrifugal atomizer. In the criticality analysis using MCNP5 code, we obtained the statistically reliable results by using a large number of source histories per cycle and performing of uncertainty analysis.

Organization of cross-section data in the Monte Carlo code SPARTAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bending, R.C.

1974-01-01

The Monte Carlo code SPARTAN is a general-purpose code intended for neutron or gamma transport calculations. The code is designed to accept physics data from a number of external libraries (which may be used singly or in combination) and to use this data with as little alteration as possible. Data obtained from one or several libraries is placed in an interface file on magnetic tape or disk, using a general hierarchical structure which allows particular data items to be assessed in a straightforward way. The interface file, with or without additional data from cards, is regarded as a data source for the main Monte Carlo calculation. A summary of the functional forms, sampling distributions, and particle interaction laws which are available at present, and some of the mathematical methods used are described. 5 references. (U.S.)

MCB. A continuous energy Monte Carlo burnup simulation code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cetnar, J.; Wallenius, J.; Gudowski, W.

1999-01-01

A code for integrated simulation of neutrinos and burnup based upon continuous energy Monte Carlo techniques and transmutation trajectory analysis has been developed. Being especially well suited for studies of nuclear waste transmutation systems, the code is an extension of the well validated MCNP transport program of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Among the advantages of the code (named MCB) is a fully integrated data treatment combined with a time-stepping routine that automatically corrects for burnup dependent changes in reaction rates, neutron multiplication, material composition and self-shielding. Fission product yields are treated as continuous functions of incident neutron energy, using a non-equilibrium thermodynamical model of the fission process. In the present paper a brief description of the code and applied methods are given. (author)

Domain Decomposition strategy for pin-wise full-core Monte Carlo depletion calculation with the reactor Monte Carlo Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liang, Jingang; Wang, Kan; Qiu, Yishu [Dept. of Engineering Physics, LiuQing Building, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Chai, Xiao Ming; Qiang, Sheng Long [Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu (China)

2016-06-15

Because of prohibitive data storage requirements in large-scale simulations, the memory problem is an obstacle for Monte Carlo (MC) codes in accomplishing pin-wise three-dimensional (3D) full-core calculations, particularly for whole-core depletion analyses. Various kinds of data are evaluated and quantificational total memory requirements are analyzed based on the Reactor Monte Carlo (RMC) code, showing that tally data, material data, and isotope densities in depletion are three major parts of memory storage. The domain decomposition method is investigated as a means of saving memory, by dividing spatial geometry into domains that are simulated separately by parallel processors. For the validity of particle tracking during transport simulations, particles need to be communicated between domains. In consideration of efficiency, an asynchronous particle communication algorithm is designed and implemented. Furthermore, we couple the domain decomposition method with MC burnup process, under a strategy of utilizing consistent domain partition in both transport and depletion modules. A numerical test of 3D full-core burnup calculations is carried out, indicating that the RMC code, with the domain decomposition method, is capable of pin-wise full-core burnup calculations with millions of depletion regions.

Application of the three-dimensional Oak Ridge transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhoades, W.A.; Childs, R.L.; Emmett, M.B.; Cramer, S.N.

1984-01-01

TORT, a 3-d extension of the DOT discrete ordinates transport code is now in production use for studies of radiation penetration into large concrete and masonry structures. This paper discusses certain features of the new code and shows representative results, including comparisons with Monte Carlo calculations

Review of the Monte Carlo and deterministic codes in radiation protection and dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tagziria, H.

2000-02-01

Modelling a physical system can be carried out either stochastically or deterministically. An example of the former method is the Monte Carlo technique, in which statistically approximate methods are applied to exact models. No transport equation is solved as individual particles are simulated and some specific aspect (tally) of their average behaviour is recorded. The average behaviour of the physical system is then inferred using the central limit theorem. In contrast, deterministic codes use mathematically exact methods that are applied to approximate models to solve the transport equation for the average particle behaviour. The physical system is subdivided in boxes in the phase-space system and particles are followed from one box to the next. The smaller the boxes the better the approximations become. Although the Monte Carlo method has been used for centuries, its more recent manifestation has really emerged from the Manhattan project of the Word War II. Its invention is thought to be mainly due to Metropolis, Ulah (through his interest in poker), Fermi, von Neuman and Richtmeyer. Over the last 20 years or so, the Monte Carlo technique has become a powerful tool in radiation transport. This is due to users taking full advantage of richer cross section data, more powerful computers and Monte Carlo techniques for radiation transport, with high quality physics and better known source spectra. This method is a common sense approach to radiation transport and its success and popularity is quite often also due to necessity, because measurements are not always possible or affordable. In the Monte Carlo method, which is inherently realistic because nature is statistical, a more detailed physics is made possible by isolation of events while rather elaborate geometries can be modelled. Provided that the physics is correct, a simulation is exactly analogous to an experimenter counting particles. In contrast to the deterministic approach, however, a disadvantage of the

Monte Carlo radiation transport: A revolution in science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendricks, J.

1993-01-01

When Enrico Fermi, Stan Ulam, Nicholas Metropolis, John von Neuman, and Robert Richtmyer invented the Monte Carlo method fifty years ago, little could they imagine the far-flung consequences, the international applications, and the revolution in science epitomized by their abstract mathematical method. The Monte Carlo method is used in a wide variety of fields to solve exact computational models approximately by statistical sampling. It is an alternative to traditional physics modeling methods which solve approximate computational models exactly by deterministic methods. Modern computers and improved methods, such as variance reduction, have enhanced the method to the point of enabling a true predictive capability in areas such as radiation or particle transport. This predictive capability has contributed to a radical change in the way science is done: design and understanding come from computations built upon experiments rather than being limited to experiments, and the computer codes doing the computations have become the repository for physics knowledge. The MCNP Monte Carlo computer code effort at Los Alamos is an example of this revolution. Physicians unfamiliar with physics details can design cancer treatments using physics buried in the MCNP computer code. Hazardous environments and hypothetical accidents can be explored. Many other fields, from underground oil well exploration to aerospace, from physics research to energy production, from safety to bulk materials processing, benefit from MCNP, the Monte Carlo method, and the revolution in science

Towards a heavy-ion transport capability in the MARS15 Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mokhov, N.V.; Gudima, K.K.; Mashnik, S.G.; Rakhno, I.L.; Striganov, S.

2004-01-01

In order to meet the challenges of new accelerator and space projects and further improve modelling of radiation effects in microscopic objects, heavy-ion interaction and transport physics have been recently incorporated into the MARS15 Monte Carlo code. A brief description of new modules is given in comparison with experimental data. The MARS Monte Carlo code is widely used in numerous accelerator, detector, shielding and cosmic ray applications. The needs of the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider, Large Hadron Collider, Rare Isotope Accelerator and NASA projects have recently induced adding heavy-ion interaction and transport physics to the MARS15 code. The key modules of the new implementation are described below along with their comparisons to experimental data.

Aurora T: a Monte Carlo code for transportation of neutral atoms in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bignami, A.; Chiorrini, R.

1982-01-01

This paper contains a short description of Aurora code. This code have been developed at Princeton with Monte Carlo method for calculating neutral gas in cylindrical plasma. In this work subroutines such one can take in account toroidal geometry are developed

Coded aperture optimization using Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martineau, A.; Rocchisani, J.M.; Moretti, J.L.

2010-01-01

Coded apertures using Uniformly Redundant Arrays (URA) have been unsuccessfully evaluated for two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging in Nuclear Medicine. The images reconstructed from coded projections contain artifacts and suffer from poor spatial resolution in the longitudinal direction. We introduce a Maximum-Likelihood Expectation-Maximization (MLEM) algorithm for three-dimensional coded aperture imaging which uses a projection matrix calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. The aim of the algorithm is to reduce artifacts and improve the three-dimensional spatial resolution in the reconstructed images. Firstly, we present the validation of GATE (Geant4 Application for Emission Tomography) for Monte Carlo simulations of a coded mask installed on a clinical gamma camera. The coded mask modelling was validated by comparison between experimental and simulated data in terms of energy spectra, sensitivity and spatial resolution. In the second part of the study, we use the validated model to calculate the projection matrix with Monte Carlo simulations. A three-dimensional thyroid phantom study was performed to compare the performance of the three-dimensional MLEM reconstruction with conventional correlation method. The results indicate that the artifacts are reduced and three-dimensional spatial resolution is improved with the Monte Carlo-based MLEM reconstruction.

Installation of Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code system MCNP4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takano, Makoto; Sasaki, Mikio; Kaneko, Toshiyuki; Yamazaki, Takao.

1993-03-01

The continuous energy Monte Carlo code MCNP-4 including its graphic functions has been installed on the Sun-4 sparc-2 work station with minor corrections. In order to validate the installed MCNP-4 code, 25 sample problems have been executed on the work station and these results have been compared with the original ones. And, the most of the graphic functions have been demonstrated by using 3 sample problems. Further, additional 14 nuclides have been included to the continuous cross section library edited from JENDL-3. (author)

Vectorization of Monte Carlo particle transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burns, P.J.; Christon, M.; Schweitzer, R.; Lubeck, O.M.; Wasserman, H.J.; Simmons, M.L.; Pryor, D.V.

1989-01-01

This paper reports that fully vectorized versions of the Los Alamos National Laboratory benchmark code Gamteb, a Monte Carlo photon transport algorithm, were developed for the Cyber 205/ETA-10 and Cray X-MP/Y-MP architectures. Single-processor performance measurements of the vector and scalar implementations were modeled in a modified Amdahl's Law that accounts for additional data motion in the vector code. The performance and implementation strategy of the vector codes are related to architectural features of each machine. Speedups between fifteen and eighteen for Cyber 205/ETA-10 architectures, and about nine for CRAY X-MP/Y-MP architectures are observed. The best single processor execution time for the problem was 0.33 seconds on the ETA-10G, and 0.42 seconds on the CRAY Y-MP

SPQR: a Monte Carlo reactor kinetics code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.; Dodds, H.L.

1980-02-01

The SPQR Monte Carlo code has been developed to analyze fast reactor core accident problems where conventional methods are considered inadequate. The code is based on the adiabatic approximation of the quasi-static method. This initial version contains no automatic material motion or feedback. An existing Monte Carlo code is used to calculate the shape functions and the integral quantities needed in the kinetics module. Several sample problems have been devised and analyzed. Due to the large statistical uncertainty associated with the calculation of reactivity in accident simulations, the results, especially at later times, differ greatly from deterministic methods. It was also found that in large uncoupled systems, the Monte Carlo method has difficulty in handling asymmetric perturbations

Review of the Monte Carlo and deterministic codes in radiation protection and dosimetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tagziria, H

2000-02-01

Modelling a physical system can be carried out either stochastically or deterministically. An example of the former method is the Monte Carlo technique, in which statistically approximate methods are applied to exact models. No transport equation is solved as individual particles are simulated and some specific aspect (tally) of their average behaviour is recorded. The average behaviour of the physical system is then inferred using the central limit theorem. In contrast, deterministic codes use mathematically exact methods that are applied to approximate models to solve the transport equation for the average particle behaviour. The physical system is subdivided in boxes in the phase-space system and particles are followed from one box to the next. The smaller the boxes the better the approximations become. Although the Monte Carlo method has been used for centuries, its more recent manifestation has really emerged from the Manhattan project of the Word War II. Its invention is thought to be mainly due to Metropolis, Ulah (through his interest in poker), Fermi, von Neuman andRichtmeyer. Over the last 20 years or so, the Monte Carlo technique has become a powerful tool in radiation transport. This is due to users taking full advantage of richer cross section data, more powerful computers and Monte Carlo techniques for radiation transport, with high quality physics and better known source spectra. This method is a common sense approach to radiation transport and its success and popularity is quite often also due to necessity, because measurements are not always possible or affordable. In the Monte Carlo method, which is inherently realistic because nature is statistical, a more detailed physics is made possible by isolation of events while rather elaborate geometries can be modelled. Provided that the physics is correct, a simulation is exactly analogous to an experimenter counting particles. In contrast to the deterministic approach, however, a disadvantage of the

MVP/GMVP 2: general purpose Monte Carlo codes for neutron and photon transport calculations based on continuous energy and multigroup methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Okumura, Keisuke; Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki

2005-06-01

In order to realize fast and accurate Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and photon transport problems, two vectorized Monte Carlo codes MVP and GMVP have been developed at JAERI. MVP is based on the continuous energy model and GMVP is on the multigroup model. Compared with conventional scalar codes, these codes achieve higher computation speed by a factor of 10 or more on vector super-computers. Both codes have sufficient functions for production use by adopting accurate physics model, geometry description capability and variance reduction techniques. The first version of the codes was released in 1994. They have been extensively improved and new functions have been implemented. The major improvements and new functions are (1) capability to treat the scattering model expressed with File 6 of the ENDF-6 format, (2) time-dependent tallies, (3) reaction rate calculation with the pointwise response function, (4) flexible source specification, (5) continuous-energy calculation at arbitrary temperatures, (6) estimation of real variances in eigenvalue problems, (7) point detector and surface crossing estimators, (8) statistical geometry model, (9) function of reactor noise analysis (simulation of the Feynman-α experiment), (10) arbitrary shaped lattice boundary, (11) periodic boundary condition, (12) parallelization with standard libraries (MPI, PVM), (13) supporting many platforms, etc. This report describes the physical model, geometry description method used in the codes, new functions and how to use them. (author)

Los Alamos radiation transport code system on desktop computing platforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briesmeister, J.F.; Brinkley, F.W.; Clark, B.A.; West, J.T.

1990-01-01

The Los Alamos Radiation Transport Code System (LARTCS) consists of state-of-the-art Monte Carlo and discrete ordinates transport codes and data libraries. These codes were originally developed many years ago and have undergone continual improvement. With a large initial effort and continued vigilance, the codes are easily portable from one type of hardware to another. The performance of scientific work-stations (SWS) has evolved to the point that such platforms can be used routinely to perform sophisticated radiation transport calculations. As the personal computer (PC) performance approaches that of the SWS, the hardware options for desk-top radiation transport calculations expands considerably. The current status of the radiation transport codes within the LARTCS is described: MCNP, SABRINA, LAHET, ONEDANT, TWODANT, TWOHEX, and ONELD. Specifically, the authors discuss hardware systems on which the codes run and present code performance comparisons for various machines

Verification of the shift Monte Carlo code with the C5G7 reactor benchmark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sly, N. C.; Mervin, B. T.; Mosher, S. W.; Evans, T. M.; Wagner, J. C.; Maldonado, G. I.

2012-01-01

Shift is a new hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic radiation transport code being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. At its current stage of development, Shift includes a parallel Monte Carlo capability for simulating eigenvalue and fixed-source multigroup transport problems. This paper focuses on recent efforts to verify Shift's Monte Carlo component using the two-dimensional and three-dimensional C5G7 NEA benchmark problems. Comparisons were made between the benchmark eigenvalues and those output by the Shift code. In addition, mesh-based scalar flux tally results generated by Shift were compared to those obtained using MCNP5 on an identical model and tally grid. The Shift-generated eigenvalues were within three standard deviations of the benchmark and MCNP5-1.60 values in all cases. The flux tallies generated by Shift were found to be in very good agreement with those from MCNP. (authors)

Usage of burnt fuel isotopic compositions from engineering codes in Monte-Carlo code calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aleshin, Sergey S.; Gorodkov, Sergey S.; Shcherenko, Anna I.

2015-01-01

A burn-up calculation of VVER's cores by Monte-Carlo code is complex process and requires large computational costs. This fact makes Monte-Carlo codes usage complicated for project and operating calculations. Previously prepared isotopic compositions are proposed to use for the Monte-Carlo code (MCU) calculations of different states of VVER's core with burnt fuel. Isotopic compositions are proposed to calculate by an approximation method. The approximation method is based on usage of a spectral functionality and reference isotopic compositions, that are calculated by engineering codes (TVS-M, PERMAK-A). The multiplication factors and power distributions of FA and VVER with infinite height are calculated in this work by the Monte-Carlo code MCU using earlier prepared isotopic compositions. The MCU calculation data were compared with the data which were obtained by engineering codes.

A Monte Carlo Green's function method for three-dimensional neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gamino, R.G.; Brown, F.B.; Mendelson, M.R.

1992-01-01

This paper describes a Monte Carlo transport kernel capability, which has recently been incorporated into the RACER continuous-energy Monte Carlo code. The kernels represent a Green's function method for neutron transport from a fixed-source volume out to a particular volume of interest. This method is very powerful transport technique. Also, since kernels are evaluated numerically by Monte Carlo, the problem geometry can be arbitrarily complex, yet exact. This method is intended for problems where an ex-core neutron response must be determined for a variety of reactor conditions. Two examples are ex-core neutron detector response and vessel critical weld fast flux. The response is expressed in terms of neutron transport kernels weighted by a core fission source distribution. In these types of calculations, the response must be computed for hundreds of source distributions, but the kernels only need to be calculated once. The advance described in this paper is that the kernels are generated with a highly accurate three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport calculation instead of an approximate method such as line-of-sight attenuation theory or a synthesized three-dimensional discrete ordinates solution

Summary - COG: A new point-wise Monte Carlo code for burnup credit analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alesso, H.P.

1989-01-01

COG, a new point-wise Monte Carlo code being developed and tested at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for the Cray-1, solves the Boltzmann equation for the transport of neutrons, photons, and (in future versions) other particles. Techniques included in the code for modifying the random walk of particles make COG most suitable for solving deep-penetration (shielding) problems and a wide variety of criticality problems. COG is similar to a number of other computer codes used in the shielding community. Each code is a little different in its geometry input and its random-walk modification options. COG is a Monte Carlo code specifically designed for the CRAY (in 1986) to be as precise as the current state of physics knowledge. It has been extensively benchmarked and used as a shielding code at LLNL since 1986, and has recently been extended to accomplish criticality calculations. It will make an excellent tool for future shipping cask studies

MC21 v.6.0 - A continuous-energy Monte Carlo particle transport code with integrated reactor feedback capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grieshemer, D.P.; Gill, D.F.; Nease, B.R.; Carpenter, D.C.; Joo, H.; Millman, D.L.; Sutton, T.M.; Stedry, M.H.; Dobreff, P.S.; Trumbull, T.H.; Caro, E.

2013-01-01

MC21 is a continuous-energy Monte Carlo radiation transport code for the calculation of the steady-state spatial distributions of reaction rates in three-dimensional models. The code supports neutron and photon transport in fixed source problems, as well as iterated-fission-source (eigenvalue) neutron transport problems. MC21 has been designed and optimized to support large-scale problems in reactor physics, shielding, and criticality analysis applications. The code also supports many in-line reactor feedback effects, including depletion, thermal feedback, xenon feedback, eigenvalue search, and neutron and photon heating. MC21 uses continuous-energy neutron/nucleus interaction physics over the range from 10 -5 eV to 20 MeV. The code treats all common neutron scattering mechanisms, including fast-range elastic and non-elastic scattering, and thermal- and epithermal-range scattering from molecules and crystalline materials. For photon transport, MC21 uses continuous-energy interaction physics over the energy range from 1 keV to 100 GeV. The code treats all common photon interaction mechanisms, including Compton scattering, pair production, and photoelectric interactions. All of the nuclear data required by MC21 is provided by the NDEX system of codes, which extracts and processes data from EPDL-, ENDF-, and ACE-formatted source files. For geometry representation, MC21 employs a flexible constructive solid geometry system that allows users to create spatial cells from first- and second-order surfaces. The system also allows models to be built up as hierarchical collections of previously defined spatial cells, with interior detail provided by grids and template overlays. Results are collected by a generalized tally capability which allows users to edit integral flux and reaction rate information. Results can be collected over the entire problem or within specific regions of interest through the use of phase filters that control which particles are allowed to score each

Applications guide to the MORSE Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.

1985-08-01

A practical guide for the implementation of the MORESE-CG Monte Carlo radiation transport computer code system is presented. The various versions of the MORSE code are compared and contrasted, and the many references dealing explicitly with the MORSE-CG code are reviewed. The treatment of angular scattering is discussed, and procedures for obtaining increased differentiality of results in terms of reaction types and nuclides from a multigroup Monte Carlo code are explained in terms of cross-section and geometry data manipulation. Examples of standard cross-section data input and output are shown. Many other features of the code system are also reviewed, including (1) the concept of primary and secondary particles, (2) fission neutron generation, (3) albedo data capability, (4) DOMINO coupling, (5) history file use for post-processing of results, (6) adjoint mode operation, (7) variance reduction, and (8) input/output. In addition, examples of the combinatorial geometry are given, and the new array of arrays geometry feature (MARS) and its three-dimensional plotting code (JUNEBUG) are presented. Realistic examples of user routines for source, estimation, path-length stretching, and cross-section data manipulation are given. A deatiled explanation of the coupling between the random walk and estimation procedure is given in terms of both code parameters and physical analogies. The operation of the code in the adjoint mode is covered extensively. The basic concepts of adjoint theory and dimensionality are discussed and examples of adjoint source and estimator user routines are given for all common situations. Adjoint source normalization is explained, a few sample problems are given, and the concept of obtaining forward differential results from adjoint calculations is covered. Finally, the documentation of the standard MORSE-CG sample problem package is reviewed and on-going and future work is discussed

Recent developments of JAEA's Monte Carlo Code MVP for reactor physics applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Y.; Okumura, K.; Mori, T.

2013-01-01

MVP is a general-purpose continuous-energy Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport calculations that has been developed since the late 1980's at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA, formerly JAERI). The MVP code is designed for nuclear reactor applications such as reactor core design/analysis, criticality safety and reactor shielding. This paper describes the MVP code and present its latest developments. Among the new capabilities of MVP we find: -) the perturbation method has been implemented for the change in k(eff); -) the eigenvalue calculations can be performed with an explicit treatment of delayed neutrons in which their fission spectra are taken into account; -) the capability of tallying the scattering matrix (group-to-group scattering cross sections); -) the implementation of an exact model for resonance elastic scattering; and -) a Monte Carlo perturbation technique is used to calculate reactor kinetics parameters

Core Calculation of 1 MWatt PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor (RTP) using Monte Carlo MVP Code System

Science.gov (United States)

Karim, Julia Abdul

2008-05-01

The Monte Carlo MVP code system was adopted for the Reaktor TRIGA PUSAPTI (RTP) core calculation. The code was developed by a group of researcher of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) first in 1994. MVP is a general multi-purpose Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport calculation and able to estimate an accurate simulation problems. The code calculation is based on the continuous energy method. This code is capable of adopting an accurate physics model, geometry description and variance reduction technique faster than conventional method as compared to the conventional scalar method. This code could achieve higher computational speed by several factors on the vector super-computer. In this calculation, RTP core was modeled as close as possible to the real core and results of keff flux, fission densities and others were obtained.

Core Calculation of 1 MWatt PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor (RTP) using Monte Carlo MVP Code System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karim, Julia Abdul

2008-01-01

The Monte Carlo MVP code system was adopted for the Reaktor TRIGA PUSAPTI (RTP) core calculation. The code was developed by a group of researcher of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) first in 1994. MVP is a general multi-purpose Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport calculation and able to estimate an accurate simulation problems. The code calculation is based on the continuous energy method. This code is capable of adopting an accurate physics model, geometry description and variance reduction technique faster than conventional method as compared to the conventional scalar method. This code could achieve higher computational speed by several factors on the vector super-computer. In this calculation, RTP core was modeled as close as possible to the real core and results of keff flux, fission densities and others were obtained

Extensions of the MCNP5 and TRIPOLI4 Monte Carlo Codes for Transient Reactor Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hoogenboom, J. Eduard; Sjenitzer, Bart L.

2014-06-01

To simulate reactor transients for safety analysis with the Monte Carlo method the generation and decay of delayed neutron precursors is implemented in the MCNP5 and TRIPOLI4 general purpose Monte Carlo codes. Important new variance reduction techniques like forced decay of precursors in each time interval and the branchless collision method are included to obtain reasonable statistics for the power production per time interval. For simulation of practical reactor transients also the feedback effect from the thermal-hydraulics must be included. This requires coupling of the Monte Carlo code with a thermal-hydraulics (TH) code, providing the temperature distribution in the reactor, which affects the neutron transport via the cross section data. The TH code also provides the coolant density distribution in the reactor, directly influencing the neutron transport. Different techniques for this coupling are discussed. As a demonstration a 3x3 mini fuel assembly with a moving control rod is considered for MCNP5 and a mini core existing of 3x3 PWR fuel assemblies with control rods and burnable poisons for TRIPOLI4. Results are shown for reactor transients due to control rod movement or withdrawal. The TRIPOLI4 transient calculation is started at low power and includes thermal-hydraulic feedback. The power rises about 10 decades and finally stabilises the reactor power at a much higher level than initial. The examples demonstrate that the modified Monte Carlo codes are capable of performing correct transient calculations, taking into account all geometrical and cross section detail.

Extensions of the MCNP5 and TRIPOLI4 Monte Carlo codes for transient reactor analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J.E.

2013-01-01

To simulate reactor transients for safety analysis with the Monte Carlo method the generation and decay of delayed neutron precursors is implemented in the MCNP5 and TRIPOLI4 general purpose Monte Carlo codes. Important new variance reduction techniques like forced decay of precursors in each time interval and the branch-less collision method are included to obtain reasonable statistics for the power production per time interval. For simulation of practical reactor transients also the feedback effect from the thermal-hydraulics must be included. This requires the coupling of the Monte Carlo code with a thermal-hydraulics (TH) code, providing the temperature distribution in the reactor, which affects the neutron transport via the cross section data. The TH code also provides the coolant density distribution in the reactor, directly influencing the neutron transport. Different techniques for this coupling are discussed. As a demonstration a 3*3 mini fuel assembly with a moving control rod is considered for MCNP5 and a mini core existing of 3*3 PWR fuel assemblies with control rods and burnable poisons for TRIPOLI4. Results are shown for reactor transients due to control rod movement or withdrawal. The TRIPOLI4 transient calculation is started at low power and includes thermal-hydraulic feedback. The power rises about 10 decades and finally stabilises the reactor power at a much higher level than initial. The examples demonstrate that the modified Monte Carlo codes are capable of performing correct transient calculations, taking into account all geometrical and cross section detail. (authors)

Validation and verification of the ORNL Monte Carlo codes for nuclear safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emmett, M.B.

1993-01-01

The process of ensuring the quality of computer codes can be very time consuming and expensive. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Monte Carlo codes all predate the existence of quality assurance (QA) standards and configuration control. The number of person-years and the amount of money spent on code development make it impossible to adhere strictly to all the current requirements. At ORNL, the Nuclear Engineering Applications Section of the Computing Applications Division is responsible for the development, maintenance, and application of the Monte Carlo codes MORSE and KENO. The KENO code is used for doing criticality analyses; the MORSE code, which has two official versions, CGA and SGC, is used for radiation transport analyses. Because KENO and MORSE were very thoroughly checked out over the many years of extensive use both in the United States and in the international community, the existing codes were open-quotes baselined.close quotes This means that the versions existing at the time the original configuration plan is written are considered to be validated and verified code systems based on the established experience with them

Many-integrated core (MIC) technology for accelerating Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport: A study based on the code DPM

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, M.; Brualla, L.

2018-04-01

Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport is computationally demanding to obtain reasonably low statistical uncertainties of the estimated quantities. Therefore, it can benefit in a large extent from high-performance computing. This work is aimed at assessing the performance of the first generation of the many-integrated core architecture (MIC) Xeon Phi coprocessor with respect to that of a CPU consisting of a double 12-core Xeon processor in Monte Carlo simulation of coupled electron-photonshowers. The comparison was made twofold, first, through a suite of basic tests including parallel versions of the random number generators Mersenne Twister and a modified implementation of RANECU. These tests were addressed to establish a baseline comparison between both devices. Secondly, through the p DPM code developed in this work. p DPM is a parallel version of the Dose Planning Method (DPM) program for fast Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport in voxelized geometries. A variety of techniques addressed to obtain a large scalability on the Xeon Phi were implemented in p DPM. Maximum scalabilities of 84 . 2 × and 107 . 5 × were obtained in the Xeon Phi for simulations of electron and photon beams, respectively. Nevertheless, in none of the tests involving radiation transport the Xeon Phi performed better than the CPU. The disadvantage of the Xeon Phi with respect to the CPU owes to the low performance of the single core of the former. A single core of the Xeon Phi was more than 10 times less efficient than a single core of the CPU for all radiation transport simulations.

Progress in nuclear well logging modeling using deterministic transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodeli, I.; Aldama, D.L.; Maucec, M.; Trkov, A.

2002-01-01

Further studies in continuation of the work presented in 2001 in Portoroz were performed in order to study and improve the performances, precission and domain of application of the deterministic transport codes with respect to the oil well logging analysis. These codes are in particular expected to complement the Monte Carlo solutions, since they can provide a detailed particle flux distribution in the whole geometry in a very reasonable CPU time. Real-time calculation can be envisaged. The performances of deterministic transport methods were compared to those of the Monte Carlo method. IRTMBA generic benchmark was analysed using the codes MCNP-4C and DORT/TORT. Centric as well as excentric casings were considered using 14 MeV point neutron source and NaI scintillation detectors. Neutron and gamma spectra were compared at two detector positions.(author)

Modifications to the Monte Carlo neutronics code MONK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutton, J.L.

1979-09-01

The Monte Carlo neutronics code MONK has been widely used for criticality calculations, and is one of the standard methods for assessing the safety of transport flasks and fuel storage facilities in the UK. Recently, attempts have been made to extend the range of applications of this calculational technique. In particular studies have been carried out using Monte Carlo to analyse reactor physics experiments. In these applications various shortcomings of the standard version MONK5 became apparent. The basic data library was found to be inadequate and additional estimates of parameters (eg power distribution) not normally included in criticality studies were required. These features which required improvement, primarily in the context of using the code for reactor physics calculations, are enumerated. To facilitate the use of the code as a reactor physics calculational tool a series of modifications have been carried out. The code has been modified so that the user can use group data tabulations of the cross sections instead of the present 'point' data values. The code can now interface with a number of reactor physics group data preparation schemes but in particular it can use WIMS-E interfaces as a source of group data. Details of the changes are outlined and a new version of MONK incorporating these modifications has been created. This version is called MONK5W. This paper provides a guide to the use of this version. The data input is described along with other details required to use this code on the Harwell IBM 3033. To aid the user, examples of calculations using the new facilities incorporated in MONK5W are given. (UK)

Automatic modeling for the Monte Carlo transport code Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie Fanzhi; Hu Liqin; Wang Guozhong; Wang Dianxi; Wu Yican; Wang Dong; Long Pengcheng; FDS Team

2015-01-01

Geant4 is a widely used Monte Carlo transport simulation package. Its geometry models could be described in Geometry Description Markup Language (GDML), but it is time-consuming and error-prone to describe the geometry models manually. This study implemented the conversion between computer-aided design (CAD) geometry models and GDML models. This method has been Studied based on Multi-Physics Coupling Analysis Modeling Program (MCAM). The tests, including FDS-Ⅱ model, demonstrated its accuracy and feasibility. (authors)

Proposal of flexible atomic and molecular process management for Monte Carlo impurity transport code based on object oriented method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asano, K.; Ohno, N.; Takamura, S.

2001-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation code on impurity transport has been developed by several groups to be utilized mainly for fusion related edge plasmas. State of impurity particle is determined by atomic and molecular processes such as ionization, charge exchange in plasma. A lot of atomic and molecular processes have been considered because the edge plasma has not only impurity atoms, but also impurity molecules mainly related to chemical erosion of carbon materials, and their cross sections have been given experimentally and theoretically. We need to reveal which process is essential in a given edge plasma condition. Monte Carlo simulation code, which takes such various atomic and molecular processes into account, is necessary to investigate the behavior of impurity particle in plasmas. Usually, the impurity transport simulation code has been intended for some specific atomic and molecular processes so that the introduction of a new process forces complicated programming work. In order to evaluate various proposed atomic and molecular processes, a flexible management of atomic and molecular reaction should be established. We have developed the impurity transport simulation code based on object-oriented method. By employing object-oriented programming, we can handle each particle as 'object', which enfolds data and procedure function itself. A user (notice, not programmer) can define property of each particle species and the related atomic and molecular processes and then each 'object' is defined by analyzing this information. According to the relation among plasma particle species, objects are connected with each other and change their state by themselves. Dynamic allocation of these objects to program memory is employed to adapt for arbitrary number of species and atomic/molecular reactions. Thus we can treat arbitrary species and process starting from, for instance, methane and acetylene. Such a software procedure would be useful also for industrial application plasmas

SU-E-T-180: Fano Cavity Test of Proton Transport in Monte Carlo Codes Running On GPU and Xeon Phi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sterpin, E; Sorriaux, J; Souris, K; Lee, J; Vynckier, S; Schuemann, J; Paganetti, H; Jia, X; Jiang, S

2014-01-01

Purpose: In proton dose calculation, clinically compatible speeds are now achieved with Monte Carlo codes (MC) that combine 1) adequate simplifications in the physics of transport and 2) the use of hardware architectures enabling massive parallel computing (like GPUs). However, the uncertainties related to the transport algorithms used in these codes must be kept minimal. Such algorithms can be checked with the so-called “Fano cavity test”. We implemented the test in two codes that run on specific hardware: gPMC on an nVidia GPU and MCsquare on an Intel Xeon Phi (60 cores). Methods: gPMC and MCsquare are designed for transporting protons in CT geometries. Both codes use the method of fictitious interaction to sample the step-length for each transport step. The considered geometry is a water cavity (2×2×0.2 cm 3 , 0.001 g/cm 3 ) in a 10×10×50 cm 3 water phantom (1 g/cm 3 ). CPE in the cavity is established by generating protons over the phantom volume with a uniform momentum (energy E) and a uniform intensity per unit mass I. Assuming no nuclear reactions and no generation of other secondaries, the computed cavity dose should equal IE, according to Fano's theorem. Both codes were tested for initial proton energies of 50, 100, and 200 MeV. Results: For all energies, gPMC and MCsquare are within 0.3 and 0.2 % of the theoretical value IE, respectively (0.1% standard deviation). Single-precision computations (instead of double) increased the error by about 0.1% in MCsquare. Conclusion: Despite the simplifications in the physics of transport, both gPMC and MCsquare successfully pass the Fano test. This ensures optimal accuracy of the codes for clinical applications within the uncertainties on the underlying physical models. It also opens the path to other applications of these codes, like the simulation of ion chamber response

SU-E-T-180: Fano Cavity Test of Proton Transport in Monte Carlo Codes Running On GPU and Xeon Phi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sterpin, E; Sorriaux, J; Souris, K; Lee, J; Vynckier, S [Universite catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Brussels (Belgium); Schuemann, J; Paganetti, H [Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States); Jia, X; Jiang, S [The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Ctr, Dallas, TX (United States)

2014-06-01

Purpose: In proton dose calculation, clinically compatible speeds are now achieved with Monte Carlo codes (MC) that combine 1) adequate simplifications in the physics of transport and 2) the use of hardware architectures enabling massive parallel computing (like GPUs). However, the uncertainties related to the transport algorithms used in these codes must be kept minimal. Such algorithms can be checked with the so-called “Fano cavity test”. We implemented the test in two codes that run on specific hardware: gPMC on an nVidia GPU and MCsquare on an Intel Xeon Phi (60 cores). Methods: gPMC and MCsquare are designed for transporting protons in CT geometries. Both codes use the method of fictitious interaction to sample the step-length for each transport step. The considered geometry is a water cavity (2×2×0.2 cm{sup 3}, 0.001 g/cm{sup 3}) in a 10×10×50 cm{sup 3} water phantom (1 g/cm{sup 3}). CPE in the cavity is established by generating protons over the phantom volume with a uniform momentum (energy E) and a uniform intensity per unit mass I. Assuming no nuclear reactions and no generation of other secondaries, the computed cavity dose should equal IE, according to Fano's theorem. Both codes were tested for initial proton energies of 50, 100, and 200 MeV. Results: For all energies, gPMC and MCsquare are within 0.3 and 0.2 % of the theoretical value IE, respectively (0.1% standard deviation). Single-precision computations (instead of double) increased the error by about 0.1% in MCsquare. Conclusion: Despite the simplifications in the physics of transport, both gPMC and MCsquare successfully pass the Fano test. This ensures optimal accuracy of the codes for clinical applications within the uncertainties on the underlying physical models. It also opens the path to other applications of these codes, like the simulation of ion chamber response.

A Monte Carlo method using octree structure in photon and electron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogawa, K.; Maeda, S.

1995-01-01

Most of the early Monte Carlo calculations in medical physics were used to calculate absorbed dose distributions, and detector responses and efficiencies. Recently, data acquisition in Single Photon Emission CT (SPECT) has been simulated by a Monte Carlo method to evaluate scatter photons generated in a human body and a collimator. Monte Carlo simulations in SPECT data acquisition are generally based on the transport of photons only because the photons being simulated are low energy, and therefore the bremsstrahlung productions by the electrons generated are negligible. Since the transport calculation of photons without electrons is much simpler than that with electrons, it is possible to accomplish the high-speed simulation in a simple object with one medium. Here, object description is important in performing the photon and/or electron transport using a Monte Carlo method efficiently. The authors propose a new description method using an octree representation of an object. Thus even if the boundaries of each medium are represented accurately, high-speed calculation of photon transport can be accomplished because the number of voxels is much fewer than that of the voxel-based approach which represents an object by a union of the voxels of the same size. This Monte Carlo code using the octree representation of an object first establishes the simulation geometry by reading octree string, which is produced by forming an octree structure from a set of serial sections for the object before the simulation; then it transports photons in the geometry. Using the code, if the user just prepares a set of serial sections for the object in which he or she wants to simulate photon trajectories, he or she can perform the simulation automatically using the suboptimal geometry simplified by the octree representation without forming the optimal geometry by handwriting

Verification and Validation of Monte Carlo n-Particle Code 6 (MCNP6) with Neutron Protection Factor Measurements of an Iron Box

Science.gov (United States)

2014-03-27

Vehicle Code System (VCS), the Monte Carlo Adjoint SHielding (MASH), and the Monte Carlo n- Particle ( MCNP ) code. Of the three, the oldest and still most...widely utilized radiation transport code is MCNP . First created at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1957, the code simulated neutral...particle types, and previous versions of MCNP were repeatedly validated using both simple and complex 10 geometries [12, 13]. Much greater discussion and

Discrete-ordinates electron transport calculations using standard neutron transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morel, J.E.

1979-01-01

The primary purpose of this work was to develop a method for using standard neutron transport codes to perform electron transport calculations. The method is to develop approximate electron cross sections which are sufficiently well-behaved to be treated with standard S/sub n/ methods, but which nonetheless yield flux solutions which are very similar to the exact solutions. The main advantage of this approach is that, once the approximate cross sections are constructed, their multigroup Legendre expansion coefficients can be calculated and input to any standard S/sub n/ code. Discrete-ordinates calculations were performed to determine the accuracy of the flux solutions for problems corresponding to 1.0-MeV electrons incident upon slabs of aluminum and gold. All S/sub n/ calculations were compared with similar calculations performed with an electron Monte Carlo code, considered to be exact. In all cases, the discrete-ordinates solutions for integral flux quantities (i.e., scalar flux, energy deposition profiles, etc.) are generally in agreement with the Monte Carlo solutions to within approximately 5% or less. The central conclusion is that integral electron flux quantities can be efficiently and accurately calculated using standard S/sub n/ codes in conjunction with approximate cross sections. Furthermore, if group structures and approximate cross section construction are optimized, accurate differential flux energy spectra may also be obtainable without having to use an inordinately large number of energy groups. 1 figure

Development of a Fully-Automated Monte Carlo Burnup Code Monteburns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poston, D.I.; Trellue, H.R.

1999-01-01

Several computer codes have been developed to perform nuclear burnup calculations over the past few decades. In addition, because of advances in computer technology, it recently has become more desirable to use Monte Carlo techniques for such problems. Monte Carlo techniques generally offer two distinct advantages over discrete ordinate methods: (1) the use of continuous energy cross sections and (2) the ability to model detailed, complex, three-dimensional (3-D) geometries. These advantages allow more accurate burnup results to be obtained, provided that the user possesses the required computing power (which is required for discrete ordinate methods as well). Several linkage codes have been written that combine a Monte Carlo N-particle transport code (such as MCNP TM ) with a radioactive decay and burnup code. This paper describes one such code that was written at Los Alamos National Laboratory: monteburns. Monteburns links MCNP with the isotope generation and depletion code ORIGEN2. The basis for the development of monteburns was the need for a fully automated code that could perform accurate burnup (and other) calculations for any 3-D system (accelerator-driven or a full reactor core). Before the initial development of monteburns, a list of desired attributes was made and is given below. o The code should be fully automated (that is, after the input is set up, no further user interaction is required). . The code should allow for the irradiation of several materials concurrently (each material is evaluated collectively in MCNP and burned separately in 0RIGEN2). o The code should allow the transfer of materials (shuffling) between regions in MCNP. . The code should allow any materials to be added or removed before, during, or after each step in an automated fashion. . The code should not require the user to provide input for 0RIGEN2 and should have minimal MCNP input file requirements (other than a working MCNP deck). . The code should be relatively easy to use

A flexible coupling scheme for Monte Carlo and thermal-hydraulics codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoogenboom, J. Eduard, E-mail: J.E.Hoogenboom@tudelft.nl [Delft University of Technology (Netherlands); Ivanov, Aleksandar; Sanchez, Victor, E-mail: Aleksandar.Ivanov@kit.edu, E-mail: Victor.Sanchez@kit.edu [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Diop, Cheikh, E-mail: Cheikh.Diop@cea.fr [CEA/DEN/DANS/DM2S/SERMA, Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

2011-07-01

A coupling scheme between a Monte Carlo code and a thermal-hydraulics code is being developed within the European NURISP project for comprehensive and validated reactor analysis. The scheme is flexible as it allows different Monte Carlo codes and different thermal-hydraulics codes to be used. At present the MCNP and TRIPOLI4 Monte Carlo codes can be used and the FLICA4 and SubChanFlow thermal-hydraulics codes. For all these codes only an original executable is necessary. A Python script drives the iterations between Monte Carlo and thermal-hydraulics calculations. It also calls a conversion program to merge a master input file for the Monte Carlo code with the appropriate temperature and coolant density data from the thermal-hydraulics calculation. Likewise it calls another conversion program to merge a master input file for the thermal-hydraulics code with the power distribution data from the Monte Carlo calculation. Special attention is given to the neutron cross section data for the various required temperatures in the Monte Carlo calculation. Results are shown for an infinite lattice of PWR fuel pin cells and a 3 x 3 fuel BWR pin cell cluster. Various possibilities for further improvement and optimization of the coupling system are discussed. (author)

A flexible coupling scheme for Monte Carlo and thermal-hydraulics codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J. Eduard; Ivanov, Aleksandar; Sanchez, Victor; Diop, Cheikh

2011-01-01

A coupling scheme between a Monte Carlo code and a thermal-hydraulics code is being developed within the European NURISP project for comprehensive and validated reactor analysis. The scheme is flexible as it allows different Monte Carlo codes and different thermal-hydraulics codes to be used. At present the MCNP and TRIPOLI4 Monte Carlo codes can be used and the FLICA4 and SubChanFlow thermal-hydraulics codes. For all these codes only an original executable is necessary. A Python script drives the iterations between Monte Carlo and thermal-hydraulics calculations. It also calls a conversion program to merge a master input file for the Monte Carlo code with the appropriate temperature and coolant density data from the thermal-hydraulics calculation. Likewise it calls another conversion program to merge a master input file for the thermal-hydraulics code with the power distribution data from the Monte Carlo calculation. Special attention is given to the neutron cross section data for the various required temperatures in the Monte Carlo calculation. Results are shown for an infinite lattice of PWR fuel pin cells and a 3 x 3 fuel BWR pin cell cluster. Various possibilities for further improvement and optimization of the coupling system are discussed. (author)

Experimental transport analysis code system in JT-60

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirayama, Toshio; Shimizu, Katsuhiro; Tani, Keiji; Shirai, Hiroshi; Kikuchi, Mitsuru

1988-03-01

Transport analysis codes have been developed in order to study confinement properties related to particle and energy balance in ohmically and neutral beam heated plasmas of JT-60. The analysis procedure is divided into three steps as follows: 1) LOOK ; The shape of the plasma boundary is identified with a fast boundary identification code of FBI by using magnetic data, and flux surfaces are calculated with a MHD equilibrium code of SELENE. The diagnostic data are mapped to flux surfaces for neutral beam heating calculation and/or for radial transport analysis. 2) OFMC ; On the basis of transformed data, an orbit following Monte Carlo code of OFMC calculates both profiles of power deposition and particle source of neutral beam injected into a plasma. 3) SCOOP ; In the last stage, a one dimensional transport code of SCOOP solves particle and energy balance for electron and ion, in order to evaluate transport coefficients as well as global parameters such as energy confinement time and the stored energy. The analysis results are provided to a data bank of DARTS that is used to find an overview of important consideration on confinement with a regression analysis code of RAC. (author)

Coupling of system thermal–hydraulics and Monte-Carlo code: Convergence criteria and quantification of correlation between statistical uncertainty and coupled error

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Xu; Kozlowski, Tomasz

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Coupling of Monte Carlo code Serpent and thermal–hydraulics code RELAP5. • A convergence criterion is developed based on the statistical uncertainty of power. • Correlation between MC statistical uncertainty and coupled error is quantified. • Both UO 2 and MOX single assembly models are used in the coupled simulation. • Validation of coupling results with a multi-group transport code DeCART. - Abstract: Coupled multi-physics approach plays an important role in improving computational accuracy. Compared with deterministic neutronics codes, Monte Carlo codes have the advantage of a higher resolution level. In the present paper, a three-dimensional continuous-energy Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation code, Serpent, is coupled with a thermal–hydraulics safety analysis code, RELAP5. The coupled Serpent/RELAP5 code capability is demonstrated by the improved axial power distribution of UO 2 and MOX single assembly models, based on the OECD-NEA/NRC PWR MOX/UO 2 Core Transient Benchmark. Comparisons of calculation results using the coupled code with those from the deterministic methods, specifically heterogeneous multi-group transport code DeCART, show that the coupling produces more precise results. A new convergence criterion for the coupled simulation is developed based on the statistical uncertainty in power distribution in the Monte Carlo code, rather than ad-hoc criteria used in previous research. The new convergence criterion is shown to be more rigorous, equally convenient to use but requiring a few more coupling steps to converge. Finally, the influence of Monte Carlo statistical uncertainty on the coupled error of power and thermal–hydraulics parameters is quantified. The results are presented such that they can be used to find the statistical uncertainty to use in Monte Carlo in order to achieve a desired precision in coupled simulation

ScintSim1: a new Monte Carlo simulation code for transport of optical photons in 2D arrays of scintillation detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosleh-Shirazi, Mohammad Amin; Karbasi, Sareh; Zarrini-Monfared, Zinat; Zamani, Ali

2014-01-01

Two-dimensional (2D) arrays of thick segmented scintillators are of interest as X-ray detectors for both 2D and 3D image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). Their detection process involves ionizing radiation energy deposition followed by production and transport of optical photons. Only a very limited number of optical Monte Carlo simulation models exist, which has limited the number of modeling studies that have considered both stages of the detection process. We present ScintSim1, an in-house optical Monte Carlo simulation code for 2D arrays of scintillation crystals, developed in the MATLAB programming environment. The code was rewritten and revised based on an existing program for single-element detectors, with the additional capability to model 2D arrays of elements with configurable dimensions, material, etc., The code generates and follows each optical photon history through the detector element (and, in case of cross-talk, the surrounding ones) until it reaches a configurable receptor, or is attenuated. The new model was verified by testing against relevant theoretically known behaviors or quantities and the results of a validated single-element model. For both sets of comparisons, the discrepancies in the calculated quantities were all <1%. The results validate the accuracy of the new code, which is a useful tool in scintillation detector optimization. (author)

Application of artificial intelligence techniques to the acceleration of Monte Carlo transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maconald, J.L.; Cashwell, E.D.

1978-09-01

The techniques of learning theory and pattern recognition are used to learn splitting surface locations for the Monte Carlo neutron transport code MCN. A study is performed to determine default values for several pattern recognition and learning parameters. The modified MCN code is used to reduce computer cost for several nontrivial example problems

Monte Carlo impurity transport modeling in the DIII-D transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, T.E.; Finkenthal, D.F.

1998-04-01

A description of the carbon transport and sputtering physics contained in the Monte Carlo Impurity (MCI) transport code is given. Examples of statistically significant carbon transport pathways are examined using MCI's unique tracking visualizer and a mechanism for enhanced carbon accumulation on the high field side of the divertor chamber is discussed. Comparisons between carbon emissions calculated with MCI and those measured in the DIII-D tokamak are described. Good qualitative agreement is found between 2D carbon emission patterns calculated with MCI and experimentally measured carbon patterns. While uncertainties in the sputtering physics, atomic data, and transport models have made quantitative comparisons with experiments more difficult, recent results using a physics based model for physical and chemical sputtering has yielded simulations with about 50% of the total carbon radiation measured in the divertor. These results and plans for future improvement in the physics models and atomic data are discussed

A User's Manual for MASH V1.5 - A Monte Carlo Adjoint Shielding Code System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

C. O. Slater; J. M. Barnes; J. O. Johnson; J.D. Drischler

1998-10-01

The Monte Carlo ~djoint ~ielding Code System, MASH, calculates neutron and gamma- ray environments and radiation protection factors for armored military vehicles, structures, trenches, and other shielding configurations by coupling a forward discrete ordinates air- over-ground transport calculation with an adjoint Monte Carlo treatment of the shielding geometry. Efficiency and optimum use of computer time are emphasized. The code system includes the GRTUNCL and DORT codes for air-over-ground transport calculations, the MORSE code with the GIFT5 combinatorial geometry package for adjoint shielding calculations, and several peripheral codes that perform the required data preparations, transformations, and coupling functions. The current version, MASH v 1.5, is the successor to the original MASH v 1.0 code system initially developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The discrete ordinates calculation determines the fluence on a coupling surface surrounding the shielding geometry due to an external neutron/gamma-ray source. The Monte Carlo calculation determines the effectiveness of the fluence at that surface in causing a response in a detector within the shielding geometry, i.e., the "dose importance" of the coupling surface fluence. A coupling code folds the fluence together with the dose importance, giving the desired dose response. The coupling code can determine the dose response as a function of the shielding geometry orientation relative to the source, distance from the source, and energy response of the detector. This user's manual includes a short description of each code, the input required to execute the code along with some helpful input data notes, and a representative sample problem.

Modelling plastic scintillator response to gamma rays using light transport incorporated FLUKA code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ranjbar Kohan, M. [Physics Department, Tafresh University, Tafresh (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Etaati, G.R. [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Physics, Amir Kabir University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ghal-Eh, N., E-mail: ghal-eh@du.ac.ir [School of Physics, Damghan University, Damghan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Safari, M.J. [Department of Energy Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Afarideh, H. [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Physics, Amir Kabir University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Asadi, E. [Department of Physics, Payam-e-Noor University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2012-05-15

The response function of NE102 plastic scintillator to gamma rays has been simulated using a joint FLUKA+PHOTRACK Monte Carlo code. The multi-purpose particle transport code, FLUKA, has been responsible for gamma transport whilst the light transport code, PHOTRACK, has simulated the transport of scintillation photons through scintillator and lightguide. The simulation results of plastic scintillator with/without light guides of different surface coverings have been successfully verified with experiments. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A multi-purpose code (FLUKA) and a light transport code (PHOTRACK) have been linked. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The hybrid code has been used to generate the response function of an NE102 scintillator. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The simulated response functions exhibit a good agreement with experimental data.

Criticality qualification of a new Monte Carlo code for reactor core analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Catsaros, N.; Gaveau, B.; Jaekel, M.; Maillard, J.; Maurel, G.; Savva, P.; Silva, J.; Varvayanni, M.; Zisis, Th.

2009-01-01

In order to accurately simulate Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS), the utilization of at least two computational tools is necessary (the thermal-hydraulic problem is not considered in the frame of this work), namely: (a) A High Energy Physics (HEP) code system dealing with the 'Accelerator part' of the installation, i.e. the computation of the spectrum, intensity and spatial distribution of the neutrons source created by (p, n) reactions of a proton beam on a target and (b) a neutronics code system, handling the 'Reactor part' of the installation, i.e. criticality calculations, neutron transport, fuel burn-up and fission products evolution. In the present work, a single computational tool, aiming to analyze an ADS in its integrity and also able to perform core analysis for a conventional fission reactor, is proposed. The code is based on the well qualified HEP code GEANT (version 3), transformed to perform criticality calculations. The performance of the code is tested against two qualified neutronics code systems, the diffusion/transport SCALE-CITATION code system and the Monte Carlo TRIPOLI code, in the case of a research reactor core analysis. A satisfactory agreement was exhibited by the three codes.

Overview and applications of the Monte Carlo radiation transport kit at LLNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sale, K. E.

1999-01-01

Modern Monte Carlo radiation transport codes can be applied to model most applications of radiation, from optical to TeV photons, from thermal neutrons to heavy ions. Simulations can include any desired level of detail in three-dimensional geometries using the right level of detail in the reaction physics. The technology areas to which we have applied these codes include medical applications, defense, safety and security programs, nuclear safeguards and industrial and research system design and control. The main reason such applications are interesting is that by using these tools substantial savings of time and effort (i.e. money) can be realized. In addition it is possible to separate out and investigate computationally effects which can not be isolated and studied in experiments. In model calculations, just as in real life, one must take care in order to get the correct answer to the right question. Advancing computing technology allows extensions of Monte Carlo applications in two directions. First, as computers become more powerful more problems can be accurately modeled. Second, as computing power becomes cheaper Monte Carlo methods become accessible more widely. An overview of the set of Monte Carlo radiation transport tools in use a LLNL will be presented along with a few examples of applications and future directions

ERSN-OpenMC, a Java-based GUI for OpenMC Monte Carlo code

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaafar EL Bakkali

2016-07-01

Full Text Available OpenMC is a new Monte Carlo transport particle simulation code focused on solving two types of neutronic problems mainly the k-eigenvalue criticality fission source problems and external fixed fission source problems. OpenMC does not have any Graphical User Interface and the creation of one is provided by our java-based application named ERSN-OpenMC. The main feature of this application is to provide to the users an easy-to-use and flexible graphical interface to build better and faster simulations, with less effort and great reliability. Additionally, this graphical tool was developed with several features, as the ability to automate the building process of OpenMC code and related libraries as well as the users are given the freedom to customize their installation of this Monte Carlo code. A full description of the ERSN-OpenMC application is presented in this paper.

Monte Carlo code for neutron radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milczarek, Jacek J.; Trzcinski, Andrzej; El-Ghany El Abd, Abd; Czachor, Andrzej

2005-01-01

The concise Monte Carlo code, MSX, for simulation of neutron radiography images of non-uniform objects is presented. The possibility of modeling the images of objects with continuous spatial distribution of specific isotopes is included. The code can be used for assessment of the scattered neutron component in neutron radiograms

Monte Carlo code for neutron radiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milczarek, Jacek J. [Institute of Atomic Energy, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland)]. E-mail: jjmilcz@cyf.gov.pl; Trzcinski, Andrzej [Institute for Nuclear Studies, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland); El-Ghany El Abd, Abd [Institute of Atomic Energy, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland); Nuclear Research Center, PC 13759, Cairo (Egypt); Czachor, Andrzej [Institute of Atomic Energy, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland)

2005-04-21

The concise Monte Carlo code, MSX, for simulation of neutron radiography images of non-uniform objects is presented. The possibility of modeling the images of objects with continuous spatial distribution of specific isotopes is included. The code can be used for assessment of the scattered neutron component in neutron radiograms.

The Physical Models and Statistical Procedures Used in the RACER Monte Carlo Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutton, T.M.; Brown, F.B.; Bischoff, F.G.; MacMillan, D.B.; Ellis, C.L.; Ward, J.T.; Ballinger, C.T.; Kelly, D.J.; Schindler, L.

1999-01-01

This report describes the MCV (Monte Carlo - Vectorized)Monte Carlo neutron transport code [Brown, 1982, 1983; Brown and Mendelson, 1984a]. MCV is a module in the RACER system of codes that is used for Monte Carlo reactor physics analysis. The MCV module contains all of the neutron transport and statistical analysis functions of the system, while other modules perform various input-related functions such as geometry description, material assignment, output edit specification, etc. MCV is very closely related to the 05R neutron Monte Carlo code [Irving et al., 1965] developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 05R evolved into the 05RR module of the STEMB system, which was the forerunner of the RACER system. Much of the overall logic and physics treatment of 05RR has been retained and, indeed, the original verification of MCV was achieved through comparison with STEMB results. MCV has been designed to be very computationally efficient [Brown, 1981, Brown and Martin, 1984b; Brown, 1986]. It was originally programmed to make use of vector-computing architectures such as those of the CDC Cyber- 205 and Cray X-MP. MCV was the first full-scale production Monte Carlo code to effectively utilize vector-processing capabilities. Subsequently, MCV was modified to utilize both distributed-memory [Sutton and Brown, 1994] and shared memory parallelism. The code has been compiled and run on platforms ranging from 32-bit UNIX workstations to clusters of 64-bit vector-parallel supercomputers. The computational efficiency of the code allows the analyst to perform calculations using many more neutron histories than is practical with most other Monte Carlo codes, thereby yielding results with smaller statistical uncertainties. MCV also utilizes variance reduction techniques such as survival biasing, splitting, and rouletting to permit additional reduction in uncertainties. While a general-purpose neutron Monte Carlo code, MCV is optimized for reactor physics calculations. It has the

Improvements of MCOR: A Monte Carlo depletion code system for fuel assembly reference calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tippayakul, C.; Ivanov, K. [Pennsylvania State Univ., Univ. Park (United States); Misu, S. [AREVA NP GmbH, An AREVA and SIEMENS Company, Erlangen (Germany)

2006-07-01

This paper presents the improvements of MCOR, a Monte Carlo depletion code system for fuel assembly reference calculations. The improvements of MCOR were initiated by the cooperation between the Penn State Univ. and AREVA NP to enhance the original Penn State Univ. MCOR version in order to be used as a new Monte Carlo depletion analysis tool. Essentially, a new depletion module using KORIGEN is utilized to replace the existing ORIGEN-S depletion module in MCOR. Furthermore, the online burnup cross section generation by the Monte Carlo calculation is implemented in the improved version instead of using the burnup cross section library pre-generated by a transport code. Other code features have also been added to make the new MCOR version easier to use. This paper, in addition, presents the result comparisons of the original and the improved MCOR versions against CASMO-4 and OCTOPUS. It was observed in the comparisons that there were quite significant improvements of the results in terms of k{sub inf}, fission rate distributions and isotopic contents. (authors)

OpenMC: A state-of-the-art Monte Carlo code for research and development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romano, Paul K.; Horelik, Nicholas E.; Herman, Bryan R.; Nelson, Adam G.; Forget, Benoit; Smith, Kord

2015-01-01

Highlights: • OpenMC is an open source Monte Carlo particle transport code. • Solid geometry and continuous-energy physics allow high-fidelity simulations. • Development has focused on high performance and modern I/O techniques. • OpenMC is capable of scaling up to hundreds of thousands of processors. • Other features include plotting, CMFD acceleration, and variance reduction. - Abstract: This paper gives an overview of OpenMC, an open source Monte Carlo particle transport code recently developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. OpenMC uses continuous-energy cross sections and a constructive solid geometry representation, enabling high-fidelity modeling of nuclear reactors and other systems. Modern, portable input/output file formats are used in OpenMC: XML for input, and HDF5 for output. High performance parallel algorithms in OpenMC have demonstrated near-linear scaling to over 100,000 processors on modern supercomputers. Other topics discussed in this paper include plotting, CMFD acceleration, variance reduction, eigenvalue calculations, and software development processes

Monte-Carlo simulation of complex vapor-transport systems for RIB applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Y.; Alton, G.D.

2005-01-01

In order to minimize decay losses of short-lived radioactive species at ISOL based RIB facilities, effusive-flow particle transit times between target and ion source must be as short as practically achievable. A Monte-Carlo code has been developed for simulating the effusive-flow of neutral particles through vapor-transport systems independent of materials of construction. The code provides average distance traveled and time information associated with the transit of individual particles through a system. It offers a cost effective and accurate means for arriving at vapor-transport system designs. In this report, the code will be described and results obtained by its use in evaluating several prototype vapor-transport systems using specular reflection, cosine and isotropic particle re-emission about the normal to the surface models following adsorption. Simulation results obtained with an isotropic distribution are in close agreement with experimental measurements of the properties of prototype vapor-transport systems fabricated at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility

Convergence acceleration in the Monte-Carlo particle transport code TRIPOLI-4 in criticality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dehaye, Benjamin

2014-01-01

Fields such as criticality studies need to compute some values of interest in neutron physics. Two kind of codes may be used: deterministic ones and stochastic ones. The stochastic codes do not require approximation and are thus more exact. However, they may require a lot of time to converge with a sufficient precision.The work carried out during this thesis aims to build an efficient acceleration strategy in the TRIPOLI-4. We wish to implement the zero variance game. To do so, the method requires to compute the adjoint flux. The originality of this work is to directly compute the adjoint flux directly from a Monte-Carlo simulation without using external codes thanks to the fission matrix method. This adjoint flux is then used as an importance map to bias the simulation. (author) [fr

A PC version of the Monte Carlo criticality code OMEGA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seifert, E.

1996-05-01

A description of the PC version of the Monte Carlo criticality code OMEGA is given. The report contains a general description of the code together with a detailed input description. Furthermore, some examples are given illustrating the generation of an input file. The main field of application is the calculation of the criticality of arrangements of fissionable material. Geometrically complicated arrangements that often appear inside and outside a reactor, e.g. in a fuel storage or transport container, can be considered essentially without geometrical approximations. For example, the real geometry of assemblies containing hexagonal or square lattice structures can be described in full detail. Moreover, the code can be used for special investigations in the field of reactor physics and neutron transport. Many years of practical experience and comparison with reference cases have shown that the code together with the built-in data libraries gives reliable results. OMEGA is completely independent on other widely used criticality codes (KENO, MCNP, etc.), concerning programming and the data base. It is a good practice to run difficult criticality safety problems by different independent codes in order to mutually verify the results. In this way, OMEGA can be used as a redundant code within the family of criticality codes. An advantage of OMEGA is the short calculation time: A typical criticality safety application takes only a few minutes on a Pentium PC. Therefore, the influence of parameter variations can simply be investigated by running many variants of a problem. (orig.)

Condensation and homogenization of cross sections for the deterministic transport codes with Monte Carlo method: Application to the GEN IV fast neutron reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Li

2014-01-01

calculation solver SNATCH in the PARIS code platform. The latter uses the transport theory which is indispensable for the new generation fast reactors analysis. The principal conclusions are as follows: The Monte-Carlo assembly calculation code is an interesting way (in the sense of avoiding the difficulties in the self-shielding calculation, the limited order development of anisotropy parameters, the exact 3D geometries) to validate the deterministic codes like ECCO or APOLLO3 and to produce the multi-group constants for deterministic or Monte-Carlo multi-group calculation codes. The results obtained for the moment with the multi-group constants calculated by TRIPOLI-4 code are comparable with those produced from ECCO, but did not show remarkable advantages. (author) [fr

Methodology of Continuous-Energy Adjoint Monte Carlo for Neutron, Photon, and Coupled Neutron-Photon Transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J. Eduard

2003-01-01

Adjoint Monte Carlo may be a useful alternative to regular Monte Carlo calculations in cases where a small detector inhibits an efficient Monte Carlo calculation as only very few particle histories will cross the detector. However, in general purpose Monte Carlo codes, normally only the multigroup form of adjoint Monte Carlo is implemented. In this article the general methodology for continuous-energy adjoint Monte Carlo neutron transport is reviewed and extended for photon and coupled neutron-photon transport. In the latter cases the discrete photons generated by annihilation or by neutron capture or inelastic scattering prevent a direct application of the general methodology. Two successive reaction events must be combined in the selection process to accommodate the adjoint analog of a reaction resulting in a photon with a discrete energy. Numerical examples illustrate the application of the theory for some simplified problems

Correlated Production and Analog Transport of Fission Neutrons and Photons using Fission Models FREYA, FIFRELIN and the Monte Carlo Code TRIPOLI-4® .

Science.gov (United States)

Verbeke, Jérôme M.; Petit, Odile; Chebboubi, Abdelhazize; Litaize, Olivier

2018-01-01

Fission modeling in general-purpose Monte Carlo transport codes often relies on average nuclear data provided by international evaluation libraries. As such, only average fission multiplicities are available and correlations between fission neutrons and photons are missing. Whereas uncorrelated fission physics is usually sufficient for standard reactor core and radiation shielding calculations, correlated fission secondaries are required for specialized nuclear instrumentation and detector modeling. For coincidence counting detector optimization for instance, precise simulation of fission neutrons and photons that remain correlated in time from birth to detection is essential. New developments were recently integrated into the Monte Carlo transport code TRIPOLI-4 to model fission physics more precisely, the purpose being to access event-by-event fission events from two different fission models: FREYA and FIFRELIN. TRIPOLI-4 simulations can now be performed, either by connecting via an API to the LLNL fission library including FREYA, or by reading external fission event data files produced by FIFRELIN beforehand. These new capabilities enable us to easily compare results from Monte Carlo transport calculations using the two fission models in a nuclear instrumentation application. In the first part of this paper, broad underlying principles of the two fission models are recalled. We then present experimental measurements of neutron angular correlations for 252Cf(sf) and 240Pu(sf). The correlations were measured for several neutron kinetic energy thresholds. In the latter part of the paper, simulation results are compared to experimental data. Spontaneous fissions in 252Cf and 240Pu are modeled by FREYA or FIFRELIN. Emitted neutrons and photons are subsequently transported to an array of scintillators by TRIPOLI-4 in analog mode to preserve their correlations. Angular correlations between fission neutrons obtained independently from these TRIPOLI-4 simulations, using

Development of CAD-Based Geometry Processing Module for a Monte Carlo Particle Transport Analysis Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Sung Hoon; Kwark, Min Su; Shim, Hyung Jin

2012-01-01

As The Monte Carlo (MC) particle transport analysis for a complex system such as research reactor, accelerator, and fusion facility may require accurate modeling of the complicated geometry. Its manual modeling by using the text interface of a MC code to define the geometrical objects is tedious, lengthy and error-prone. This problem can be overcome by taking advantage of modeling capability of the computer aided design (CAD) system. There have been two kinds of approaches to develop MC code systems utilizing the CAD data: the external format conversion and the CAD kernel imbedded MC simulation. The first approach includes several interfacing programs such as McCAD, MCAM, GEOMIT etc. which were developed to automatically convert the CAD data into the MCNP geometry input data. This approach makes the most of the existing MC codes without any modifications, but implies latent data inconsistency due to the difference of the geometry modeling system. In the second approach, a MC code utilizes the CAD data for the direct particle tracking or the conversion to an internal data structure of the constructive solid geometry (CSG) and/or boundary representation (B-rep) modeling with help of a CAD kernel. MCNP-BRL and OiNC have demonstrated their capabilities of the CAD-based MC simulations. Recently we have developed a CAD-based geometry processing module for the MC particle simulation by using the OpenCASCADE (OCC) library. In the developed module, CAD data can be used for the particle tracking through primitive CAD surfaces (hereafter the CAD-based tracking) or the internal conversion to the CSG data structure. In this paper, the performances of the text-based model, the CAD-based tracking, and the internal CSG conversion are compared by using an in-house MC code, McSIM, equipped with the developed CAD-based geometry processing module

Monte Carlo 2000 Conference : Advanced Monte Carlo for Radiation Physics, Particle Transport Simulation and Applications

CERN Document Server

Baräo, Fernando; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Távora, Luis; Vaz, Pedro

2001-01-01

This book focusses on the state of the art of Monte Carlo methods in radiation physics and particle transport simulation and applications, the latter involving in particular, the use and development of electron--gamma, neutron--gamma and hadronic codes. Besides the basic theory and the methods employed, special attention is paid to algorithm development for modeling, and the analysis of experiments and measurements in a variety of fields ranging from particle to medical physics.

Monte Carlo simulations of the particle transport in semiconductor detectors of fast neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sedlačková, Katarína; Zaťko, Bohumír; Šagátová, Andrea; Nečas, Vladimír

2013-01-01

Several Monte Carlo all-particle transport codes are under active development around the world. In this paper we focused on the capabilities of the MCNPX code (Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended) to follow the particle transport in semiconductor detector of fast neutrons. Semiconductor detector based on semi-insulating GaAs was the object of our investigation. As converter material capable to produce charged particles from the (n, p) interaction, a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was employed. As the source of fast neutrons, the 239 Pu–Be neutron source was used in the model. The simulations were performed using the MCNPX code which makes possible to track not only neutrons but also recoiled protons at all interesting energies. Hence, the MCNPX code enables seamless particle transport and no other computer program is needed to process the particle transport. The determination of the optimal thickness of the conversion layer and the minimum thickness of the active region of semiconductor detector as well as the energy spectra simulation were the principal goals of the computer modeling. Theoretical detector responses showed that the best detection efficiency can be achieved for 500 μm thick HDPE converter layer. The minimum detector active region thickness has been estimated to be about 400 μm. -- Highlights: ► Application of the MCNPX code for fast neutron detector design is demonstrated. ► Simulations of the particle transport through conversion film of HDPE are presented. ► Simulations of the particle transport through detector active region are presented. ► The optimal thickness of the HDPE conversion film has been calculated. ► Detection efficiency of 0.135% was reached for 500 μm thick HDPE conversion film

Development of a space radiation Monte Carlo computer simulation based on the FLUKA and ROOT codes

CERN Document Server

Pinsky, L; Ferrari, A; Sala, P; Carminati, F; Brun, R

2001-01-01

This NASA funded project is proceeding to develop a Monte Carlo-based computer simulation of the radiation environment in space. With actual funding only initially in place at the end of May 2000, the study is still in the early stage of development. The general tasks have been identified and personnel have been selected. The code to be assembled will be based upon two major existing software packages. The radiation transport simulation will be accomplished by updating the FLUKA Monte Carlo program, and the user interface will employ the ROOT software being developed at CERN. The end-product will be a Monte Carlo-based code which will complement the existing analytic codes such as BRYNTRN/HZETRN presently used by NASA to evaluate the effects of radiation shielding in space. The planned code will possess the ability to evaluate the radiation environment for spacecraft and habitats in Earth orbit, in interplanetary space, on the lunar surface, or on a planetary surface such as Mars. Furthermore, it will be usef...

Uncertainties associated with the use of the KENO Monte Carlo criticality codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landers, N.F.; Petrie, L.M.

1989-01-01

The KENO multi-group Monte Carlo criticality codes have earned the reputation of being efficient, user friendly tools especially suited for the analysis of situations commonly encountered in the storage and transportation of fissile materials. Throughout their twenty years of service, a continuing effort has been made to maintain and improve these codes to meet the needs of the nuclear criticality safety community. Foremost among these needs is the knowledge of how to utilize the results safely and effectively. Therefore it is important that code users be aware of uncertainties that may affect their results. These uncertainties originate from approximations in the problem data, methods used to process cross sections, and assumptions, limitations and approximations within the criticality computer code itself. 6 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab

Tally and geometry definition influence on the computing time in radiotherapy treatment planning with MCNP Monte Carlo code.

Science.gov (United States)

Juste, B; Miro, R; Gallardo, S; Santos, A; Verdu, G

2006-01-01

The present work has simulated the photon and electron transport in a Theratron 780 (MDS Nordion) (60)Co radiotherapy unit, using the Monte Carlo transport code, MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle), version 5. In order to become computationally more efficient in view of taking part in the practical field of radiotherapy treatment planning, this work is focused mainly on the analysis of dose results and on the required computing time of different tallies applied in the model to speed up calculations.

Development and Implementation of Photonuclear Cross-Section Data for Mutually Coupled Neutron-Photon Transport Calculations in the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) Radiation Transport Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, Morgan C.

2000-01-01

The fundamental motivation for the research presented in this dissertation was the need to development a more accurate prediction method for characterization of mixed radiation fields around medical electron accelerators (MEAs). Specifically, a model is developed for simulation of neutron and other particle production from photonuclear reactions and incorporated in the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) radiation transport code. This extension of the capability within the MCNP code provides for the more accurate assessment of the mixed radiation fields. The Nuclear Theory and Applications group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has recently provided first-of-a-kind evaluated photonuclear data for a select group of isotopes. These data provide the reaction probabilities as functions of incident photon energy with angular and energy distribution information for all reaction products. The availability of these data is the cornerstone of the new methodology for state-of-the-art mutually coupled photon-neutron transport simulations. The dissertation includes details of the model development and implementation necessary to use the new photonuclear data within MCNP simulations. A new data format has been developed to include tabular photonuclear data. Data are processed from the Evaluated Nuclear Data Format (ENDF) to the new class ''u'' A Compact ENDF (ACE) format using a standalone processing code. MCNP modifications have been completed to enable Monte Carlo sampling of photonuclear reactions. Note that both neutron and gamma production are included in the present model. The new capability has been subjected to extensive verification and validation (V and V) testing. Verification testing has established the expected basic functionality. Two validation projects were undertaken. First, comparisons were made to benchmark data from literature. These calculations demonstrate the accuracy of the new data and transport routines to better than 25 percent. Second, the ability to

Development and Implementation of Photonuclear Cross-Section Data for Mutually Coupled Neutron-Photon Transport Calculations in the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) Radiation Transport Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, Morgan C. [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

2000-07-01

The fundamental motivation for the research presented in this dissertation was the need to development a more accurate prediction method for characterization of mixed radiation fields around medical electron accelerators (MEAs). Specifically, a model is developed for simulation of neutron and other particle production from photonuclear reactions and incorporated in the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) radiation transport code. This extension of the capability within the MCNP code provides for the more accurate assessment of the mixed radiation fields. The Nuclear Theory and Applications group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has recently provided first-of-a-kind evaluated photonuclear data for a select group of isotopes. These data provide the reaction probabilities as functions of incident photon energy with angular and energy distribution information for all reaction products. The availability of these data is the cornerstone of the new methodology for state-of-the-art mutually coupled photon-neutron transport simulations. The dissertation includes details of the model development and implementation necessary to use the new photonuclear data within MCNP simulations. A new data format has been developed to include tabular photonuclear data. Data are processed from the Evaluated Nuclear Data Format (ENDF) to the new class ''u'' A Compact ENDF (ACE) format using a standalone processing code. MCNP modifications have been completed to enable Monte Carlo sampling of photonuclear reactions. Note that both neutron and gamma production are included in the present model. The new capability has been subjected to extensive verification and validation (V&V) testing. Verification testing has established the expected basic functionality. Two validation projects were undertaken. First, comparisons were made to benchmark data from literature. These calculations demonstrate the accuracy of the new data and transport routines to better than 25 percent. Second

Monte Carlo method for neutron transport calculations in graphics processing units (GPUs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pellegrino, Esteban

2011-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation is well suited for solving the Boltzmann neutron transport equation in an inhomogeneous media for complicated geometries. However, routine applications require the computation time to be reduced to hours and even minutes in a desktop PC. The interest in adopting Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for Monte Carlo acceleration is rapidly growing. This is due to the massive parallelism provided by the latest GPU technologies which is the most promising solution to the challenge of performing full-size reactor core analysis on a routine basis. In this study, Monte Carlo codes for a fixed-source neutron transport problem were developed for GPU environments in order to evaluate issues associated with computational speedup using GPUs. Results obtained in this work suggest that a speedup of several orders of magnitude is possible using the state-of-the-art GPU technologies. (author) [es

Computer codes in nuclear safety, radiation transport and dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bordy, J.M.; Kodeli, I.; Menard, St.; Bouchet, J.L.; Renard, F.; Martin, E.; Blazy, L.; Voros, S.; Bochud, F.; Laedermann, J.P.; Beaugelin, K.; Makovicka, L.; Quiot, A.; Vermeersch, F.; Roche, H.; Perrin, M.C.; Laye, F.; Bardies, M.; Struelens, L.; Vanhavere, F.; Gschwind, R.; Fernandez, F.; Quesne, B.; Fritsch, P.; Lamart, St.; Crovisier, Ph.; Leservot, A.; Antoni, R.; Huet, Ch.; Thiam, Ch.; Donadille, L.; Monfort, M.; Diop, Ch.; Ricard, M.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this conference was to describe the present state of computer codes dedicated to radiation transport or radiation source assessment or dosimetry. The presentations have been parted into 2 sessions: 1) methodology and 2) uses in industrial or medical or research domains. It appears that 2 different calculation strategies are prevailing, both are based on preliminary Monte-Carlo calculations with data storage. First, quick simulations made from a database of particle histories built though a previous Monte-Carlo simulation and secondly, a neuronal approach involving a learning platform generated through a previous Monte-Carlo simulation. This document gathers the slides of the presentations

The application of Monte Carlo method to electron and photon beams transport; Zastosowanie metody Monte Carlo do analizy transportu elektronow i fotonow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zychor, I. [Soltan Inst. for Nuclear Studies, Otwock-Swierk (Poland)

1994-12-31

The application of a Monte Carlo method to study a transport in matter of electron and photon beams is presented, especially for electrons with energies up to 18 MeV. The SHOWME Monte Carlo code, a modified version of GEANT3 code, was used on the CONVEX C3210 computer at Swierk. It was assumed that an electron beam is mono directional and monoenergetic. Arbitrary user-defined, complex geometries made of any element or material can be used in calculation. All principal phenomena occurring when electron beam penetrates the matter are taken into account. The use of calculation for a therapeutic electron beam collimation is presented. (author). 20 refs, 29 figs.

A Monte Carlo Code for Relativistic Radiation Transport Around Kerr Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Schnittman, Jeremy David; Krolik, Julian H.

2013-01-01

We present a new code for radiation transport around Kerr black holes, including arbitrary emission and absorption mechanisms, as well as electron scattering and polarization. The code is particularly useful for analyzing accretion flows made up of optically thick disks and optically thin coronae. We give a detailed description of the methods employed in the code and also present results from a number of numerical tests to assess its accuracy and convergence.

Microwave transport in EBT distribution manifolds using Monte Carlo ray-tracing techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lillie, R.A.; White, T.L.; Gabriel, T.A.; Alsmiller, R.G. Jr.

1983-01-01

Ray tracing Monte Carlo calculations have been carried out using an existing Monte Carlo radiation transport code to obtain estimates of the microsave power exiting the torus coupling links in EPT microwave manifolds. The microwave power loss and polarization at surface reflections were accounted for by treating the microwaves as plane waves reflecting off plane surfaces. Agreement on the order of 10% was obtained between the measured and calculated output power distribution for an existing EBT-S toroidal manifold. A cost effective iterative procedure utilizing the Monte Carlo history data was implemented to predict design changes which could produce increased manifold efficiency and improved output power uniformity

A Monte Carlo Code (PHOEL) for generating initial energies of photoelectrons and compton electrons produced by photons in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, J.E.; Modolo, J.T.; Sordi, G.M.A.A.; Hamm, R.N.; Wright, H.A.

1979-01-01

PHOEL provides a source term for a Monte Carlo code which calculates the electron transport and energy degradation in liquid water. This code is used to study the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of low-LET radiation at low doses. The basic numerical data used and their mathematical treatment are described as well as the operation of the code [pt

Treating voxel geometries in radiation protection dosimetry with a patched version of the Monte Carlo codes MCNP and MCNPX.

Science.gov (United States)

Burn, K W; Daffara, C; Gualdrini, G; Pierantoni, M; Ferrari, P

2007-01-01

The question of Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport in voxel geometries is addressed. Patched versions of the MCNP and MCNPX codes are developed aimed at transporting radiation both in the standard geometry mode and in the voxel geometry treatment. The patched code reads an unformatted FORTRAN file derived from DICOM format data and uses special subroutines to handle voxel-to-voxel radiation transport. The various phases of the development of the methodology are discussed together with the new input options. Examples are given of employment of the code in internal and external dosimetry and comparisons with results from other groups are reported.

PHITS-a particle and heavy ion transport code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niita, Koji; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Iwase, Hiroshi; Nose, Hiroyuki; Nakashima, Hiroshi; Sihver, Lembit

2006-01-01

The paper presents a summary of the recent development of the multi-purpose Monte Carlo Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System, PHITS. In particular, we discuss in detail the development of two new models, JAM and JQMD, for high energy particle interactions, incorporated in PHITS, and show comparisons between model calculations and experiments for the validations of these models. The paper presents three applications of the code including spallation neutron source, heavy ion therapy and space radiation. The results and examples shown indicate PHITS has great ability of carrying out the radiation transport analysis of almost all particles including heavy ions within a wide energy range

Modeling Dynamic Objects in Monte Carlo Particle Transport Calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yegin, G.

2008-01-01

In this study, the Multi-Geometry geometry modeling technique was improved in order to handle moving objects in a Monte Carlo particle transport calculation. In the Multi-Geometry technique, the geometry is a superposition of objects not surfaces. By using this feature, we developed a new algorithm which allows a user to make enable or disable geometry elements during particle transport. A disabled object can be ignored at a certain stage of a calculation and switching among identical copies of the same object located adjacent poins during a particle simulation corresponds to the movement of that object in space. We called this powerfull feature as Dynamic Multi-Geometry technique (DMG) which is used for the first time in Brachy Dose Monte Carlo code to simulate HDR brachytherapy treatment systems. Our results showed that having disabled objects in a geometry does not effect calculated dose values. This technique is also suitable to be used in other areas such as IMRT treatment planning systems

Monte Carlo method for neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asaoka, Takumi

1977-01-01

Some methods for decreasing variances in Monte Carlo neutron transport calculations are presented together with the results of sample calculations. A general purpose neutron transport Monte Carlo code ''MORSE'' was used for the purpose. The first method discussed in this report is the method of statistical estimation. As an example of this method, the application of the coarse-mesh rebalance acceleration method to the criticality calculation of a cylindrical fast reactor is presented. Effective multiplication factor and its standard deviation are presented as a function of the number of histories and comparisons are made between the coarse-mesh rebalance method and the standard method. Five-group neutron fluxes at core center are also compared with the result of S4 calculation. The second method is the method of correlated sampling. This method was applied to the perturbation calculation of control rod worths in a fast critical assembly (FCA-V-3) Two methods of sampling (similar flight paths and identical flight paths) are tested and compared with experimental results. For every cases the experimental value lies within the standard deviation of the Monte Carlo calculations. The third method is the importance sampling. In this report a biased selection of particle flight directions discussed. This method was applied to the flux calculation in a spherical fast neutron system surrounded by a 10.16 cm iron reflector. Result-direction biasing, path-length stretching, and no biasing are compared with S8 calculation. (Aoki, K.)

A Monte Carlo neutron transport code for eigenvalue calculations on a dual-GPU system and CUDA environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, T.; Ding, A.; Ji, W.; Xu, X. G. [Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY 12180 (United States); Carothers, C. D. [Dept. of Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. RPI (United States); Brown, F. B. [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) (United States)

2012-07-01

Monte Carlo (MC) method is able to accurately calculate eigenvalues in reactor analysis. Its lengthy computation time can be reduced by general-purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPU), one of the latest parallel computing techniques under development. The method of porting a regular transport code to GPU is usually very straightforward due to the 'embarrassingly parallel' nature of MC code. However, the situation becomes different for eigenvalue calculation in that it will be performed on a generation-by-generation basis and the thread coordination should be explicitly taken care of. This paper presents our effort to develop such a GPU-based MC code in Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) environment. The code is able to perform eigenvalue calculation under simple geometries on a multi-GPU system. The specifics of algorithm design, including thread organization and memory management were described in detail. The original CPU version of the code was tested on an Intel Xeon X5660 2.8 GHz CPU, and the adapted GPU version was tested on NVIDIA Tesla M2090 GPUs. Double-precision floating point format was used throughout the calculation. The result showed that a speedup of 7.0 and 33.3 were obtained for a bare spherical core and a binary slab system respectively. The speedup factor was further increased by a factor of {approx}2 on a dual GPU system. The upper limit of device-level parallelism was analyzed, and a possible method to enhance the thread-level parallelism was proposed. (authors)

A Monte Carlo neutron transport code for eigenvalue calculations on a dual-GPU system and CUDA environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, T.; Ding, A.; Ji, W.; Xu, X. G.; Carothers, C. D.; Brown, F. B.

2012-01-01

Monte Carlo (MC) method is able to accurately calculate eigenvalues in reactor analysis. Its lengthy computation time can be reduced by general-purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPU), one of the latest parallel computing techniques under development. The method of porting a regular transport code to GPU is usually very straightforward due to the 'embarrassingly parallel' nature of MC code. However, the situation becomes different for eigenvalue calculation in that it will be performed on a generation-by-generation basis and the thread coordination should be explicitly taken care of. This paper presents our effort to develop such a GPU-based MC code in Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) environment. The code is able to perform eigenvalue calculation under simple geometries on a multi-GPU system. The specifics of algorithm design, including thread organization and memory management were described in detail. The original CPU version of the code was tested on an Intel Xeon X5660 2.8 GHz CPU, and the adapted GPU version was tested on NVIDIA Tesla M2090 GPUs. Double-precision floating point format was used throughout the calculation. The result showed that a speedup of 7.0 and 33.3 were obtained for a bare spherical core and a binary slab system respectively. The speedup factor was further increased by a factor of ∼2 on a dual GPU system. The upper limit of device-level parallelism was analyzed, and a possible method to enhance the thread-level parallelism was proposed. (authors)

Vectorization and parallelization of Monte-Carlo programs for calculation of radiation transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seidel, R.

1995-01-01

The versatile MCNP-3B Monte-Carlo code written in FORTRAN77, for simulation of the radiation transport of neutral particles, has been subjected to vectorization and parallelization of essential parts, without touching its versatility. Vectorization is not dependent on a specific computer. Several sample tasks have been selected in order to test the vectorized MCNP-3B code in comparison to the scalar MNCP-3B code. The samples are a representative example of the 3-D calculations to be performed for simulation of radiation transport in neutron and reactor physics. (1) 4πneutron detector. (2) High-energy calorimeter. (3) PROTEUS benchmark (conversion rates and neutron multiplication factors for the HCLWR (High Conversion Light Water Reactor)). (orig./HP) [de

MCOR - Monte Carlo depletion code for reference LWR calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Puente Espel, Federico, E-mail: fup104@psu.edu [Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Pennsylvania State University (United States); Tippayakul, Chanatip, E-mail: cut110@psu.edu [Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Pennsylvania State University (United States); Ivanov, Kostadin, E-mail: kni1@psu.edu [Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Pennsylvania State University (United States); Misu, Stefan, E-mail: Stefan.Misu@areva.com [AREVA, AREVA NP GmbH, Erlangen (Germany)

2011-04-15

Research highlights: > Introduction of a reference Monte Carlo based depletion code with extended capabilities. > Verification and validation results for MCOR. > Utilization of MCOR for benchmarking deterministic lattice physics (spectral) codes. - Abstract: The MCOR (MCnp-kORigen) code system is a Monte Carlo based depletion system for reference fuel assembly and core calculations. The MCOR code is designed as an interfacing code that provides depletion capability to the LANL Monte Carlo code by coupling two codes: MCNP5 with the AREVA NP depletion code, KORIGEN. The physical quality of both codes is unchanged. The MCOR code system has been maintained and continuously enhanced since it was initially developed and validated. The verification of the coupling was made by evaluating the MCOR code against similar sophisticated code systems like MONTEBURNS, OCTOPUS and TRIPOLI-PEPIN. After its validation, the MCOR code has been further improved with important features. The MCOR code presents several valuable capabilities such as: (a) a predictor-corrector depletion algorithm, (b) utilization of KORIGEN as the depletion module, (c) individual depletion calculation of each burnup zone (no burnup zone grouping is required, which is particularly important for the modeling of gadolinium rings), and (d) on-line burnup cross-section generation by the Monte Carlo calculation for 88 isotopes and usage of the KORIGEN libraries for PWR and BWR typical spectra for the remaining isotopes. Besides the just mentioned capabilities, the MCOR code newest enhancements focus on the possibility of executing the MCNP5 calculation in sequential or parallel mode, a user-friendly automatic re-start capability, a modification of the burnup step size evaluation, and a post-processor and test-matrix, just to name the most important. The article describes the capabilities of the MCOR code system; from its design and development to its latest improvements and further ameliorations. Additionally

MCOR - Monte Carlo depletion code for reference LWR calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Puente Espel, Federico; Tippayakul, Chanatip; Ivanov, Kostadin; Misu, Stefan

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → Introduction of a reference Monte Carlo based depletion code with extended capabilities. → Verification and validation results for MCOR. → Utilization of MCOR for benchmarking deterministic lattice physics (spectral) codes. - Abstract: The MCOR (MCnp-kORigen) code system is a Monte Carlo based depletion system for reference fuel assembly and core calculations. The MCOR code is designed as an interfacing code that provides depletion capability to the LANL Monte Carlo code by coupling two codes: MCNP5 with the AREVA NP depletion code, KORIGEN. The physical quality of both codes is unchanged. The MCOR code system has been maintained and continuously enhanced since it was initially developed and validated. The verification of the coupling was made by evaluating the MCOR code against similar sophisticated code systems like MONTEBURNS, OCTOPUS and TRIPOLI-PEPIN. After its validation, the MCOR code has been further improved with important features. The MCOR code presents several valuable capabilities such as: (a) a predictor-corrector depletion algorithm, (b) utilization of KORIGEN as the depletion module, (c) individual depletion calculation of each burnup zone (no burnup zone grouping is required, which is particularly important for the modeling of gadolinium rings), and (d) on-line burnup cross-section generation by the Monte Carlo calculation for 88 isotopes and usage of the KORIGEN libraries for PWR and BWR typical spectra for the remaining isotopes. Besides the just mentioned capabilities, the MCOR code newest enhancements focus on the possibility of executing the MCNP5 calculation in sequential or parallel mode, a user-friendly automatic re-start capability, a modification of the burnup step size evaluation, and a post-processor and test-matrix, just to name the most important. The article describes the capabilities of the MCOR code system; from its design and development to its latest improvements and further ameliorations

On the use of SERPENT Monte Carlo code to generate few group diffusion constants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piovezan, Pamela, E-mail: pamela.piovezan@ctmsp.mar.mil.b [Centro Tecnologico da Marinha em Sao Paulo (CTMSP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Carluccio, Thiago; Domingos, Douglas Borges; Rossi, Pedro Russo; Mura, Luiz Felipe, E-mail: fermium@cietec.org.b, E-mail: thiagoc@ipen.b [Fermium Tecnologia Nuclear, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2011-07-01

The accuracy of diffusion reactor codes strongly depends on the quality of the groups constants processing. For many years, the generation of such constants was based on 1-D infinity cell transport calculations. Some developments using collision probability or the method of characteristics allow, nowadays, 2-D assembly group constants calculations. However, these 1-D and 2-D codes how some limitations as , for example, on complex geometries and in the neighborhood of heavy absorbers. On the other hand, since Monte Carlos (MC) codes provide accurate neutro flux distributions, the possibility of using these solutions to provide group constants to full-core reactor diffusion simulators has been recently investigated, especially for the cases in which the geometry and reactor types are beyond the capability of the conventional deterministic lattice codes. The two greatest difficulties on the use of MC codes to group constant generation are the computational costs and the methodological incompatibility between analog MC particle transport simulation and deterministic transport methods based in several approximations. The SERPENT code is a 3-D continuous energy MC transport code with built-in burnup capability that was specially optimized to generate these group constants. In this work, we present the preliminary results of using the SERPENT MC code to generate 3-D two-group diffusion constants for a PWR like assembly. These constants were used in the CITATION diffusion code to investigate the effects of the MC group constants determination on the neutron multiplication factor diffusion estimate. (author)

Particle and heavy ion transport code system; PHITS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niita, Koji

2004-01-01

Intermediate and high energy nuclear data are strongly required in design study of many facilities such as accelerator-driven systems, intense pulse spallation neutron sources, and also in medical and space technology. There is, however, few evaluated nuclear data of intermediate and high energy nuclear reactions. Therefore, we have to use some models or systematics for the cross sections, which are essential ingredients of high energy particle and heavy ion transport code to estimate neutron yield, heat deposition and many other quantities of the transport phenomena in materials. We have developed general purpose particle and heavy ion transport Monte Carlo code system, PHITS (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System), based on the NMTC/JAM code by the collaboration of Tohoku University, JAERI and RIST. The PHITS has three important ingredients which enable us to calculate (1) high energy nuclear reactions up to 200 GeV, (2) heavy ion collision and its transport in material, (3) low energy neutron transport based on the evaluated nuclear data. In the PHITS, the cross sections of high energy nuclear reactions are obtained by JAM model. JAM (Jet AA Microscopic Transport Model) is a hadronic cascade model, which explicitly treats all established hadronic states including resonances and all hadron-hadron cross sections parametrized based on the resonance model and string model by fitting the available experimental data. The PHITS can describe the transport of heavy ions and their collisions by making use of JQMD and SPAR code. The JQMD (JAERI Quantum Molecular Dynamics) is a simulation code for nucleus nucleus collisions based on the molecular dynamics. The SPAR code is widely used to calculate the stopping powers and ranges for charged particles and heavy ions. The PHITS has included some part of MCNP4C code, by which the transport of low energy neutron, photon and electron based on the evaluated nuclear data can be described. Furthermore, the high energy nuclear

Development of a Monte Carlo software to photon transportation in voxel structures using graphic processing units; Desenvolvimento de um software de Monte Carlo para transporte de fotons em estruturas de voxels usando unidades de processamento grafico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellezzo, Murillo

2014-09-01

As the most accurate method to estimate absorbed dose in radiotherapy, Monte Carlo Method (MCM) has been widely used in radiotherapy treatment planning. Nevertheless, its efficiency can be improved for clinical routine applications. In this thesis, the CUBMC code is presented, a GPU-based MC photon transport algorithm for dose calculation under the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) platform. The simulation of physical events is based on the algorithm used in PENELOPE, and the cross section table used is the one generated by the MATERIAL routine, also present in PENELOPE code. Photons are transported in voxel-based geometries with different compositions. There are two distinct approaches used for transport simulation. The rst of them forces the photon to stop at every voxel frontier, the second one is the Woodcock method, where the photon ignores the existence of borders and travels in homogeneous fictitious media. The CUBMC code aims to be an alternative of Monte Carlo simulator code that, by using the capability of parallel processing of graphics processing units (GPU), provide high performance simulations in low cost compact machines, and thus can be applied in clinical cases and incorporated in treatment planning systems for radiotherapy. (author)

A probability-conserving cross-section biasing mechanism for variance reduction in Monte Carlo particle transport calculations

OpenAIRE

Mendenhall, Marcus H.; Weller, Robert A.

2011-01-01

In Monte Carlo particle transport codes, it is often important to adjust reaction cross sections to reduce the variance of calculations of relatively rare events, in a technique known as non-analogous Monte Carlo. We present the theory and sample code for a Geant4 process which allows the cross section of a G4VDiscreteProcess to be scaled, while adjusting track weights so as to mitigate the effects of altered primary beam depletion induced by the cross section change. This makes it possible t...

Coupling the MCNP Monte Carlo code and the FISPACT activation code with automatic visualization of the results of simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourauel, Peter; Nabbi, Rahim; Biel, Wolfgang; Forrest, Robin

2009-01-01

The MCNP 3D Monte Carlo computer code is used not only for criticality calculations of nuclear systems but also to simulate transports of radiation and particles. The findings so obtained about neutron flux distribution and the associated spectra allow information about materials activation, nuclear heating, and radiation damage to be obtained by means of activation codes such as FISPACT. The stochastic character of particle and radiation transport processes normally links findings to the materials cells making up the geometry model of MCNP. Where high spatial resolution is required for the activation calculations with FISPACT, fine segmentation of the MCNP geometry becomes compulsory, which implies considerable expense for the modeling process. For this reason, an alternative simulation technique has been developed in an effort to automate and optimize data transfer between MCNP and FISPACT. (orig.)

Comparison of EGS4 and MCNP Monte Carlo codes when calculating radiotherapy depth doses.

Science.gov (United States)

Love, P A; Lewis, D G; Al-Affan, I A; Smith, C W

1998-05-01

The Monte Carlo codes EGS4 and MCNP have been compared when calculating radiotherapy depth doses in water. The aims of the work were to study (i) the differences between calculated depth doses in water for a range of monoenergetic photon energies and (ii) the relative efficiency of the two codes for different electron transport energy cut-offs. The depth doses from the two codes agree with each other within the statistical uncertainties of the calculations (1-2%). The relative depth doses also agree with data tabulated in the British Journal of Radiology Supplement 25. A discrepancy in the dose build-up region may by attributed to the different electron transport algorithims used by EGS4 and MCNP. This discrepancy is considerably reduced when the improved electron transport routines are used in the latest (4B) version of MCNP. Timing calculations show that EGS4 is at least 50% faster than MCNP for the geometries used in the simulations.

Burnup calculations using Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Biplab; Degweker, S.B.

2009-01-01

In the recent years, interest in burnup calculations using Monte Carlo methods has gained momentum. Previous burn up codes have used multigroup transport theory based calculations followed by diffusion theory based core calculations for the neutronic portion of codes. The transport theory methods invariably make approximations with regard to treatment of the energy and angle variables involved in scattering, besides approximations related to geometry simplification. Cell homogenisation to produce diffusion, theory parameters adds to these approximations. Moreover, while diffusion theory works for most reactors, it does not produce accurate results in systems that have strong gradients, strong absorbers or large voids. Also, diffusion theory codes are geometry limited (rectangular, hexagonal, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates). Monte Carlo methods are ideal to solve very heterogeneous reactors and/or lattices/assemblies in which considerable burnable poisons are used. The key feature of this approach is that Monte Carlo methods permit essentially 'exact' modeling of all geometrical detail, without resort to ene and spatial homogenization of neutron cross sections. Monte Carlo method would also be better for in Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) which could have strong gradients due to the external source and a sub-critical assembly. To meet the demand for an accurate burnup code, we have developed a Monte Carlo burnup calculation code system in which Monte Carlo neutron transport code is coupled with a versatile code (McBurn) for calculating the buildup and decay of nuclides in nuclear materials. McBurn is developed from scratch by the authors. In this article we will discuss our effort in developing the continuous energy Monte Carlo burn-up code, McBurn. McBurn is intended for entire reactor core as well as for unit cells and assemblies. Generally, McBurn can do burnup of any geometrical system which can be handled by the underlying Monte Carlo transport code

Development of particle and heavy ion transport code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niita, Koji

2004-01-01

Particle and heavy ion transport code system (PHITS) is 3 dimension general purpose Monte Carlo simulation codes for description of transport and reaction of particle and heavy ion in materials. It is developed on the basis of NMTC/JAM for design and safety of J-PARC. What is PHITS, it's physical process, physical models and development process of PHITC code are described. For examples of application, evaluation of neutron optics, cancer treatment by heavy particle ray and cosmic radiation are stated. JAM and JQMD model are used as the physical model. Neutron motion in six polar magnetic field and gravitational field, PHITC simulation of trace of C 12 beam and secondary neutron track of small model of cancer treatment device in HIMAC and neutron flux in Space Shuttle are explained. (S.Y.)

Development of a Monte Carlo software to photon transportation in voxel structures using graphic processing units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellezzo, Murillo

2014-01-01

As the most accurate method to estimate absorbed dose in radiotherapy, Monte Carlo Method (MCM) has been widely used in radiotherapy treatment planning. Nevertheless, its efficiency can be improved for clinical routine applications. In this thesis, the CUBMC code is presented, a GPU-based MC photon transport algorithm for dose calculation under the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) platform. The simulation of physical events is based on the algorithm used in PENELOPE, and the cross section table used is the one generated by the MATERIAL routine, also present in PENELOPE code. Photons are transported in voxel-based geometries with different compositions. There are two distinct approaches used for transport simulation. The rst of them forces the photon to stop at every voxel frontier, the second one is the Woodcock method, where the photon ignores the existence of borders and travels in homogeneous fictitious media. The CUBMC code aims to be an alternative of Monte Carlo simulator code that, by using the capability of parallel processing of graphics processing units (GPU), provide high performance simulations in low cost compact machines, and thus can be applied in clinical cases and incorporated in treatment planning systems for radiotherapy. (author)

Automatic modeling for the Monte Carlo transport code Geant4 in MCAM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie Fanzhi; Hu Liqin; Wang Guozhong; Wang Dianxi; Wu Yican; Wang Dong; Long Pengcheng; FDS Team

2014-01-01

Geant4 is a widely used Monte Carlo transport simulation package. Its geometry models could be described in geometry description markup language (GDML), but it is time-consuming and error-prone to describe the geometry models manually. This study implemented the conversion between computer-aided design (CAD) geometry models and GDML models. The conversion program was integrated into Multi-Physics Coupling Analysis Modeling Program (MCAM). The tests, including FDS-Ⅱ model, demonstrated its accuracy and feasibility. (authors)

Combinatorial geometry domain decomposition strategies for Monte Carlo simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, G.; Zhang, B.; Deng, L.; Mo, Z.; Liu, Z.; Shangguan, D.; Ma, Y.; Li, S.; Hu, Z. [Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing, 100094 (China)

2013-07-01

Analysis and modeling of nuclear reactors can lead to memory overload for a single core processor when it comes to refined modeling. A method to solve this problem is called 'domain decomposition'. In the current work, domain decomposition algorithms for a combinatorial geometry Monte Carlo transport code are developed on the JCOGIN (J Combinatorial Geometry Monte Carlo transport INfrastructure). Tree-based decomposition and asynchronous communication of particle information between domains are described in the paper. Combination of domain decomposition and domain replication (particle parallelism) is demonstrated and compared with that of MERCURY code. A full-core reactor model is simulated to verify the domain decomposition algorithms using the Monte Carlo particle transport code JMCT (J Monte Carlo Transport Code), which has being developed on the JCOGIN infrastructure. Besides, influences of the domain decomposition algorithms to tally variances are discussed. (authors)

Combinatorial geometry domain decomposition strategies for Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, G.; Zhang, B.; Deng, L.; Mo, Z.; Liu, Z.; Shangguan, D.; Ma, Y.; Li, S.; Hu, Z.

2013-01-01

Analysis and modeling of nuclear reactors can lead to memory overload for a single core processor when it comes to refined modeling. A method to solve this problem is called 'domain decomposition'. In the current work, domain decomposition algorithms for a combinatorial geometry Monte Carlo transport code are developed on the JCOGIN (J Combinatorial Geometry Monte Carlo transport INfrastructure). Tree-based decomposition and asynchronous communication of particle information between domains are described in the paper. Combination of domain decomposition and domain replication (particle parallelism) is demonstrated and compared with that of MERCURY code. A full-core reactor model is simulated to verify the domain decomposition algorithms using the Monte Carlo particle transport code JMCT (J Monte Carlo Transport Code), which has being developed on the JCOGIN infrastructure. Besides, influences of the domain decomposition algorithms to tally variances are discussed. (authors)

Modelling of a general purpose irradiation chamber using a Monte Carlo particle transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dhiyauddin Ahmad Fauzi; Sheik, F.O.A.; Nurul Fadzlin Hasbullah

2013-01-01

Full-text: The aim of this research is to stimulate the effectiveness use of a general purpose irradiation chamber to contain pure neutron particles obtained from a research reactor. The secondary neutron and gamma particles dose discharge from the chamber layers will be used as a platform to estimate the safe dimension of the chamber. The chamber, made up of layers of lead (Pb), shielding, polyethylene (PE), moderator and commercial grade aluminium (Al) cladding is proposed for the use of interacting samples with pure neutron particles in a nuclear reactor environment. The estimation was accomplished through simulation based on general Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code using Los Alamos MCNPX software. Simulations were performed on the model of the chamber subjected to high neutron flux radiation and its gamma radiation product. The model of neutron particle used is based on the neutron source found in PUSPATI TRIGA MARK II research reactor which holds a maximum flux value of 1 x 10 12 neutron/ cm 2 s. The expected outcomes of this research are zero gamma dose in the core of the chamber and neutron dose rate of less than 10 μSv/ day discharge from the chamber system. (author)

EGS code system: computer programs for the Monte Carlo simulation of electromagnetic cascade showers. Version 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, R.L.; Nelson, W.R.

1978-06-01

A code to simulate almost any electron--photon transport problem conceivable is described. The report begins with a lengthy historical introduction and a description of the shower generation process. Then the detailed physics of the shower processes and the methods used to simulate them are presented. Ideas of sampling theory, transport techniques, particle interactions in general, and programing details are discussed. Next, EGS calculations and various experiments and other Monte Carlo results are compared. The remainder of the report consists of user manuals for EGS, PEGS, and TESTSR codes; options, input specifications, and typical output are included. 38 figures, 12 tables

Efficient data management techniques implemented in the Karlsruhe Monte Carlo code KAMCCO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnecke, G.; Borgwaldt, H.; Brandl, V.; Lalovic, M.

1974-01-01

The Karlsruhe Monte Carlo Code KAMCCO is a forward neutron transport code with an eigenfunction and a fixed source option, including time-dependence. A continuous energy model is combined with a detailed representation of neutron cross sections, based on linear interpolation, Breit-Wigner resonances and probability tables. All input is processed into densely packed, dynamically addressed parameter fields and networks of pointers (addresses). Estimation routines are decoupled from random walk and analyze a storage region with sample records. This technique leads to fast execution with moderate storage requirements and without any I/O-operations except in the input and output stages. 7 references. (U.S.)

Evaluation of speedup of Monte Carlo calculations of two simple reactor physics problems coded for the GPU/CUDA environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding, Aiping; Liu, Tianyu; Liang, Chao; Ji, Wei; Shephard, Mark S.; Xu, X George; Brown, Forrest B.

2011-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation is ideally suited for solving Boltzmann neutron transport equation in inhomogeneous media. However, routine applications require the computation time to be reduced to hours and even minutes in a desktop system. The interest in adopting GPUs for Monte Carlo acceleration is rapidly mounting, fueled partially by the parallelism afforded by the latest GPU technologies and the challenge to perform full-size reactor core analysis on a routine basis. In this study, Monte Carlo codes for a fixed-source neutron transport problem and an eigenvalue/criticality problem were developed for CPU and GPU environments, respectively, to evaluate issues associated with computational speedup afforded by the use of GPUs. The results suggest that a speedup factor of 30 in Monte Carlo radiation transport of neutrons is within reach using the state-of-the-art GPU technologies. However, for the eigenvalue/criticality problem, the speedup was 8.5. In comparison, for a task of voxelizing unstructured mesh geometry that is more parallel in nature, the speedup of 45 was obtained. It was observed that, to date, most attempts to adopt GPUs for Monte Carlo acceleration were based on naïve implementations and have not yielded the level of anticipated gains. Successful implementation of Monte Carlo schemes for GPUs will likely require the development of an entirely new code. Given the prediction that future-generation GPU products will likely bring exponentially improved computing power and performances, innovative hardware and software solutions may make it possible to achieve full-core Monte Carlo calculation within one hour using a desktop computer system in a few years. (author)

Monte Carlo code criticality benchmark comparisons for waste packaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alesso, H.P.; Annese, C.E.; Buck, R.M.; Pearson, J.S.; Lloyd, W.R.

1992-07-01

COG is a new point-wise Monte Carlo code being developed and tested at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). It solves the Boltzmann equation for the transport of neutrons and photons. The objective of this paper is to report on COG results for criticality benchmark experiments both on a Cray mainframe and on a HP 9000 workstation. COG has been recently ported to workstations to improve its accessibility to a wider community of users. COG has some similarities to a number of other computer codes used in the shielding and criticality community. The recently introduced high performance reduced instruction set (RISC) UNIX workstations provide computational power that approach mainframes at a fraction of the cost. A version of COG is currently being developed for the Hewlett Packard 9000/730 computer with a UNIX operating system. Subsequent porting operations will move COG to SUN, DEC, and IBM workstations. In addition, a CAD system for preparation of the geometry input for COG is being developed. In July 1977, Babcock ampersand Wilcox Co. (B ampersand W) was awarded a contract to conduct a series of critical experiments that simulated close-packed storage of LWR-type fuel. These experiments provided data for benchmarking and validating calculational methods used in predicting K-effective of nuclear fuel storage in close-packed, neutron poisoned arrays. Low enriched UO2 fuel pins in water-moderated lattices in fuel storage represent a challenging criticality calculation for Monte Carlo codes particularly when the fuel pins extend out of the water. COG and KENO calculational results of these criticality benchmark experiments are presented

Investigation of pattern recognition techniques for the indentification of splitting surfaces in Monte Carlo particle transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macdonald, J.L.

1975-08-01

Statistical and deterministic pattern recognition systems are designed to classify the state space of a Monte Carlo transport problem into importance regions. The surfaces separating the regions can be used for particle splitting and Russian roulette in state space in order to reduce the variance of the Monte Carlo tally. Computer experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of the technique using one and two dimensional Monte Carlo problems. Additional experiments are performed to determine the sensitivity of the technique to various pattern recognition and Monte Carlo problem dependent parameters. A system for applying the technique to a general purpose Monte Carlo code is described. An estimate of the computer time required by the technique is made in order to determine its effectiveness as a variance reduction device. It is recommended that the technique be further investigated in a general purpose Monte Carlo code. (auth)

Hybrid transport and diffusion modeling using electron thermal transport Monte Carlo SNB in DRACO

Science.gov (United States)

Chenhall, Jeffrey; Moses, Gregory

2017-10-01

The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet) multigroup diffusion electron thermal transport method is adapted into an Electron Thermal Transport Monte Carlo (ETTMC) transport method to better model angular and long mean free path non-local effects. Previously, the ETTMC model had been implemented in the 2D DRACO multiphysics code and found to produce consistent results with the iSNB method. Current work is focused on a hybridization of the computationally slower but higher fidelity ETTMC transport method with the computationally faster iSNB diffusion method in order to maximize computational efficiency. Furthermore, effects on the energy distribution of the heat flux divergence are studied. Work to date on the hybrid method will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratories and the Univ. of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Application of neutron/gamma transport codes for the design of explosive detection systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elias, E.; Shayer, Z.

1994-01-01

Applications of neutron and gamma transport codes to the design of nuclear techniques for detecting concealed explosives material are discussed. The methodology of integrating radiation transport computations in the development, optimization and analysis phases of these new technologies is discussed. Transport and Monte Carlo codes are used for proof of concepts, guide the system integration, reduce the extend of experimental program and provide insight into the physical problem involved. The paper concentrates on detection techniques based on thermal and fast neutron interactions in the interrogated object. (authors). 6 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

Vectorization of phase space Monte Carlo code in FACOM vector processor VP-200

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miura, Kenichi

1986-01-01

This paper describes the vectorization techniques for Monte Carlo codes in Fujitsu's Vector Processor System. The phase space Monte Carlo code FOWL is selected as a benchmark, and scalar and vector performances are compared. The vectorized kernel Monte Carlo routine which contains heavily nested IF tests runs up to 7.9 times faster in vector mode than in scalar mode. The overall performance improvement of the vectorized FOWL code over the original scalar code reaches 3.3. The results of this study strongly indicate that supercomputer can be a powerful tool for Monte Carlo simulations in high energy physics. (Auth.)

Enhancements to the Combinatorial Geometry Particle Tracker in the Mercury Monte Carlo Transport Code: Embedded Meshes and Domain Decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenman, G.M.; O'Brien, M.J.; Procassini, R.J.; Joy, K.I.

2009-01-01

Two enhancements to the combinatorial geometry (CG) particle tracker in the Mercury Monte Carlo transport code are presented. The first enhancement is a hybrid particle tracker wherein a mesh region is embedded within a CG region. This method permits efficient calculations of problems with contain both large-scale heterogeneous and homogeneous regions. The second enhancement relates to the addition of parallelism within the CG tracker via spatial domain decomposition. This permits calculations of problems with a large degree of geometric complexity, which are not possible through particle parallelism alone. In this method, the cells are decomposed across processors and a particles is communicated to an adjacent processor when it tracks to an interprocessor boundary. Applications that demonstrate the efficacy of these new methods are presented

Development of fast and accurate Monte Carlo code MVP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Takamasa

2001-01-01

The development work of fast and accurate Monte Carlo code MVP has started at JAERI in late 80s. From the beginning, the code was designed to utilize vector supercomputers and achieved higher computation speed by a factor of 10 or more compared with conventional codes. In 1994, the first version of MVP was released together with cross section libraries based on JENDL-3.1 and JENDL-3.2. In 1996, minor revision was made by adding several functions such as treatments of ENDF-B6 file 6 data, time dependent problem, and so on. Since 1996, several works have been carried out for the next version of MVP. The main works are (1) the development of continuous energy Monte Carlo burn-up calculation code MVP-BURN, (2) the development of a system to generate cross section libraries at arbitrary temperature, and (3) the study on error estimations and their biases in Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations. This paper summarizes the main features of MVP, results of recent studies and future plans for MVP. (author)

(U) Introduction to Monte Carlo Methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hungerford, Aimee L. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-03-20

Monte Carlo methods are very valuable for representing solutions to particle transport problems. Here we describe a “cook book” approach to handling the terms in a transport equation using Monte Carlo methods. Focus is on the mechanics of a numerical Monte Carlo code, rather than the mathematical foundations of the method.

Modification of the MORSE code for Monte Carlo eigenvalue problems by coarse-mesh rebalance acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishida, Takahiko; Horikami, Kunihiko; Suzuki, Tadakazu; Nakahara, Yasuaki; Taji, Yukichi

1975-09-01

The coarse-mesh rebalancing technique is introduced into the general-purpose neutron and gamma-ray Monte Carlo transport code MORSE, to accelerate the convergence rate of the iteration process for eigenvalue calculation in a nuclear reactor system. Two subroutines are thus attached to the code. One is bookkeeping routine 'COARSE' for obtaining the quantities related with the neutron balance in each coarse mesh cell, such as the number of neutrons absorbed in the cell, from random walks of neutrons in a batch. The other is rebalance factor calculation routine 'REBAL' for obtaining the scaling factor whereby the neutron flux in the cell is multiplied to attain the neutron balance. The two subroutines and algorithm of the coarse mesh rebalancing acceleration in a Monte Carlo game are described. (auth.)

The KFA-Version of the high-energy transport code HETC and the generalized evaluation code SIMPEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cloth, P.; Filges, D.; Sterzenbach, G.; Armstrong, T.W.; Colborn, B.L.

1983-03-01

This document describes the updates that have been made to the high-energy transport code HETC for use in the German spallation-neutron source project SNQ. Performance and purpose of the subsidiary code SIMPEL that has been written for general analysis of the HETC output are also described. In addition means of coupling to low energy transport programs, such as the Monte-Carlo code MORSE is provided. As complete input descriptions for HETC and SIMPEL are given together with a sample problem, this document can serve as a user's manual for these two codes. The document is also an answer to the demand that has been issued by a greater community of HETC users on the ICANS-IV meeting, Oct 20-24 1980, Tsukuba-gun, Japan for a complete description of at least one single version of HETC among the many different versions that exist. (orig.)

Advances in Monte-Carlo code TRIPOLI-4®'s treatment of the electromagnetic cascade

Science.gov (United States)

Mancusi, Davide; Bonin, Alice; Hugot, François-Xavier; Malouch, Fadhel

2018-01-01

TRIPOLI-4® is a Monte-Carlo particle-transport code developed at CEA-Saclay (France) that is employed in the domains of nuclear-reactor physics, criticality-safety, shielding/radiation protection and nuclear instrumentation. The goal of this paper is to report on current developments, validation and verification made in TRIPOLI-4 in the electron/positron/photon sector. The new capabilities and improvements concern refinements to the electron transport algorithm, the introduction of a charge-deposition score, the new thick-target bremsstrahlung option, the upgrade of the bremsstrahlung model and the improvement of electron angular straggling at low energy. The importance of each of the developments above is illustrated by comparisons with calculations performed with other codes and with experimental data.

Parallelization of MCNP 4, a Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code system, in highly parallel distributed memory type computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masukawa, Fumihiro; Takano, Makoto; Naito, Yoshitaka; Yamazaki, Takao; Fujisaki, Masahide; Suzuki, Koichiro; Okuda, Motoi.

1993-11-01

In order to improve the accuracy and calculating speed of shielding analyses, MCNP 4, a Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code system, has been parallelized and measured of its efficiency in the highly parallel distributed memory type computer, AP1000. The code has been analyzed statically and dynamically, then the suitable algorithm for parallelization has been determined for the shielding analysis functions of MCNP 4. This includes a strategy where a new history is assigned to the idling processor element dynamically during the execution. Furthermore, to avoid the congestion of communicative processing, the batch concept, processing multi-histories by a unit, has been introduced. By analyzing a sample cask problem with 2,000,000 histories by the AP1000 with 512 processor elements, the 82 % of parallelization efficiency is achieved, and the calculational speed has been estimated to be around 50 times as fast as that of FACOM M-780. (author)

MORSE-C, Neutron Transport, Gamma Transport for Criticality Calculation by Monte-Carlo Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: MORSE-C is a Monte-Carlo code to solve the multiple energy group form of the Boltzmann transport equation in order to obtain the eigenvalue (multiplication) when fissionable materials are present. Cross sections for up to 100 energy groups may be employed. The angular scattering is treated by the usual Legendre expansion as used in the discrete ordinates codes. Up-scattering may be specified. The geometry is defined by relationships to general 1. or 2. degree surfaces. Array units may be specified. Output includes, besides the usual values of input quantities, plots of the geometry, calculated volumes and masses, and graphs of results to assist the user in determining the correctness of the problem's solution

Monte Carlo methods in electron transport problems. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleri, F.

1989-01-01

The condensed-history Monte Carlo method for charged particles transport is reviewed and discussed starting from a general form of the Boltzmann equation (Part I). The physics of the electronic interactions, together with some pedagogic example will be introduced in the part II. The lecture is directed to potential users of the method, for which it can be a useful introduction to the subject matter, and wants to establish the basis of the work on the computer code RECORD, which is at present in a developing stage

A Monte Carlo code for ion beam therapy

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2012-01-01

Initially developed for applications in detector and accelerator physics, the modern Fluka Monte Carlo code is now used in many different areas of nuclear science. Over the last 25 years, the code has evolved to include new features, such as ion beam simulations. Given the growing use of these beams in cancer treatment, Fluka simulations are being used to design treatment plans in several hadron-therapy centres in Europe.   Fluka calculates the dose distribution for a patient treated at CNAO with proton beams. The colour-bar displays the normalized dose values. Fluka is a Monte Carlo code that very accurately simulates electromagnetic and nuclear interactions in matter. In the 1990s, in collaboration with NASA, the code was developed to predict potential radiation hazards received by space crews during possible future trips to Mars. Over the years, it has become the standard tool to investigate beam-machine interactions, radiation damage and radioprotection issues in the CERN accelerator com...

Recent Improvements in the SHIELD-HIT Code

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, David Christoffer; Lühr, Armin Christian; Herrmann, Rochus

2012-01-01

Purpose: The SHIELD-HIT Monte Carlo particle transport code has previously been used to study a wide range of problems for heavy-ion treatment and has been benchmarked extensively against other Monte Carlo codes and experimental data. Here, an improved version of SHIELD-HIT is developed concentra......Purpose: The SHIELD-HIT Monte Carlo particle transport code has previously been used to study a wide range of problems for heavy-ion treatment and has been benchmarked extensively against other Monte Carlo codes and experimental data. Here, an improved version of SHIELD-HIT is developed...

Accelerating Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport in a voxelized geometry using a massively parallel graphics processing unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badal, Andreu; Badano, Aldo

2009-01-01

Purpose: It is a known fact that Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport are computationally intensive and may require long computing times. The authors introduce a new paradigm for the acceleration of Monte Carlo simulations: The use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) as the main computing device instead of a central processing unit (CPU). Methods: A GPU-based Monte Carlo code that simulates photon transport in a voxelized geometry with the accurate physics models from PENELOPE has been developed using the CUDA programming model (NVIDIA Corporation, Santa Clara, CA). Results: An outline of the new code and a sample x-ray imaging simulation with an anthropomorphic phantom are presented. A remarkable 27-fold speed up factor was obtained using a GPU compared to a single core CPU. Conclusions: The reported results show that GPUs are currently a good alternative to CPUs for the simulation of radiation transport. Since the performance of GPUs is currently increasing at a faster pace than that of CPUs, the advantages of GPU-based software are likely to be more pronounced in the future.

Accelerating Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport in a voxelized geometry using a massively parallel graphics processing unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badal, Andreu; Badano, Aldo [Division of Imaging and Applied Mathematics, OSEL, CDRH, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993-0002 (United States)

2009-11-15

Purpose: It is a known fact that Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport are computationally intensive and may require long computing times. The authors introduce a new paradigm for the acceleration of Monte Carlo simulations: The use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) as the main computing device instead of a central processing unit (CPU). Methods: A GPU-based Monte Carlo code that simulates photon transport in a voxelized geometry with the accurate physics models from PENELOPE has been developed using the CUDA programming model (NVIDIA Corporation, Santa Clara, CA). Results: An outline of the new code and a sample x-ray imaging simulation with an anthropomorphic phantom are presented. A remarkable 27-fold speed up factor was obtained using a GPU compared to a single core CPU. Conclusions: The reported results show that GPUs are currently a good alternative to CPUs for the simulation of radiation transport. Since the performance of GPUs is currently increasing at a faster pace than that of CPUs, the advantages of GPU-based software are likely to be more pronounced in the future.

Accelerating Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport in a voxelized geometry using a massively parallel graphics processing unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Badal, Andreu; Badano, Aldo

2009-11-01

It is a known fact that Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport are computationally intensive and may require long computing times. The authors introduce a new paradigm for the acceleration of Monte Carlo simulations: The use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) as the main computing device instead of a central processing unit (CPU). A GPU-based Monte Carlo code that simulates photon transport in a voxelized geometry with the accurate physics models from PENELOPE has been developed using the CUDATM programming model (NVIDIA Corporation, Santa Clara, CA). An outline of the new code and a sample x-ray imaging simulation with an anthropomorphic phantom are presented. A remarkable 27-fold speed up factor was obtained using a GPU compared to a single core CPU. The reported results show that GPUs are currently a good alternative to CPUs for the simulation of radiation transport. Since the performance of GPUs is currently increasing at a faster pace than that of CPUs, the advantages of GPU-based software are likely to be more pronounced in the future.

Computer codes in nuclear safety, radiation transport and dosimetry; Les codes de calcul en radioprotection, radiophysique et dosimetrie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bordy, J M; Kodeli, I; Menard, St; Bouchet, J L; Renard, F; Martin, E; Blazy, L; Voros, S; Bochud, F; Laedermann, J P; Beaugelin, K; Makovicka, L; Quiot, A; Vermeersch, F; Roche, H; Perrin, M C; Laye, F; Bardies, M; Struelens, L; Vanhavere, F; Gschwind, R; Fernandez, F; Quesne, B; Fritsch, P; Lamart, St; Crovisier, Ph; Leservot, A; Antoni, R; Huet, Ch; Thiam, Ch; Donadille, L; Monfort, M; Diop, Ch; Ricard, M

2006-07-01

The purpose of this conference was to describe the present state of computer codes dedicated to radiation transport or radiation source assessment or dosimetry. The presentations have been parted into 2 sessions: 1) methodology and 2) uses in industrial or medical or research domains. It appears that 2 different calculation strategies are prevailing, both are based on preliminary Monte-Carlo calculations with data storage. First, quick simulations made from a database of particle histories built though a previous Monte-Carlo simulation and secondly, a neuronal approach involving a learning platform generated through a previous Monte-Carlo simulation. This document gathers the slides of the presentations.

MORET: Version 4.B. A multigroup Monte Carlo criticality code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacquet, Olivier; Miss, Joachim; Courtois, Gerard

2003-01-01

MORET 4 is a three dimensional multigroup Monte Carlo code which calculates the effective multiplication factor (keff) of any configurations more or less complex as well as reaction rates in the different volumes of the geometry and the leakage out of the system. MORET 4 is the Monte Carlo code of the APOLLO2-MORET 4 standard route of CRISTAL, the French criticality package. It is the most commonly used Monte Carlo code for French criticality calculations. During the last four years, the MORET 4 team has developed or improved the following major points: modernization of the geometry, implementation of perturbation algorithms, source distribution convergence, statistical detection of stationarity, unbiased variance estimation and creation of pre-processing and post-processing tools. The purpose of this paper is not only to present the new features of MORET but also to detail clearly the physical models and the mathematical methods used in the code. (author)

The Monte Carlo SRNA-VOX code for 3D proton dose distribution in voxelized geometry using CT data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilic, Radovan D; Spasic-Jokic, Vesna; Belicev, Petar; Dragovic, Milos

2005-01-01

This paper describes the application of the SRNA Monte Carlo package for proton transport simulations in complex geometry and different material compositions. The SRNA package was developed for 3D dose distribution calculation in proton therapy and dosimetry and it was based on the theory of multiple scattering. The decay of proton induced compound nuclei was simulated by the Russian MSDM model and our own using ICRU 63 data. The developed package consists of two codes: the SRNA-2KG, which simulates proton transport in combinatorial geometry and the SRNA-VOX, which uses the voxelized geometry using the CT data and conversion of the Hounsfield's data to tissue elemental composition. Transition probabilities for both codes are prepared by the SRNADAT code. The simulation of the proton beam characterization by multi-layer Faraday cup, spatial distribution of positron emitters obtained by the SRNA-2KG code and intercomparison of computational codes in radiation dosimetry, indicate immediate application of the Monte Carlo techniques in clinical practice. In this paper, we briefly present the physical model implemented in the SRNA package, the ISTAR proton dose planning software, as well as the results of the numerical experiments with proton beams to obtain 3D dose distribution in the eye and breast tumour

The effect on radiation damage of structural material in a hybrid system by using a Monte Carlo radiation transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Günay, Mehtap; Şarer, Başar; Kasap, Hızır

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The effects of some fluids on gas production rates in structural material were investigated. • The MCNPX-2.7.0 Monte Carlo code was used for three-dimensional calculations. • It was found that biggest contribution to gas production rates comes from Fe isotope of the. • The desirable values for 5% SFG-PuO 2 with respect to radiation damage were specified. - Abstract: In this study, the molten salt-heavy metal mixtures 99–95% Li20Sn80-1-5% SFG-Pu, 99–95% Li20Sn80-1-5% SFG-PuF4, 99-95% Li20Sn80-1-5% SFG-PuO2 were used as fluids. The fluids were used in the liquid first-wall, blanket and shield zones of the designed hybrid reactor system. 9Cr2WVTa ferritic steel with the width of 4 cm was used as the structural material. The parameters of radiation damage are proton, deuterium, tritium, He-3 and He-4 gas production rates. In this study, the effects of the selected fluid on the radiation damage, in terms of individual as well as total isotopes in the structural material, were investigated for 30 full power years (FPYs). Three-dimensional analyses were performed using the most recent version of the MCNPX-2.7.0 Monte Carlo radiation transport code and the ENDF/B-VII.0 nuclear data library

Introduction to the simulation with MCNP Monte Carlo code and its applications in Medical Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parreno Z, F.; Paucar J, R.; Picon C, C.

1998-01-01

The simulation by Monte Carlo is tool which Medical Physics counts with it for the development of its research, the interest by this tool is growing, as we may observe in the main scientific journals for the years 1995-1997 where more than 27 % of the papers treat over Monte Carlo and/or its applications in the radiation transport.In the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy we are implementing and making use of the MCNP4 and EGS4 codes. In this work are presented the general features of the Monte Carlo method and its more useful applications in Medical Physics. Likewise, it is made a simulation of the calculation of isodose curves in an interstitial treatment with Ir-192 wires in a mammary gland carcinoma. (Author)

One-, two- and three-dimensional transport codes using multi-group double-differential form cross sections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Sasaki, Makoto.

1988-11-01

We have developed a group of computer codes to realize the accurate transport calculation by using the multi-group double-differential form cross section. This type of cross section can correctly take account of the energy-angle correlated reaction kinematics. Accordingly, the transport phenomena in materials with highly anisotropic scattering are accurately calculated by using this cross section. They include the following four codes or code systems: PROF-DD : a code system to generate the multi-group double-differential form cross section library by processing basic nuclear data file compiled in the ENDF / B-IV or -V format, ANISN-DD : a one-dimensional transport code based on the discrete ordinate method, DOT-DD : a two-dimensional transport code based on the discrete ordinate method, MORSE-DD : a three-dimensional transport code based on the Monte Carlo method. In addition to these codes, several auxiliary codes have been developed to process calculated results. This report describes the calculation algorithm employed in these codes and how to use them. (author)

Neutron secondary-particle production cross sections and their incorporation into Monte-Carlo transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenner, D.J.; Prael, R.E.; Little, R.C.

1987-01-01

Realistic simulations of the passage of fast neutrons through tissue require a large quantity of cross-sectional data. What are needed are differential (in particle type, energy and angle) cross sections. A computer code is described which produces such spectra for neutrons above ∼14 MeV incident on light nuclei such as carbon and oxygen. Comparisons have been made with experimental measurements of double-differential secondary charged-particle production on carbon and oxygen at energies from 27 to 60 MeV; they indicate that the model is adequate in this energy range. In order to utilize fully the results of these calculations, they should be incorporated into a neutron transport code. This requires defining a generalized format for describing charged-particle production, putting the calculated results in this format, interfacing the neutron transport code with these data, and charged-particle transport. The design and development of such a program is described. 13 refs., 3 figs

THREEDANT: A code to perform three-dimensional, neutral particle transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alcouffe, R.E.

1994-01-01

The THREEDANT code solves the three-dimensional neutral particle transport equation in its first order, multigroup, discrate ordinate form. The code allows an unlimited number of groups (depending upon the cross section set), angular quadrature up to S-100, and unlimited Pn order again depending upon the cross section set. The code has three options for spatial differencing, diamond with set-to-zero fixup, adaptive weighted diamond, and linear modal. The geometry options are XYZ and RZΘ with a special XYZ option based upon a volume fraction method. This allows objects or bodies of any shape to be modelled as input which gives the code as much geometric description flexibility as the Monte Carlo code MCNP. The transport equation is solved by source iteration accelerated by the DSA method. Both inner and outer iterations are so accelerated. Some results are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques. The code is available on several types of computing platforms

Criticality benchmarks for COG: A new point-wise Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alesso, H.P.; Pearson, J.; Choi, J.S.

1989-01-01

COG is a new point-wise Monte Carlo code being developed and tested at LLNL for the Cray computer. It solves the Boltzmann equation for the transport of neutrons, photons, and (in future versions) charged particles. Techniques included in the code for modifying the random walk of particles make COG most suitable for solving deep-penetration (shielding) problems. However, its point-wise cross-sections also make it effective for a wide variety of criticality problems. COG has some similarities to a number of other computer codes used in the shielding and criticality community. These include the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) codes TART and ALICE, the Los Alamos National Laboratory code MCNP, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory codes 05R, 06R, KENO, and MORSE, the SACLAY code TRIPOLI, and the MAGI code SAM. Each code is a little different in its geometry input and its random-walk modification options. Validating COG consists in part of running benchmark calculations against critical experiments as well as other codes. The objective of this paper is to present calculational results of a variety of critical benchmark experiments using COG, and to present the resulting code bias. Numerous benchmark calculations have been completed for a wide variety of critical experiments which generally involve both simple and complex physical problems. The COG results, which they report in this paper, have been excellent

The MCU-RFFI Monte Carlo code for reactor design applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomin, E.A.; Maiorov, L.V.

1995-01-01

MCU-RFFI is a general-purpose, continuous-energy, general geometry Monte Carlo code for solving external source or criticality problems for neutron transport in the energy range of 20 MeV to 10 -5 eV. The main fields of MCU-RFFI applications are as follows: (a) nuclear data validation; (b) design calculations (space reactors and other); (c) verification of design codes. MCU-RFFI is also supplied with tools to check the accuracy of design codes. These tools permit the user to calculate: the few group parameters of reactor cells, including the diffusion coefficients defined in a variety of ways, reaction rates for various nuclei, energy and space bins, and the kinetic parameters of systems, taking into account delayed neutrons. Boundary conditions include vacuum, white and specular reflection, and the condition of translational symmetry. The criticals with the neutron leakage given by the buckling vector may be calculated by solving Benoist's problem. The curve of criticality coefficient dependence on buckling may be determined during the single code run and critical buckling may be determined. Double heterogeneous systems with fuel elements containing many thousands of spherical microcells can be solved

TRIMARAN: a three dimensional multigroup P1 Monte Carlo code for criticality studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ermumcu, G.; Gonnord, J.; Nimal, J.C.

1980-01-01

TRIMARAN is developed for safety analysis of nuclear components containing fissionable materials: shipping casks, storage and cooling pools, manufacture and reprocessing plants. It solves the transport equation by Monte Carlo method, in general three dimensional geometry with multigroup P1 approximation. A special representation of cross sections and numbers has been developed in order to reduce considerably the computing cost and allow this three dimensional code to compete with standard numerical program used in parametric studies

TRIMARAN: a three dimensional multigroup P1 Monte Carlo code for criticallity studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ermuncu, G.; Gonnord, J.; Nimal, J.C.

1980-04-01

TRIMARAN is developed for safety analysis of nuclar components containing fissionnable materials: shipping casks, storage and cooling pools, manufacture and reprocessing plants. It solves the transport equation by Monte Carlo method in general three dimensional geometry with multigroup P1 approximation. A special representation of cross sections and numbers has been developed in order to reduce considerably the computing cost and allow this three dimensional code to compete with standard numerical program used in parametric studies

Linking the plasma code EDGE2D to the neutral code NIMBUS for a self consistent transport model of the boundary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Matteis, A.

1987-01-01

This report describes the fully automatic linkage between the finite difference, two-dimensional code EDGE2D, based on the classical Braginskii partial differential equations of ion transport, and the Monte Carlo code NIMBUS, which solves the integral form of the stationary, linear Boltzmann equation for neutral transport in a plasma. The coupling has been performed for the real poloidal geometry of JET with two belt-limiters and real magnetic configurations with or without a single-null point. The new integrated system starts from the magnetic geometry computed by predictive or interpretative equilibrium codes and yields the plasma and neutrals characteristics in the edge

Numerical computation of discrete differential scattering cross sections for Monte Carlo charged particle transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walsh, Jonathan A.; Palmer, Todd S.; Urbatsch, Todd J.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Generation of discrete differential scattering angle and energy loss cross sections. • Gauss–Radau quadrature utilizing numerically computed cross section moments. • Development of a charged particle transport capability in the Milagro IMC code. • Integration of cross section generation and charged particle transport capabilities. - Abstract: We investigate a method for numerically generating discrete scattering cross sections for use in charged particle transport simulations. We describe the cross section generation procedure and compare it to existing methods used to obtain discrete cross sections. The numerical approach presented here is generalized to allow greater flexibility in choosing a cross section model from which to derive discrete values. Cross section data computed with this method compare favorably with discrete data generated with an existing method. Additionally, a charged particle transport capability is demonstrated in the time-dependent Implicit Monte Carlo radiative transfer code, Milagro. We verify the implementation of charged particle transport in Milagro with analytic test problems and we compare calculated electron depth–dose profiles with another particle transport code that has a validated electron transport capability. Finally, we investigate the integration of the new discrete cross section generation method with the charged particle transport capability in Milagro.

Sub-step methodology for coupled Monte Carlo depletion and thermal hydraulic codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotlyar, D.; Shwageraus, E.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Discretization of time in coupled MC codes determines the results’ accuracy. • The error is due to lack of information regarding the time-dependent reaction rates. • The proposed sub-step method considerably reduces the time discretization error. • No additional MC transport solutions are required within the time step. • The reaction rates are varied as functions of nuclide densities and TH conditions. - Abstract: The governing procedure in coupled Monte Carlo (MC) codes relies on discretization of the simulation time into time steps. Typically, the MC transport solution at discrete points will generate reaction rates, which in most codes are assumed to be constant within the time step. This assumption can trigger numerical instabilities or result in a loss of accuracy, which, in turn, would require reducing the time steps size. This paper focuses on reducing the time discretization error without requiring additional MC transport solutions and hence with no major computational overhead. The sub-step method presented here accounts for the reaction rate variation due to the variation in nuclide densities and thermal hydraulic (TH) conditions. This is achieved by performing additional depletion and TH calculations within the analyzed time step. The method was implemented in BGCore code and subsequently used to analyze a series of test cases. The results indicate that computational speedup of up to a factor of 10 may be achieved over the existing coupling schemes.

Integrated Tiger Series of electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes: a user's guide for use on IBM mainframes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirk, B.L.

1985-12-01

The ITS (Integrated Tiger Series) Monte Carlo code package developed at Sandia National Laboratories and distributed as CCC-467/ITS by the Radiation Shielding Information Center (RSIC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) consists of eight codes - the standard codes, TIGER, CYLTRAN, ACCEPT; the P-codes, TIGERP, CYLTRANP, ACCEPTP; and the M-codes ACCEPTM, CYLTRANM. The codes have been adapted to run on the IBM 3081, VAX 11/780, CDC-7600, and Cray 1 with the use of the update emulator UPEML. This manual should serve as a guide to a user running the codes on IBM computers having 370 architecture. The cases listed were tested on the IBM 3033, under the MVS operating system using the VS Fortran Level 1.3.1 compiler

Advances in Monte-Carlo code TRIPOLI-4®’s treatment of the electromagnetic cascade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mancusi Davide

2018-01-01

Full Text Available TRIPOLI-4® is a Monte-Carlo particle-transport code developed at CEA-Saclay (France that is employed in the domains of nuclear-reactor physics, criticality-safety, shielding/radiation protection and nuclear instrumentation. The goal of this paper is to report on current developments, validation and verification made in TRIPOLI-4 in the electron/positron/photon sector. The new capabilities and improvements concern refinements to the electron transport algorithm, the introduction of a charge-deposition score, the new thick-target bremsstrahlung option, the upgrade of the bremsstrahlung model and the improvement of electron angular straggling at low energy. The importance of each of the developments above is illustrated by comparisons with calculations performed with other codes and with experimental data.

Study on random number generator in Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oya, Kentaro; Kitada, Takanori; Tanaka, Shinichi

2011-01-01

The Monte Carlo code uses a sequence of pseudo-random numbers with a random number generator (RNG) to simulate particle histories. A pseudo-random number has its own period depending on its generation method and the period is desired to be long enough not to exceed the period during one Monte Carlo calculation to ensure the correctness especially for a standard deviation of results. The linear congruential generator (LCG) is widely used as Monte Carlo RNG and the period of LCG is not so long by considering the increasing rate of simulation histories in a Monte Carlo calculation according to the remarkable enhancement of computer performance. Recently, many kinds of RNG have been developed and some of their features are better than those of LCG. In this study, we investigate the appropriate RNG in a Monte Carlo code as an alternative to LCG especially for the case of enormous histories. It is found that xorshift has desirable features compared with LCG, and xorshift has a larger period, a comparable speed to generate random numbers, a better randomness, and good applicability to parallel calculation. (author)

Application of a Java-based, univel geometry, neutral particle Monte Carlo code to the searchlight problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charles A. Wemple; Joshua J. Cogliati

2005-01-01

A univel geometry, neutral particle Monte Carlo transport code, written entirely in the Java programming language, is under development for medical radiotherapy applications. The code uses ENDF-VI based continuous energy cross section data in a flexible XML format. Full neutron-photon coupling, including detailed photon production and photonuclear reactions, is included. Charged particle equilibrium is assumed within the patient model so that detailed transport of electrons produced by photon interactions may be neglected. External beam and internal distributed source descriptions for mixed neutron-photon sources are allowed. Flux and dose tallies are performed on a univel basis. A four-tap, shift-register-sequence random number generator is used. Initial verification and validation testing of the basic neutron transport routines is underway. The searchlight problem was chosen as a suitable first application because of the simplicity of the physical model. Results show excellent agreement with analytic solutions. Computation times for similar numbers of histories are comparable to other neutron MC codes written in C and FORTRAN

TMCC: a transient three-dimensional neutron transport code by the direct simulation method - 222

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, H.; Li, Z.; Wang, K.; Yu, G.

2010-01-01

A direct simulation method (DSM) is applied to solve the transient three-dimensional neutron transport problems. DSM is based on the Monte Carlo method, and can be considered as an application of the Monte Carlo method in the specific type of problems. In this work, the transient neutronics problem is solved by simulating the dynamic behaviors of neutrons and precursors of delayed neutrons during the transient process. DSM gets rid of various approximations which are always necessary to other methods, so it is precise and flexible in the requirement of geometric configurations, material compositions and energy spectrum. In this paper, the theory of DSM is introduced first, and the numerical results obtained with the new transient analysis code, named TMCC (Transient Monte Carlo Code), are presented. (authors)

General Monte Carlo code MONK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, J.G.

1974-01-01

The Monte Carlo code MONK is a general program written to provide a high degree of flexibility to the user. MONK is distinguished by its detailed representation of nuclear data in point form i.e., the cross-section is tabulated at specific energies instead of the more usual group representation. The nuclear data are unadjusted in the point form but recently the code has been modified to accept adjusted group data as used in fast and thermal reactor applications. The various geometrical handling capabilities and importance sampling techniques are described. In addition to the nuclear data aspects, the following features are also described; geometrical handling routines, tracking cycles, neutron source and output facilities. 12 references. (U.S.)

Calculation of extended shields in the Monte Carlo method using importance function (BRAND and DD code systems)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Androsenko, A.A.; Androsenko, P.A.; Kagalenko, I.Eh.; Mironovich, Yu.N.

1992-01-01

Consideration is given of a technique and algorithms of constructing neutron trajectories in the Monte-Carlo method taking into account the data on adjoint transport equation solution. When simulating the transport part of transfer kernel the use is made of piecewise-linear approximation of free path length density along the particle motion direction. The approach has been implemented in programs within the framework of the BRAND code system. The importance is calculated in the multigroup P 1 -approximation within the framework of the DD-30 code system. The efficiency of the developed computation technique is demonstrated by means of solution of two model problems. 4 refs.; 2 tabs

Monte Carlo simulation of medical linear accelerator using primo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omer, Mohamed Osman Mohamed Elhasan

2014-12-01

The use of monte Carlo simulation has become very important in the medical field and especially in calculation in radiotherapy. Various Monte Carlo codes were developed simulating interactions of particles and photons with matter. One of these codes is PRIMO that performs simulation of radiation transport from the primary electron source of a linac to estimate the absorbed dose in a water phantom or computerized tomography (CT). PRIMO is based on Penelope Monte Carlo code. Measurements of 6 MV photon beam PDD and profile were done for Elekta precise linear accelerator at Radiation and Isotopes Center Khartoum using computerized Blue water phantom and CC13 Ionization Chamber. accept Software was used to control the phantom to measure and verify dose distribution. Elektalinac from the list of available linacs in PRIMO was tuned to model Elekta precise linear accelerator. Beam parameter of 6.0 MeV initial electron energy, 0.20 MeV FWHM, and 0.20 cm focal spot FWHM were used, and an error of 4% between calculated and measured curves was found. The buildup region Z max was 1.40 cm and homogenous profile in cross line and in line were acquired. A number of studies were done to verily the model usability one of them is the effect of the number of histories on accuracy of the simulation and the resulted profile for the same beam parameters. The effect was noticeable and inaccuracies in the profile were reduced by increasing the number of histories. Another study was the effect of Side-step errors on the calculated dose which was compared with the measured dose for the same setting.It was in range of 2% for 5 cm shift, but it was higher in the calculated dose because of the small difference between the tuned model and measured dose curves. Future developments include simulating asymmetrical fields, calculating the dose distribution in computerized tomographic (CT) volume, studying the effect of beam modifiers on beam profile for both electron and photon beams.(Author)

A Study on Efficiency Improvement of the Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Method for Global Transport Problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong Woo; Woo, Myeong Hyeon; Kim, Jae Hyun; Kim, Do Hyun; Shin, Chang Ho; Kim, Jong Kyung

2017-01-01

In this study hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic method is explained for radiation transport analysis in global system. FW-CADIS methodology construct the weight window parameter and it useful at most global MC calculation. However, Due to the assumption that a particle is scored at a tally, less particles are transported to the periphery of mesh tallies. For compensation this space-dependency, we modified the module in the ADVANTG code to add the proposed method. We solved the simple test problem for comparing with result from FW-CADIS methodology, it was confirmed that a uniform statistical error was secured as intended. In the future, it will be added more practical problems. It might be useful to perform radiation transport analysis using the Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic method in global transport problems.

WE-AB-204-11: Development of a Nuclear Medicine Dosimetry Module for the GPU-Based Monte Carlo Code ARCHER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, T; Lin, H; Xu, X [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (United States); Stabin, M [Vanderbilt Univ Medical Ctr, Nashville, TN (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: To develop a nuclear medicine dosimetry module for the GPU-based Monte Carlo code ARCHER. Methods: We have developed a nuclear medicine dosimetry module for the fast Monte Carlo code ARCHER. The coupled electron-photon Monte Carlo transport kernel included in ARCHER is built upon the Dose Planning Method code (DPM). The developed module manages the radioactive decay simulation by consecutively tracking several types of radiation on a per disintegration basis using the statistical sampling method. Optimization techniques such as persistent threads and prefetching are studied and implemented. The developed module is verified against the VIDA code, which is based on Geant4 toolkit and has previously been verified against OLINDA/EXM. A voxelized geometry is used in the preliminary test: a sphere made of ICRP soft tissue is surrounded by a box filled with water. Uniform activity distribution of I-131 is assumed in the sphere. Results: The self-absorption dose factors (mGy/MBqs) of the sphere with varying diameters are calculated by ARCHER and VIDA respectively. ARCHER’s result is in agreement with VIDA’s that are obtained from a previous publication. VIDA takes hours of CPU time to finish the computation, while it takes ARCHER 4.31 seconds for the 12.4-cm uniform activity sphere case. For a fairer CPU-GPU comparison, more effort will be made to eliminate the algorithmic differences. Conclusion: The coupled electron-photon Monte Carlo code ARCHER has been extended to radioactive decay simulation for nuclear medicine dosimetry. The developed code exhibits good performance in our preliminary test. The GPU-based Monte Carlo code is developed with grant support from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering through an R01 grant (R01EB015478)

Statistics of Monte Carlo methods used in radiation transport calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datta, D.

2009-01-01

Radiation transport calculation can be carried out by using either deterministic or statistical methods. Radiation transport calculation based on statistical methods is basic theme of the Monte Carlo methods. The aim of this lecture is to describe the fundamental statistics required to build the foundations of Monte Carlo technique for radiation transport calculation. Lecture note is organized in the following way. Section (1) will describe the introduction of Basic Monte Carlo and its classification towards the respective field. Section (2) will describe the random sampling methods, a key component of Monte Carlo radiation transport calculation, Section (3) will provide the statistical uncertainty of Monte Carlo estimates, Section (4) will describe in brief the importance of variance reduction techniques while sampling particles such as photon, or neutron in the process of radiation transport

A fully coupled Monte Carlo/discrete ordinates solution to the neutron transport equation. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baker, Randal Scott [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

1990-01-01

The neutron transport equation is solved by a hybrid method that iteratively couples regions where deterministic (S_N) and stochastic (Monte Carlo) methods are applied. Unlike previous hybrid methods, the Monte Carlo and S_N regions are fully coupled in the sense that no assumption is made about geometrical separation or decoupling. The hybrid method provides a new means of solving problems involving both optically thick and optically thin regions that neither Monte Carlo nor S_N is well suited for by themselves. The fully coupled Monte Carlo/S_N technique consists of defining spatial and/or energy regions of a problem in which either a Monte Carlo calculation or an S_N calculation is to be performed. The Monte Carlo region may comprise the entire spatial region for selected energy groups, or may consist of a rectangular area that is either completely or partially embedded in an arbitrary S_N region. The Monte Carlo and S_N regions are then connected through the common angular boundary fluxes, which are determined iteratively using the response matrix technique, and volumetric sources. The hybrid method has been implemented in the S_N code TWODANT by adding special-purpose Monte Carlo subroutines to calculate the response matrices and volumetric sources, and linkage subrountines to carry out the interface flux iterations. The common angular boundary fluxes are included in the S_N code as interior boundary sources, leaving the logic for the solution of the transport flux unchanged, while, with minor modifications, the diffusion synthetic accelerator remains effective in accelerating S_N calculations. The special-purpose Monte Carlo routines used are essentially analog, with few variance reduction techniques employed. However, the routines have been successfully vectorized, with approximately a factor of five increase in speed over the non-vectorized version.

Vectorized Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, F.B.

1981-01-01

Examination of the global algorithms and local kernels of conventional general-purpose Monte Carlo codes shows that multigroup Monte Carlo methods have sufficient structure to permit efficient vectorization. A structured multigroup Monte Carlo algorithm for vector computers is developed in which many particle events are treated at once on a cell-by-cell basis. Vectorization of kernels for tracking and variance reduction is described, and a new method for discrete sampling is developed to facilitate the vectorization of collision analysis. To demonstrate the potential of the new method, a vectorized Monte Carlo code for multigroup radiation transport analysis was developed. This code incorporates many features of conventional general-purpose production codes, including general geometry, splitting and Russian roulette, survival biasing, variance estimation via batching, a number of cutoffs, and generalized tallies of collision, tracklength, and surface crossing estimators with response functions. Predictions of vectorized performance characteristics for the CYBER-205 were made using emulated coding and a dynamic model of vector instruction timing. Computation rates were examined for a variety of test problems to determine sensitivities to batch size and vector lengths. Significant speedups are predicted for even a few hundred particles per batch, and asymptotic speedups by about 40 over equivalent Amdahl 470V/8 scalar codes arepredicted for a few thousand particles per batch. The principal conclusion is that vectorization of a general-purpose multigroup Monte Carlo code is well worth the significant effort required for stylized coding and major algorithmic changes

A computationally efficient moment-preserving Monte Carlo electron transport method with implementation in Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dixon, D.A., E-mail: ddixon@lanl.gov [Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, MS P365, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Prinja, A.K., E-mail: prinja@unm.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering, MSC01 1120, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 (United States); Franke, B.C., E-mail: bcfrank@sandia.gov [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87123 (United States)

2015-09-15

This paper presents the theoretical development and numerical demonstration of a moment-preserving Monte Carlo electron transport method. Foremost, a full implementation of the moment-preserving (MP) method within the Geant4 particle simulation toolkit is demonstrated. Beyond implementation details, it is shown that the MP method is a viable alternative to the condensed history (CH) method for inclusion in current and future generation transport codes through demonstration of the key features of the method including: systematically controllable accuracy, computational efficiency, mathematical robustness, and versatility. A wide variety of results common to electron transport are presented illustrating the key features of the MP method. In particular, it is possible to achieve accuracy that is statistically indistinguishable from analog Monte Carlo, while remaining up to three orders of magnitude more efficient than analog Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, it is shown that the MP method can be generalized to any applicable analog scattering DCS model by extending previous work on the MP method beyond analytical DCSs to the partial-wave (PW) elastic tabulated DCS data.

Data decomposition of Monte Carlo particle transport simulations via tally servers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romano, Paul K.; Siegel, Andrew R.; Forget, Benoit; Smith, Kord

2013-01-01

An algorithm for decomposing large tally data in Monte Carlo particle transport simulations is developed, analyzed, and implemented in a continuous-energy Monte Carlo code, OpenMC. The algorithm is based on a non-overlapping decomposition of compute nodes into tracking processors and tally servers. The former are used to simulate the movement of particles through the domain while the latter continuously receive and update tally data. A performance model for this approach is developed, suggesting that, for a range of parameters relevant to LWR analysis, the tally server algorithm should perform with minimal overhead on contemporary supercomputers. An implementation of the algorithm in OpenMC is then tested on the Intrepid and Titan supercomputers, supporting the key predictions of the model over a wide range of parameters. We thus conclude that the tally server algorithm is a successful approach to circumventing classical on-node memory constraints en route to unprecedentedly detailed Monte Carlo reactor simulations

A midway forward-adjoint coupling method for neutron and photon Monte Carlo transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serov, I.V.; John, T.M.; Hoogenboom, J.E.

1999-01-01

The midway Monte Carlo method for calculating detector responses combines a forward and an adjoint Monte Carlo calculation. In both calculations, particle scores are registered at a surface to be chosen by the user somewhere between the source and detector domains. The theory of the midway response determination is developed within the framework of transport theory for external sources and for criticality theory. The theory is also developed for photons, which are generated at inelastic scattering or capture of neutrons. In either the forward or the adjoint calculation a so-called black absorber technique can be applied; i.e., particles need not be followed after passing the midway surface. The midway Monte Carlo method is implemented in the general-purpose MCNP Monte Carlo code. The midway Monte Carlo method is demonstrated to be very efficient in problems with deep penetration, small source and detector domains, and complicated streaming paths. All the problems considered pose difficult variance reduction challenges. Calculations were performed using existing variance reduction methods of normal MCNP runs and using the midway method. The performed comparative analyses show that the midway method appears to be much more efficient than the standard techniques in an overwhelming majority of cases and can be recommended for use in many difficult variance reduction problems of neutral particle transport

Comparison of a 3D multi‐group SN particle transport code with Monte Carlo for intercavitary brachytherapy of the cervix uteri

Science.gov (United States)

Wareing, Todd A.; Failla, Gregory; Horton, John L.; Eifel, Patricia J.; Mourtada, Firas

2009-01-01

A patient dose distribution was calculated by a 3D multi‐group SN particle transport code for intracavitary brachytherapy of the cervix uteri and compared to previously published Monte Carlo results. A Cs‐137 LDR intracavitary brachytherapy CT data set was chosen from our clinical database. MCNPX version 2.5.c, was used to calculate the dose distribution. A 3D multi‐group SN particle transport code, Attila version 6.1.1 was used to simulate the same patient. Each patient applicator was built in SolidWorks, a mechanical design package, and then assembled with a coordinate transformation and rotation for the patient. The SolidWorks exported applicator geometry was imported into Attila for calculation. Dose matrices were overlaid on the patient CT data set. Dose volume histograms and point doses were compared. The MCNPX calculation required 14.8 hours, whereas the Attila calculation required 22.2 minutes on a 1.8 GHz AMD Opteron CPU. Agreement between Attila and MCNPX dose calculations at the ICRU 38 points was within ±3%. Calculated doses to the 2 cc and 5 cc volumes of highest dose differed by not more than ±1.1% between the two codes. Dose and DVH overlays agreed well qualitatively. Attila can calculate dose accurately and efficiently for this Cs‐137 CT‐based patient geometry. Our data showed that a three‐group cross‐section set is adequate for Cs‐137 computations. Future work is aimed at implementing an optimized version of Attila for radiotherapy calculations. PACS number: 87.53.Jw

Subgroup approximation in Monte Carlo neutron transport calculation in resonance region; Primena podgrupe aproksimacije u Monte Carlo proracunima transporta neutrona u rezonantnoj oblasti energije

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belicev, P [Vojnotehnicki Inst., Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

1988-07-01

An outline of the problems encountered in the multigroup calculations of the neutron transport in the resonance region is given. The difference between subgroup and multigroup approximation is described briefly. The features of the Monte Carlo code SUBGR are presented. The results of the calculations of the neutron transmission and albedo for infinite iron slabs are given. (author)

Extensions of the 3-dimensional plasma transport code E3D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Runov, A.; Schneider, R.; Kasilov, S.; Reiter, D.

2004-01-01

One important aspect of modern fusion research is plasma edge physics. Fluid transport codes extending beyond the standard 2-D code packages like B2-Eirene or UEDGE are under development. A 3-dimensional plasma fluid code, E3D, based upon the Multiple Coordinate System Approach and a Monte Carlo integration procedure has been developed for general magnetic configurations including ergodic regions. These local magnetic coordinates lead to a full metric tensor which accurately accounts for all transport terms in the equations. Here, we discuss new computational aspects of the realization of the algorithm. The main limitation to the Monte Carlo code efficiency comes from the restriction on the parallel jump of advancing test particles which must be small compared to the gradient length of the diffusion coefficient. In our problems, the parallel diffusion coefficient depends on both plasma and magnetic field parameters. Usually, the second dependence is much more critical. In order to allow long parallel jumps, this dependence can be eliminated in two steps: first, the longitudinal coordinate x 3 of local magnetic coordinates is modified in such a way that in the new coordinate system the metric determinant and contra-variant components of the magnetic field scale along the magnetic field with powers of the magnetic field module (like in Boozer flux coordinates). Second, specific weights of the test particles are introduced. As a result of increased parallel jump length, the efficiency of the code is about two orders of magnitude better. (copyright 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Benchmark test of drift-kinetic and gyrokinetic codes through neoclassical transport simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Satake, S.; Sugama, H.; Watanabe, T.-H.; Idomura, Yasuhiro

2009-09-01

Two simulation codes that solve the drift-kinetic or gyrokinetic equation in toroidal plasmas are benchmarked by comparing the simulation results of neoclassical transport. The two codes are the drift-kinetic δf Monte Carlo code (FORTEC-3D) and the gyrokinetic full- f Vlasov code (GT5D), both of which solve radially-global, five-dimensional kinetic equation with including the linear Fokker-Planck collision operator. In a tokamak configuration, neoclassical radial heat flux and the force balance relation, which relates the parallel mean flow with radial electric field and temperature gradient, are compared between these two codes, and their results are also compared with the local neoclassical transport theory. It is found that the simulation results of the two codes coincide very well in a wide rage of plasma collisionality parameter ν * = 0.01 - 10 and also agree with the theoretical estimations. The time evolution of radial electric field and particle flux, and the radial profile of the geodesic acoustic mode frequency also coincide very well. These facts guarantee the capability of GT5D to simulate plasma turbulence transport with including proper neoclassical effects of collisional diffusion and equilibrium radial electric field. (author)

About the use of the Monte-Carlo code based tracing algorithm and the volume fraction method for S n full core calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gurevich, M. I.; Oleynik, D. S. [RRC Kurchatov Inst., Kurchatov Sq., 1, 123182, Moscow (Russian Federation); Russkov, A. A.; Voloschenko, A. M. [Keldysh Inst. of Applied Mathematics, Miusskaya Sq., 4, 125047, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2006-07-01

The tracing algorithm that is implemented in the geometrical module of Monte-Carlo transport code MCU is applied to calculate the volume fractions of original materials by spatial cells of the mesh that overlays problem geometry. In this way the 3D combinatorial geometry presentation of the problem geometry, used by MCU code, is transformed to the user defined 2D or 3D bit-mapped ones. Next, these data are used in the volume fraction (VF) method to approximate problem geometry by introducing additional mixtures for spatial cells, where a few original materials are included. We have found that in solving realistic 2D and 3D core problems a sufficiently fast convergence of the VF method takes place if the spatial mesh is refined. Virtually, the proposed variant of implementation of the VF method seems as a suitable geometry interface between Monte-Carlo and S{sub n} transport codes. (authors)

SU-E-T-323: The FLUKA Monte Carlo Code in Ion Beam Therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rinaldi, I [Heidelberg University Hospital (Germany); Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich (Germany)

2014-06-01

Purpose: Monte Carlo (MC) codes are increasingly used in the ion beam therapy community due to their detailed description of radiation transport and interaction with matter. The suitability of a MC code demands accurate and reliable physical models for the transport and the interaction of all components of the mixed radiation field. This contribution will address an overview of the recent developments in the FLUKA code oriented to its application in ion beam therapy. Methods: FLUKA is a general purpose MC code which allows the calculations of particle transport and interactions with matter, covering an extended range of applications. The user can manage the code through a graphic interface (FLAIR) developed using the Python programming language. Results: This contribution will present recent refinements in the description of the ionization processes and comparisons between FLUKA results and experimental data of ion beam therapy facilities. Moreover, several validations of the largely improved FLUKA nuclear models for imaging application to treatment monitoring will be shown. The complex calculation of prompt gamma ray emission compares favorably with experimental data and can be considered adequate for the intended applications. New features in the modeling of proton induced nuclear interactions also provide reliable cross section predictions for the production of radionuclides. Of great interest for the community are the developments introduced in FLAIR. The most recent efforts concern the capability of importing computed-tomography images in order to build automatically patient geometries and the implementation of different types of existing positron-emission-tomography scanner devices for imaging applications. Conclusion: The FLUA code has been already chosen as reference MC code in many ion beam therapy centers, and is being continuously improved in order to match the needs of ion beam therapy applications. Parts of this work have been supported by the European

Implementation of 3D models in the Monte Carlo code MCNP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopes, Vivaldo; Millian, Felix M.; Guevara, Maria Victoria M.; Garcia, Fermin; Sena, Isaac; Menezes, Hugo

2009-01-01

On the area of numerical dosimetry Applied to medical physics, the scientific community focuses on the elaboration of new hybrids models based on 3D models. But different steps of the process of simulation with 3D models needed improvement and optimization in order to expedite the calculations and accuracy using this methodology. This project was developed with the aim of optimize the process of introduction of 3D models within the simulation code of radiation transport by Monte Carlo (MCNP). The fast implementation of these models on the simulation code allows the estimation of the dose deposited on the patient organs on a more personalized way, increasing the accuracy with this on the estimates and reducing the risks to health, caused by ionizing radiations. The introduction o these models within the MCNP was made through a input file, that was constructed through a sequence of images, bi-dimensional in the 3D model, generated using the program '3DSMAX', imported by the program 'TOMO M C' and thus, introduced as INPUT FILE of the MCNP code. (author)

Exponential convergence on a continuous Monte Carlo transport problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, T.E.

1997-01-01

For more than a decade, it has been known that exponential convergence on discrete transport problems was possible using adaptive Monte Carlo techniques. An adaptive Monte Carlo method that empirically produces exponential convergence on a simple continuous transport problem is described

Geometry system used in the General Monte Carlo transport code SPARTAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bending, R.C.; Easter, P.G.

1974-01-01

The geometry routines used in the general-purpose, three-dimensional particle transport code SPARTAN are described. The code is designed to deal with the very complex geometries encountered in lattice cell and fuel handling calculations, health physics, and shielding problems. Regions of the system being studied may be represented by simple shapes (spheres, cylinders, and so on) or by multinomial surfaces of any order, and many simple shapes may be combined to make up a complex layout. The geometry routines are designed to allow the program to carry out a number of tasks (such as sampling for a random point or tracking a path through several regions) in any order, so that the use of the routines is not restricted to a particular tracking or scoring method. Routines for reading, checking, and printing the data are included. (U.S.)

Improvement of Monte Carlo code A3MCNP for large-scale shielding problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyake, Y.; Ohmura, M.; Hasegawa, T.; Ueki, K.; Sato, O.; Haghighat, A.; Sjoden, G.E.

2004-01-01

A 3 MCNP (Automatic Adjoint Accelerated MCNP) is a revised version of the MCNP Monte Carlo code, that automatically prepares variance reduction parameters for the CADIS (Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling) methodology. Using a deterministic 'importance' (or adjoint) function, CADIS performs source and transport biasing within the weight-window technique. The current version of A 3 MCNP uses the 3-D Sn transport TORT code to determine a 3-D importance function distribution. Based on simulation of several real-life problems, it is demonstrated that A 3 MCNP provides precise calculation results with a remarkably short computation time by using the proper and objective variance reduction parameters. However, since the first version of A 3 MCNP provided only a point source configuration option for large-scale shielding problems, such as spent-fuel transport casks, a large amount of memory may be necessary to store enough points to properly represent the source. Hence, we have developed an improved version of A 3 MCNP (referred to as A 3 MCNPV) which has a volumetric source configuration option. This paper describes the successful use of A 3 MCNPV for a concrete cask streaming problem and a PWR dosimetry problem. (author)

Practical adjoint Monte Carlo technique for fixed-source and eigenfunction neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J.E.

1981-01-01

An adjoint Monte Carlo technique is described for the solution of neutron transport problems. The optimum biasing function for a zero-variance collision estimator is derived. The optimum treatment of an analog of a non-velocity thermal group has also been derived. The method is extended to multiplying systems, especially for eigenfunction problems to enable the estimate of averages over the unknown fundamental neutron flux distribution. A versatile computer code, FOCUS, has been written, based on the described theory. Numerical examples are given for a shielding problem and a critical assembly, illustrating the performance of the FOCUS code. 19 refs

Verification of vectorized Monte Carlo code MVP using JRR-4 experiment of fast neutrons penetrating through graphite and water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odano, N.; Miura, T.; Yamaji, A.

1996-01-01

Measurement of activation reaction rates was carried out for fast neutrons penetrating through graphite and water from the core of JRR-4 research reactor of JAERI, with paying attention to the energy above 10 MeV. Analysis of the experiment was made using a vectorized continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP to verify the code. The analysis shows good agreements between the measurement and calculation and the MVP code has been confirmed its validity for the fast neutron transport calculations above 10 MeV in fission neutron field. (author)

Improving system modeling accuracy with Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, A.S.

1996-01-01

The use of computer codes based on Monte Carlo methods to perform criticality calculations has become common-place. Although results frequently published in the literature report calculated k eff values to four decimal places, people who use the codes in their everyday work say that they only believe the first two decimal places of any result. The lack of confidence in the computed k eff values may be due to the tendency of the reported standard deviation to underestimate errors associated with the Monte Carlo process. The standard deviation as reported by the codes is the standard deviation of the mean of the k eff values for individual generations in the computer simulation, not the standard deviation of the computed k eff value compared with the physical system. A more subtle problem with the standard deviation of the mean as reported by the codes is that all the k eff values from the separate generations are not statistically independent since the k eff of a given generation is a function of k eff of the previous generation, which is ultimately based on the starting source. To produce a standard deviation that is more representative of the physical system, statistically independent values of k eff are needed

Modified Monte Carlo procedure for particle transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthes, W.

1978-01-01

The simulation of photon transport in the atmosphere with the Monte Carlo method forms part of the EURASEP-programme. The specifications for the problems posed for a solution were such, that the direct application of the analogue Monte Carlo method was not feasible. For this reason the standard Monte Carlo procedure was modified in the sense that additional properly weighted branchings at each collision and transport process in a photon history were introduced. This modified Monte Carlo procedure leads to a clear and logical separation of the essential parts of a problem and offers a large flexibility for variance reducing techniques. More complex problems, as foreseen in the EURASEP-programme (e.g. clouds in the atmosphere, rough ocean-surface and chlorophyl-distribution in the ocean) can be handled by recoding some subroutines. This collision- and transport-splitting procedure can of course be performed differently in different space- and energy regions. It is applied here only for a homogeneous problem

3D-TRANS-2003, Workshop on Common Tools and Interfaces for Radiation Transport Codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Description: Contents proceedings of Workshop on Common Tools and Interfaces for Deterministic Radiation Transport, for Monte Carlo and Hybrid Codes with a proposal to develop the following: GERALD - A General Environment for Radiation Analysis and Design. GERALD intends to create a unifying software environment where the user can define, solve and analyse a nuclear radiation transport problem using available numerical tools seamlessly. This environment will serve many purposes: teaching, research, industrial needs. It will also help to preserve the existing analytical and numerical knowledge base. This could represent a significant step towards solving the legacy problem. This activity should contribute to attracting young engineers to nuclear science and engineering and contribute to competence and knowledge preservation and management. This proposal was made at the on Workshop on C ommon Tools and Interfaces for Deterministic Radiation Transport, for Monte Carlo and Hybrid Codes , held from 25-26 September 2003 in connection with the conference SNA-2003. A first success with the development of such tools was achieved with the BOT3P2.0 and 3.0 codes providing an easy procedure and mechanism for defining and displaying 3D geometries and materials both in the form of refineable meshes for deterministic codes or Monte Carlo geometries consistent with deterministic models. Advanced SUSD: Improved tools for Sensitivity/Uncertainty Analysis. The development of tools for the analysis and estimation of sensitivities and uncertainties in calculations, or their propagation through complex computational schemes, in the field of neutronics, thermal hydraulics and also thermo-mechanics is of increasing importance for research and engineering applications. These tools allow establishing better margins for engineering designs and for the safe operation of nuclear facilities. Such tools are not sufficiently developed, but their need is increasingly evident in many activities

Development of M3C code for Monte Carlo reactor physics criticality calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Anek; Kannan, Umasankari; Krishanani, P.D.

2015-06-01

The development of Monte Carlo code (M3C) for reactor design entails use of continuous energy nuclear data and Monte Carlo simulations for each of the neutron interaction processes. BARC has started a concentrated effort for developing a new general geometry continuous energy Monte Carlo code for reactor physics calculation indigenously. The code development required a comprehensive understanding of the basic continuous energy cross section sets. The important features of this code are treatment of heterogeneous lattices by general geometry, use of point cross sections along with unionized energy grid approach, thermal scattering model for low energy treatment, capability of handling the microscopic fuel particles dispersed randomly. The capability of handling the randomly dispersed microscopic fuel particles which is very useful for the modeling of High-Temperature Gas-Cooled reactor fuels which are composed of thousands of microscopic fuel particle (TRISO fuel particle), randomly dispersed in a graphite matrix. The Monte Carlo code for criticality calculation is a pioneering effort and has been used to study several types of lattices including cluster geometries. The code has been verified for its accuracy against more than 60 sample problems covering a wide range from simple (like spherical) to complex geometry (like PHWR lattice). Benchmark results show that the code performs quite well for the criticality calculation of the system. In this report, the current status of the code, features of the code, some of the benchmark results for the testing of the code and input preparation etc. are discussed. (author)

Comparison of TITAN hybrid deterministic transport code and MCNP5 for simulation of SPECT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Royston, K.; Haghighat, A.; Yi, C.

2010-01-01

Traditionally, Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) simulations use Monte Carlo methods. The hybrid deterministic transport code TITAN has recently been applied to the simulation of a SPECT myocardial perfusion study. The TITAN SPECT simulation uses the discrete ordinates formulation in the phantom region and a simplified ray-tracing formulation outside of the phantom. A SPECT model has been created in the Monte Carlo Neutral particle (MCNP)5 Monte Carlo code for comparison. In MCNP5 the collimator is directly modeled, but TITAN instead simulates the effect of collimator blur using a circular ordinate splitting technique. Projection images created using the TITAN code are compared to results using MCNP5 for three collimator acceptance angles. Normalized projection images for 2.97 deg, 1.42 deg and 0.98 deg collimator acceptance angles had maximum relative differences of 21.3%, 11.9% and 8.3%, respectively. Visually the images are in good agreement. Profiles through the projection images were plotted to find that the TITAN results followed the shape of the MCNP5 results with some differences in magnitude. A timing comparison on 16 processors found that the TITAN code completed the calculation 382 to 2787 times faster than MCNP5. Both codes exhibit good parallel performance. (author)

Calculation of electron and isotopes dose point kernels with FLUKA Monte Carlo code for dosimetry in nuclear medicine therapy

CERN Document Server

Mairani, A; Valente, M; Battistoni, G; Botta, F; Pedroli, G; Ferrari, A; Cremonesi, M; Di Dia, A; Ferrari, M; Fasso, A

2011-01-01

Purpose: The calculation of patient-specific dose distribution can be achieved by Monte Carlo simulations or by analytical methods. In this study, FLUKA Monte Carlo code has been considered for use in nuclear medicine dosimetry. Up to now, FLUKA has mainly been dedicated to other fields, namely high energy physics, radiation protection, and hadrontherapy. When first employing a Monte Carlo code for nuclear medicine dosimetry, its results concerning electron transport at energies typical of nuclear medicine applications need to be verified. This is commonly achieved by means of calculation of a representative parameter and comparison with reference data. Dose point kernel (DPK), quantifying the energy deposition all around a point isotropic source, is often the one. Methods: FLUKA DPKS have been calculated in both water and compact bone for monoenergetic electrons (10-3 MeV) and for beta emitting isotopes commonly used for therapy ((89)Sr, (90)Y, (131)I, (153)Sm, (177)Lu, (186)Re, and (188)Re). Point isotropic...

A NEW MONTE CARLO METHOD FOR TIME-DEPENDENT NEUTRINO RADIATION TRANSPORT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdikamalov, Ernazar; Ott, Christian D.; O'Connor, Evan; Burrows, Adam; Dolence, Joshua C.; Löffler, Frank; Schnetter, Erik

2012-01-01

Monte Carlo approaches to radiation transport have several attractive properties such as simplicity of implementation, high accuracy, and good parallel scaling. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods can handle complicated geometries and are relatively easy to extend to multiple spatial dimensions, which makes them potentially interesting in modeling complex multi-dimensional astrophysical phenomena such as core-collapse supernovae. The aim of this paper is to explore Monte Carlo methods for modeling neutrino transport in core-collapse supernovae. We generalize the Implicit Monte Carlo photon transport scheme of Fleck and Cummings and gray discrete-diffusion scheme of Densmore et al. to energy-, time-, and velocity-dependent neutrino transport. Using our 1D spherically-symmetric implementation, we show that, similar to the photon transport case, the implicit scheme enables significantly larger timesteps compared with explicit time discretization, without sacrificing accuracy, while the discrete-diffusion method leads to significant speed-ups at high optical depth. Our results suggest that a combination of spectral, velocity-dependent, Implicit Monte Carlo and discrete-diffusion Monte Carlo methods represents a robust approach for use in neutrino transport calculations in core-collapse supernovae. Our velocity-dependent scheme can easily be adapted to photon transport.

A NEW MONTE CARLO METHOD FOR TIME-DEPENDENT NEUTRINO RADIATION TRANSPORT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdikamalov, Ernazar; Ott, Christian D.; O' Connor, Evan [TAPIR, California Institute of Technology, MC 350-17, 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Burrows, Adam; Dolence, Joshua C. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Peyton Hall, Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Loeffler, Frank; Schnetter, Erik, E-mail: abdik@tapir.caltech.edu [Center for Computation and Technology, Louisiana State University, 216 Johnston Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States)

2012-08-20

Monte Carlo approaches to radiation transport have several attractive properties such as simplicity of implementation, high accuracy, and good parallel scaling. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods can handle complicated geometries and are relatively easy to extend to multiple spatial dimensions, which makes them potentially interesting in modeling complex multi-dimensional astrophysical phenomena such as core-collapse supernovae. The aim of this paper is to explore Monte Carlo methods for modeling neutrino transport in core-collapse supernovae. We generalize the Implicit Monte Carlo photon transport scheme of Fleck and Cummings and gray discrete-diffusion scheme of Densmore et al. to energy-, time-, and velocity-dependent neutrino transport. Using our 1D spherically-symmetric implementation, we show that, similar to the photon transport case, the implicit scheme enables significantly larger timesteps compared with explicit time discretization, without sacrificing accuracy, while the discrete-diffusion method leads to significant speed-ups at high optical depth. Our results suggest that a combination of spectral, velocity-dependent, Implicit Monte Carlo and discrete-diffusion Monte Carlo methods represents a robust approach for use in neutrino transport calculations in core-collapse supernovae. Our velocity-dependent scheme can easily be adapted to photon transport.

SU-E-T-254: Optimization of GATE and PHITS Monte Carlo Code Parameters for Uniform Scanning Proton Beam Based On Simulation with FLUKA General-Purpose Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurosu, K [Department of Radiation Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka (Japan); Department of Medical Physics ' Engineering, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka (Japan); Takashina, M; Koizumi, M [Department of Medical Physics ' Engineering, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka (Japan); Das, I; Moskvin, V [Department of Radiation Oncology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN (United States)

2014-06-01

Purpose: Monte Carlo codes are becoming important tools for proton beam dosimetry. However, the relationships between the customizing parameters and percentage depth dose (PDD) of GATE and PHITS codes have not been reported which are studied for PDD and proton range compared to the FLUKA code and the experimental data. Methods: The beam delivery system of the Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center was modeled for the uniform scanning beam in FLUKA and transferred identically into GATE and PHITS. This computational model was built from the blue print and validated with the commissioning data. Three parameters evaluated are the maximum step size, cut off energy and physical and transport model. The dependence of the PDDs on the customizing parameters was compared with the published results of previous studies. Results: The optimal parameters for the simulation of the whole beam delivery system were defined by referring to the calculation results obtained with each parameter. Although the PDDs from FLUKA and the experimental data show a good agreement, those of GATE and PHITS obtained with our optimal parameters show a minor discrepancy. The measured proton range R90 was 269.37 mm, compared to the calculated range of 269.63 mm, 268.96 mm, and 270.85 mm with FLUKA, GATE and PHITS, respectively. Conclusion: We evaluated the dependence of the results for PDDs obtained with GATE and PHITS Monte Carlo generalpurpose codes on the customizing parameters by using the whole computational model of the treatment nozzle. The optimal parameters for the simulation were then defined by referring to the calculation results. The physical model, particle transport mechanics and the different geometrybased descriptions need accurate customization in three simulation codes to agree with experimental data for artifact-free Monte Carlo simulation. This study was supported by Grants-in Aid for Cancer Research (H22-3rd Term Cancer Control-General-043) from the Ministry of Health

ARCHER, a new Monte Carlo software tool for emerging heterogeneous computing environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, X. George; Liu, Tianyu; Su, Lin; Du, Xining; Riblett, Matthew; Ji, Wei; Gu, Deyang; Carothers, Christopher D.; Shephard, Mark S.; Brown, Forrest B.; Kalra, Mannudeep K.; Liu, Bob

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A fast Monte Carlo based radiation transport code ARCHER was developed. • ARCHER supports different hardware including CPU, GPU and Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. • Code is benchmarked again MCNP for medical applications. • A typical CT scan dose simulation only takes 6.8 s on an NVIDIA M2090 GPU. • GPU and coprocessor-based codes are 5–8 times faster than the CPU-based codes. - Abstract: The Monte Carlo radiation transport community faces a number of challenges associated with peta- and exa-scale computing systems that rely increasingly on heterogeneous architectures involving hardware accelerators such as GPUs and Xeon Phi coprocessors. Existing Monte Carlo codes and methods must be strategically upgraded to meet emerging hardware and software needs. In this paper, we describe the development of a software, called ARCHER (Accelerated Radiation-transport Computations in Heterogeneous EnviRonments), which is designed as a versatile testbed for future Monte Carlo codes. Preliminary results from five projects in nuclear engineering and medical physics are presented

Evaluation of accuracy of Monte Carlo code MVP with VHTRC experiments. Multiplication factor at criticality, burnable poison worth and void worth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nojiri, Naoki; Yamashita, Kiyonobu; Fiujimoto, Nozomu; Nakano, Masaaki , Yamane, Tsuyoshi; Akino, Fujiyoshi.

1997-11-01

Experimental data of VHTRC (Very High Temperature Reactor Critical Assembly) were analyzed using Monte Carlo code MVP (general purpose Monte Carlo code of neutron and photon transport calculations based on the continuous energy method). The calculation accuracy of the code was evaluated by the analysis for nuclear characteristics of a HTGR (high temperature gas-cooled reactor). The MVP code can analyze with a detailed three-dimensional core model with a few approximations. The HTGRs have following characteristics from view point of nuclear design : they have burnable poisons, many void holes, namely, the control insertion holes and so on. Taking account of these characteristics, multiplication factor at criticality, burnable poison worth, and void worth were evaluated. The maximum calculation errors were 0.8%Δk, 7%, and 25% respectively, From these results, it can be concluded that the MVP code is able to be applied to the nuclear characteristics analysis of the HTGR like the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR). (author)

Discrete Diffusion Monte Carlo for Electron Thermal Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Chenhall, Jeffrey; Cao, Duc; Wollaeger, Ryan; Moses, Gregory

2014-10-01

The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet electron thermal transport method of Cao et al. is adapted to a Discrete Diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC) solution method for eventual inclusion in a hybrid IMC-DDMC (Implicit Monte Carlo) method. The hybrid method will combine the efficiency of a diffusion method in short mean free path regions with the accuracy of a transport method in long mean free path regions. The Monte Carlo nature of the approach allows the algorithm to be massively parallelized. Work to date on the iSNB-DDMC method will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratory - Albuquerque.

Monte-Carlo code calculation of 3D reactor core model with usage of burnt fuel isotopic compositions, obtained by engineering codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aleshin, Sergey S.; Gorodkov, Sergey S.; Shcherenko, Anna I. [National Research Centre ' Kurchatov Institute' , Moscow (Russian Federation)

2016-09-15

A burn-up calculation of large systems by Monte-Carlo code (MCU) is complex process and it requires large computational costs. Previously prepared isotopic compositions are proposed to be used for the Monte-Carlo code calculations of different system states with burnt fuel. Isotopic compositions are calculated by an approximation method. The approximation method is based on usage of a spectral functionality and reference isotopic compositions, that are calculated by the engineering codes (TVS-M, BIPR-7A and PERMAK-A). The multiplication factors and power distributions of FAs from a 3-D reactor core are calculated in this work by the Monte-Carlo code MCU using earlier prepared isotopic compositions. The separate conditions of the burnt core are observed. The results of MCU calculations were compared with those that were obtained by engineering codes.

A perturbation-based susbtep method for coupled depletion Monte-Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotlyar, Dan; Aufiero, Manuele; Shwageraus, Eugene; Fratoni, Massimiliano

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The GPT method allows to calculate the sensitivity coefficients to any perturbation. • Full Jacobian of sensitivities, cross sections (XS) to concentrations, may be obtained. • The time dependent XS is obtained by combining the GPT and substep methods. • The proposed GPT substep method considerably reduces the time discretization error. • No additional MC transport solutions are required within the time step. - Abstract: Coupled Monte Carlo (MC) methods are becoming widely used in reactor physics analysis and design. Many research groups therefore, developed their own coupled MC depletion codes. Typically, in such coupled code systems, neutron fluxes and cross sections are provided to the depletion module by solving a static neutron transport problem. These fluxes and cross sections are representative only of a specific time-point. In reality however, both quantities would change through the depletion time interval. Recently, Generalized Perturbation Theory (GPT) equivalent method that relies on collision history approach was implemented in Serpent MC code. This method was used here to calculate the sensitivity of each nuclide and reaction cross section due to the change in concentration of every isotope in the system. The coupling method proposed in this study also uses the substep approach, which incorporates these sensitivity coefficients to account for temporal changes in cross sections. As a result, a notable improvement in time dependent cross section behavior was obtained. The method was implemented in a wrapper script that couples Serpent with an external depletion solver. The performance of this method was compared with other existing methods. The results indicate that the proposed method requires substantially less MC transport solutions to achieve the same accuracy.

Detailed resonance absorption calculations with the Monte Carlo code MCNP and collision probability version of the slowing down code ROLAIDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kruijf, W.J.M. de; Janssen, A.J.

1994-01-01

Very accurate Mote Carlo calculations with Monte Carlo Code have been performed to serve as reference for benchmark calculations on resonance absorption by U 238 in a typical PWR pin-cell geometry. Calculations with the energy-pointwise slowing down code calculates the resonance absorption accurately. Calculations with the multigroup discrete ordinates code XSDRN show that accurate results can only be achieved with a very fine energy mesh. (authors). 9 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

Parallel computing by Monte Carlo codes MVP/GMVP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Mori, Takamasa

2001-01-01

General-purpose Monte Carlo codes MVP/GMVP are well-vectorized and thus enable us to perform high-speed Monte Carlo calculations. In order to achieve more speedups, we parallelized the codes on the different types of parallel computing platforms or by using a standard parallelization library MPI. The platforms used for benchmark calculations are a distributed-memory vector-parallel computer Fujitsu VPP500, a distributed-memory massively parallel computer Intel paragon and a distributed-memory scalar-parallel computer Hitachi SR2201, IBM SP2. As mentioned generally, linear speedup could be obtained for large-scale problems but parallelization efficiency decreased as the batch size per a processing element(PE) was smaller. It was also found that the statistical uncertainty for assembly powers was less than 0.1% by the PWR full-core calculation with more than 10 million histories and it took about 1.5 hours by massively parallel computing. (author)

A Monte Carlo track structure code for low energy protons

CERN Document Server

Endo, S; Nikjoo, H; Uehara, S; Hoshi, M; Ishikawa, M; Shizuma, K

2002-01-01

A code is described for simulation of protons (100 eV to 10 MeV) track structure in water vapor. The code simulates molecular interaction by interaction for the transport of primary ions and secondary electrons in the form of ionizations and excitations. When a low velocity ion collides with the atoms or molecules of a target, the ion may also capture or lose electrons. The probabilities for these processes are described by the quantity cross-section. Although proton track simulation at energies above Bragg peak (>0.3 MeV) has been achieved to a high degree of precision, simulations at energies near or below the Bragg peak have only been attempted recently because of the lack of relevant cross-section data. As the hydrogen atom has a different ionization cross-section from that of a proton, charge exchange processes need to be considered in order to calculate stopping power for low energy protons. In this paper, we have used state-of-the-art Monte Carlo track simulation techniques, in conjunction with the pub...

The Premar Code for the Monte Carlo Simulation of Radiation Transport In the Atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cupini, E.; Borgia, M.G.; Premuda, M.

1997-03-01

The Montecarlo code PREMAR is described, which allows the user to simulate the radiation transport in the atmosphere, in the ultraviolet-infrared frequency interval. A plan multilayer geometry is at present foreseen by the code, witch albedo possibility at the lower boundary surface. For a given monochromatic point source, the main quantities computed by the code are the absorption spatial distributions of aerosol and molecules, together with the related atmospheric transmittances. Moreover, simulation of of Lidar experiments are foreseen by the code, the source and telescope fields of view being assigned. To build-up the appropriate probability distributions, an input data library is assumed to be read by the code. For this purpose the radiance-transmittance LOWTRAN-7 code has been conveniently adapted as a source of the library so as to exploit the richness of information of the code for a large variety of atmospheric simulations. Results of applications of the PREMAR code are finally presented, with special reference to simulations of Lidar system and radiometer experiments carried out at the Brasimone ENEA Centre by the Environment Department

Sub-Transport Layer Coding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Jonas; Krigslund, Jeppe; Roetter, Daniel Enrique Lucani

2014-01-01

Packet losses in wireless networks dramatically curbs the performance of TCP. This paper introduces a simple coding shim that aids IP-layer traffic in lossy environments while being transparent to transport layer protocols. The proposed coding approach enables erasure correction while being...... oblivious to the congestion control algorithms of the utilised transport layer protocol. Although our coding shim is indifferent towards the transport layer protocol, we focus on the performance of TCP when ran on top of our proposed coding mechanism due to its widespread use. The coding shim provides gains...

Algorithmic choices in WARP – A framework for continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport in general 3D geometries on GPUs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergmann, Ryan M.; Vujić, Jasmina L.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • WARP, a GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo neutron transport code, has been developed. • The NVIDIA OptiX high-performance ray tracing library is used to process geometric data. • The unionized cross section representation is modified for higher performance. • Reference remapping is used to keep the GPU busy as neutron batch population reduces. • Reference remapping is done using a key-value radix sort on neutron reaction type. - Abstract: In recent supercomputers, general purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) are a significant faction of the supercomputer’s total computational power. GPGPUs have different architectures compared to central processing units (CPUs), and for Monte Carlo neutron transport codes used in nuclear engineering to take advantage of these coprocessor cards, transport algorithms must be changed to execute efficiently on them. WARP is a continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code that has been written to do this. The main thrust of WARP is to adapt previous event-based transport algorithms to the new GPU hardware; the algorithmic choices for all parts of which are presented in this paper. It is found that remapping history data references increases the GPU processing rate when histories start to complete. The main reason for this is that completed data are eliminated from the address space, threads are kept busy, and memory bandwidth is not wasted on checking completed data. Remapping also allows the interaction kernels to be launched concurrently, improving efficiency. The OptiX ray tracing framework and CUDPP library are used for geometry representation and parallel dataset-side operations, ensuring high performance and reliability

Neutron flux investigation on certain alternative fluids in a hybrid system by using MCNPX Monte Carlo transport code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guenay, Mehtap [Inoenue Univ., Malatya (Turkey). Physics Dept.

2014-04-15

In this study, the molten salt-heavy metal mixtures 93-85 % Li{sub 20}Sn{sub 80} + 5 % SFG-PuO{sub 2} and 2-10 % UO{sub 2}, 93-85 % Li{sub 20}Sn{sub 80} + 5 % SFG-PuO{sub 2} and 2-10 % NpO{sub 2}, 93-85 % Li{sub 20}Sn{sub 80} + 5 % SFG-PuO{sub 2} and 2-10 % UCO were used as fluids. The fluids were used in the liquid first wall, blanket and shield zones of the designed hybrid reactor system. Four centimeter thick 9Cr2WVTa ferritic steel was used as the structural material. In this study, the effect of mixture components on the neutron flux was investigated in a designed fusion-fission hybrid reactor system. The neutron flux was investigated according to the mixture components, radial flux distribution and energy spectrum in the designed system. Three-dimensional analyses were performed using the most recent MCNPX-2.7.0 Monte Carlo radiation transport code and the ENDF/B-VII.0 nuclear data library. (orig.)

A general purpose code for Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilcke, W.W.; Rochester Univ., NY

1984-01-01

A general-purpose computer code MONTHY has been written to perform Monte Carlo simulations of physical systems. To achieve a high degree of flexibility the code is organized like a general purpose computer, operating on a vector describing the time dependent state of the system under simulation. The instruction set of the 'computer' is defined by the user and is therefore adaptable to the particular problem studied. The organization of MONTHY allows iterative and conditional execution of operations. (orig.)

COG10, Multiparticle Monte Carlo Code System for Shielding and Criticality Use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: COG is a modern, full-featured Monte Carlo radiation transport code which provides accurate answers to complex shielding, criticality, and activation problems. COG was written to be state-of-the-art and free of physics approximations and compromises found in earlier codes. COG is fully 3-D, uses point-wise cross sections and exact angular scattering, and allows a full range of biasing options to speed up solutions for deep penetration problems. Additionally, a criticality option is available for computing Keff for assemblies of fissile materials. ENDL or ENDFB cross section libraries may be used. COG home page: http://www-phys.llnl.gov/N_Div/COG/. Cross section libraries are included in the package. COG can use either the LLNL ENDL-90 cross section set or the ENDFB/VI set. Analytic surfaces are used to describe geometric boundaries. Parts (volumes) are described by a method of Constructive Solid Geometry. Surface types include surfaces of up to fourth order, and pseudo-surfaces such as boxes, finite cylinders, and figures of revolution. Repeated assemblies need be defined only once. Parts are visualized in cross-section and perspective picture views. Source and random-walk biasing techniques may be selected to improve solution statistics. These include source angular biasing, importance weighting, particle splitting and Russian roulette, path-length stretching, point detectors, scattered direction biasing, and forced collisions. Criticality - For a fissioning system, COG will compute Keff by transporting batches of neutrons through the system. Activation - COG can compute gamma-ray doses due to neutron-activated materials, starting with just a neutron source. Coupled Problems - COG can solve coupled problems involving neutrons, photons, and electrons. 2 - Methods:COG uses Monte Carlo methods to solve the Boltzmann transport equation for particles traveling through arbitrary 3-dimensional geometries. Neutrons, photons

Computer codes in particle transport physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pesic, M.

2004-01-01

Simulation of transport and interaction of various particles in complex media and wide energy range (from 1 MeV up to 1 TeV) is very complicated problem that requires valid model of a real process in nature and appropriate solving tool - computer code and data library. A brief overview of computer codes based on Monte Carlo techniques for simulation of transport and interaction of hadrons and ions in wide energy range in three dimensional (3D) geometry is shown. Firstly, a short attention is paid to underline the approach to the solution of the problem - process in nature - by selection of the appropriate 3D model and corresponding tools - computer codes and cross sections data libraries. Process of data collection and evaluation from experimental measurements and theoretical approach to establishing reliable libraries of evaluated cross sections data is Ion g, difficult and not straightforward activity. For this reason, world reference data centers and specialized ones are acknowledged, together with the currently available, state of art evaluated nuclear data libraries, as the ENDF/B-VI, JEF, JENDL, CENDL, BROND, etc. Codes for experimental and theoretical data evaluations (e.g., SAMMY and GNASH) together with the codes for data processing (e.g., NJOY, PREPRO and GRUCON) are briefly described. Examples of data evaluation and data processing to generate computer usable data libraries are shown. Among numerous and various computer codes developed in transport physics of particles, the most general ones are described only: MCNPX, FLUKA and SHIELD. A short overview of basic application of these codes, physical models implemented with their limitations, energy ranges of particles and types of interactions, is given. General information about the codes covers also programming language, operation system, calculation speed and the code availability. An example of increasing computation speed of running MCNPX code using a MPI cluster compared to the code sequential option

MCNP code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.

1984-01-01

The MCNP code is the major Monte Carlo coupled neutron-photon transport research tool at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and it represents the most extensive Monte Carlo development program in the United States which is available in the public domain. The present code is the direct descendent of the original Monte Carlo work of Fermi, von Neumaum, and Ulam at Los Alamos in the 1940s. Development has continued uninterrupted since that time, and the current version of MCNP (or its predecessors) has always included state-of-the-art methods in the Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport, basic cross section data, geometry capability, variance reduction, and estimation procedures. The authors of the present code have oriented its development toward general user application. The documentation, though extensive, is presented in a clear and simple manner with many examples, illustrations, and sample problems. In addition to providing the desired results, the output listings give a a wealth of detailed information (some optional) concerning each state of the calculation. The code system is continually updated to take advantage of advances in computer hardware and software, including interactive modes of operation, diagnostic interrupts and restarts, and a variety of graphical and video aids

Simulation of transport equations with Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthes, W.

1975-09-01

The main purpose of the report is to explain the relation between the transport equation and the Monte Carlo game used for its solution. The introduction of artificial particles carrying a weight provides one with high flexibility in constructing many different games for the solution of the same equation. This flexibility opens a way to construct a Monte Carlo game for the solution of the adjoint transport equation. Emphasis is laid mostly on giving a clear understanding of what to do and not on the details of how to do a specific game

Gamma streaming experiments for validation of Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thilagam, L.; Mohapatra, D.K.; Subbaiah, K.V.; Iliyas Lone, M.; Balasubramaniyan, V.

2012-01-01

In-homogeneities in shield structures lead to considerable amount of leakage radiation (streaming) increasing the radiation levels in accessible areas. Development works on experimental as well as computational methods for quantifying this streaming radiation are still continuing. Monte Carlo based radiation transport code, MCNP is usually a tool for modeling and analyzing such problems involving complex geometries. In order to validate this computational method for streaming analysis, it is necessary to carry out some experimental measurements simulating these inhomogeneities like ducts and voids present in the bulk shields for typical cases. The data thus generated will be analysed by simulating the experimental set up employing MCNP code and optimized input parameters for the code in finding solutions for similar radiation streaming problems will be formulated. Comparison of experimental data obtained from radiation streaming experiments through ducts will give a set of thumb rules and analytical fits for total radiation dose rates within and outside the duct. The present study highlights the validation of MCNP code through the gamma streaming experiments carried out with the ducts of various shapes and dimensions. Over all, the present study throws light on suitability of MCNP code for the analysis of gamma radiation streaming problems for all duct configurations considered. In the present study, only dose rate comparisons have been made. Studies on spectral comparison of streaming radiation are in process. Also, it is planned to repeat the experiments with various shield materials. Since the penetrations and ducts through bulk shields are unavoidable in an operating nuclear facility the results on this kind of radiation streaming simulations and experiments will be very useful in the shield structure optimization without compromising the radiation safety

Mesh generation and energy group condensation studies for the jaguar deterministic transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, R. A.; Watson, A. M.; Iwueke, C. I.; Edwards, E. J.

2012-01-01

The deterministic transport code Jaguar is introduced, and the modeling process for Jaguar is demonstrated using a two-dimensional assembly model of the Hoogenboom-Martin Performance Benchmark Problem. This single assembly model is being used to test and analyze optimal modeling methodologies and techniques for Jaguar. This paper focuses on spatial mesh generation and energy condensation techniques. In this summary, the models and processes are defined as well as thermal flux solution comparisons with the Monte Carlo code MC21. (authors)

Mesh generation and energy group condensation studies for the jaguar deterministic transport code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kennedy, R. A.; Watson, A. M.; Iwueke, C. I.; Edwards, E. J. [Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation, P.O. Box 1072, Schenectady, NY 12301-1072 (United States)

2012-07-01

The deterministic transport code Jaguar is introduced, and the modeling process for Jaguar is demonstrated using a two-dimensional assembly model of the Hoogenboom-Martin Performance Benchmark Problem. This single assembly model is being used to test and analyze optimal modeling methodologies and techniques for Jaguar. This paper focuses on spatial mesh generation and energy condensation techniques. In this summary, the models and processes are defined as well as thermal flux solution comparisons with the Monte Carlo code MC21. (authors)

Regional Atmospheric Transport Code for Hanford Emission Tracking (RATCHET)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramsdell, J.V. Jr.; Simonen, C.A.; Burk, K.W.

1994-02-01

The purpose of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project is to estimate radiation doses that individuals may have received from operations at the Hanford Site since 1944. This report deals specifically with the atmospheric transport model, Regional Atmospheric Transport Code for Hanford Emission Tracking (RATCHET). RATCHET is a major rework of the MESOILT2 model used in the first phase of the HEDR Project; only the bookkeeping framework escaped major changes. Changes to the code include (1) significant changes in the representation of atmospheric processes and (2) incorporation of Monte Carlo methods for representing uncertainty in input data, model parameters, and coefficients. To a large extent, the revisions to the model are based on recommendations of a peer working group that met in March 1991. Technical bases for other portions of the atmospheric transport model are addressed in two other documents. This report has three major sections: a description of the model, a user's guide, and a programmer's guide. These sections discuss RATCHET from three different perspectives. The first provides a technical description of the code with emphasis on details such as the representation of the model domain, the data required by the model, and the equations used to make the model calculations. The technical description is followed by a user's guide to the model with emphasis on running the code. The user's guide contains information about the model input and output. The third section is a programmer's guide to the code. It discusses the hardware and software required to run the code. The programmer's guide also discusses program structure and each of the program elements

SAM-CE, Time-Dependent 3-D Neutron Transport, Gamma Transport in Complex Geometry by Monte-Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

1 - Nature of physical problem solved: The SAM-CE system comprises two Monte Carlo codes, SAM-F and SAM-A. SAM-F supersedes the forward Monte Carlo code, SAM-C. SAM-A is an adjoint Monte Carlo code designed to calculate the response due to fields of primary and secondary gamma radiation. The SAM-CE system is a FORTRAN Monte Carlo computer code designed to solve the time-dependent neutron and gamma-ray transport equations in complex three-dimensional geometries. SAM-CE is applicable for forward neutron calculations and for forward as well as adjoint primary gamma-ray calculations. In addition, SAM-CE is applicable for the gamma-ray stage of the coupled neutron-secondary gamma ray problem, which may be solved in either the forward or the adjoint mode. Time-dependent fluxes, and flux functionals such as dose, heating, count rates, etc., are calculated as functions of energy, time and position. Multiple scoring regions are permitted and these may be either finite volume regions or point detectors or both. Other scores of interest, e.g., collision and absorption densities, etc., are also made. 2 - Method of solution: A special feature of SAM-CE is its use of the 'combinatorial geometry' technique which affords the user geometric capabilities exceeding those available with other commonly used geometric packages. All nuclear interaction cross section data (derived from the ENDF for neutrons and from the UNC-format library for gamma-rays) are tabulated in point energy meshes. The energy meshes for neutrons are internally derived, based on built-in convergence criteria and user- supplied tolerances. Tabulated neutron data for each distinct nuclide are in unique and appropriate energy meshes. Both resolved and unresolved resonance parameters from ENDF data files are treated automatically, and extremely precise and detailed descriptions of cross section behaviour is permitted. Such treatment avoids the ambiguities usually associated with multi-group codes, which use flux

EGS code system: computer programs for the Monte Carlo simulation of electromagnetic cascade showers. Version 3. [EGS, PEGS, TESTSR, in MORTRAN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ford, R.L.; Nelson, W.R.

1978-06-01

A code to simulate almost any electron--photon transport problem conceivable is described. The report begins with a lengthy historical introduction and a description of the shower generation process. Then the detailed physics of the shower processes and the methods used to simulate them are presented. Ideas of sampling theory, transport techniques, particle interactions in general, and programing details are discussed. Next, EGS calculations and various experiments and other Monte Carlo results are compared. The remainder of the report consists of user manuals for EGS, PEGS, and TESTSR codes; options, input specifications, and typical output are included. 38 figures, 12 tables. (RWR)

The Monte Carlo photoionization and moving-mesh radiation hydrodynamics code CMACIONIZE

Science.gov (United States)

Vandenbroucke, B.; Wood, K.

2018-04-01

We present the public Monte Carlo photoionization and moving-mesh radiation hydrodynamics code CMACIONIZE, which can be used to simulate the self-consistent evolution of HII regions surrounding young O and B stars, or other sources of ionizing radiation. The code combines a Monte Carlo photoionization algorithm that uses a complex mix of hydrogen, helium and several coolants in order to self-consistently solve for the ionization and temperature balance at any given type, with a standard first order hydrodynamics scheme. The code can be run as a post-processing tool to get the line emission from an existing simulation snapshot, but can also be used to run full radiation hydrodynamical simulations. Both the radiation transfer and the hydrodynamics are implemented in a general way that is independent of the grid structure that is used to discretize the system, allowing it to be run both as a standard fixed grid code, but also as a moving-mesh code.

Exploring Monte Carlo methods

CERN Document Server

Dunn, William L

2012-01-01

Exploring Monte Carlo Methods is a basic text that describes the numerical methods that have come to be known as "Monte Carlo." The book treats the subject generically through the first eight chapters and, thus, should be of use to anyone who wants to learn to use Monte Carlo. The next two chapters focus on applications in nuclear engineering, which are illustrative of uses in other fields. Five appendices are included, which provide useful information on probability distributions, general-purpose Monte Carlo codes for radiation transport, and other matters. The famous "Buffon's needle proble

Optimization of the Monte Carlo code for modeling of photon migration in tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Zołek, Norbert S; Liebert, Adam; Maniewski, Roman

2006-10-01

The Monte Carlo method is frequently used to simulate light transport in turbid media because of its simplicity and flexibility, allowing to analyze complicated geometrical structures. Monte Carlo simulations are, however, time consuming because of the necessity to track the paths of individual photons. The time consuming computation is mainly associated with the calculation of the logarithmic and trigonometric functions as well as the generation of pseudo-random numbers. In this paper, the Monte Carlo algorithm was developed and optimized, by approximation of the logarithmic and trigonometric functions. The approximations were based on polynomial and rational functions, and the errors of these approximations are less than 1% of the values of the original functions. The proposed algorithm was verified by simulations of the time-resolved reflectance at several source-detector separations. The results of the calculation using the approximated algorithm were compared with those of the Monte Carlo simulations obtained with an exact computation of the logarithm and trigonometric functions as well as with the solution of the diffusion equation. The errors of the moments of the simulated distributions of times of flight of photons (total number of photons, mean time of flight and variance) are less than 2% for a range of optical properties, typical of living tissues. The proposed approximated algorithm allows to speed up the Monte Carlo simulations by a factor of 4. The developed code can be used on parallel machines, allowing for further acceleration.

Motivation for Using Generalized Geometry in the Time Dependent Transport Code TDKENO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dustin Popp; Zander Mausolff; Sedat Goluoglu

2016-04-01

We are proposing to use the code, TDKENO, to model TREAT. TDKENO solves the time dependent, three dimensional Boltzmann transport equation with explicit representation of delayed neutrons. Instead of directly integrating this equation, the neutron flux is factored into two components – a rapidly varying amplitude equation and a slowly varying shape equation and each is solved separately on different time scales. The shape equation is solved using the 3D Monte Carlo transport code KENO, from Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s SCALE code package. Using the Monte Carlo method to solve the shape equation is still computationally intensive, but the operation is only performed when needed. The amplitude equation is solved deterministically and frequently, so the solution gives an accurate time-dependent solution without having to repeatedly We have modified TDKENO to incorporate KENO-VI so that we may accurately represent the geometries within TREAT. This paper explains the motivation behind using generalized geometry, and provides the results of our modifications. TDKENO uses the Improved Quasi-Static method to accomplish this. In this method, the neutron flux is factored into two components. One component is a purely time-dependent and rapidly varying amplitude function, which is solved deterministically and very frequently (small time steps). The other is a slowly varying flux shape function that weakly depends on time and is only solved when needed (significantly larger time steps).

Portable LQCD Monte Carlo code using OpenACC

Science.gov (United States)

Bonati, Claudio; Calore, Enrico; Coscetti, Simone; D'Elia, Massimo; Mesiti, Michele; Negro, Francesco; Fabio Schifano, Sebastiano; Silvi, Giorgio; Tripiccione, Raffaele

2018-03-01

Varying from multi-core CPU processors to many-core GPUs, the present scenario of HPC architectures is extremely heterogeneous. In this context, code portability is increasingly important for easy maintainability of applications; this is relevant in scientific computing where code changes are numerous and frequent. In this talk we present the design and optimization of a state-of-the-art production level LQCD Monte Carlo application, using the OpenACC directives model. OpenACC aims to abstract parallel programming to a descriptive level, where programmers do not need to specify the mapping of the code on the target machine. We describe the OpenACC implementation and show that the same code is able to target different architectures, including state-of-the-art CPUs and GPUs.

Modular, object-oriented redesign of a large-scale Monte Carlo neutron transport program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moskowitz, B.S.

2000-01-01

This paper describes the modular, object-oriented redesign of a large-scale Monte Carlo neutron transport program. This effort represents a complete 'white sheet of paper' rewrite of the code. In this paper, the motivation driving this project, the design objectives for the new version of the program, and the design choices and their consequences will be discussed. The design itself will also be described, including the important subsystems as well as the key classes within those subsystems

Particle-transport simulation with the Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carter, L.L.; Cashwell, E.D.

1975-01-01

Attention is focused on the application of the Monte Carlo method to particle transport problems, with emphasis on neutron and photon transport. Topics covered include sampling methods, mathematical prescriptions for simulating particle transport, mechanics of simulating particle transport, neutron transport, and photon transport. A literature survey of 204 references is included. (GMT)

C5 Benchmark Problem with Discrete Ordinate Radiation Transport Code DENOVO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yesilyurt, Gokhan [ORNL; Clarno, Kevin T [ORNL; Evans, Thomas M [ORNL; Davidson, Gregory G [ORNL; Fox, Patricia B [ORNL

2011-01-01

The C5 benchmark problem proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency was modeled to examine the capabilities of Denovo, a three-dimensional (3-D) parallel discrete ordinates (S{sub N}) radiation transport code, for problems with no spatial homogenization. Denovo uses state-of-the-art numerical methods to obtain accurate solutions to the Boltzmann transport equation. Problems were run in parallel on Jaguar, a high-performance supercomputer located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Both the two-dimensional (2-D) and 3-D configurations were analyzed, and the results were compared with the reference MCNP Monte Carlo calculations. For an additional comparison, SCALE/KENO-V.a Monte Carlo solutions were also included. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed for the optimal angular quadrature and mesh resolution for both the 2-D and 3-D infinite lattices of UO{sub 2} fuel pin cells. Denovo was verified with the C5 problem. The effective multiplication factors, pin powers, and assembly powers were found to be in good agreement with the reference MCNP and SCALE/KENO-V.a Monte Carlo calculations.

Development of three-dimensional neoclassical transport simulation code with high performance Fortran on a vector-parallel computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Satake, Shinsuke; Okamoto, Masao; Nakajima, Noriyoshi; Takamaru, Hisanori

2005-11-01

A neoclassical transport simulation code (FORTEC-3D) applicable to three-dimensional configurations has been developed using High Performance Fortran (HPF). Adoption of computing techniques for parallelization and a hybrid simulation model to the δf Monte-Carlo method transport simulation, including non-local transport effects in three-dimensional configurations, makes it possible to simulate the dynamism of global, non-local transport phenomena with a self-consistent radial electric field within a reasonable computation time. In this paper, development of the transport code using HPF is reported. Optimization techniques in order to achieve both high vectorization and parallelization efficiency, adoption of a parallel random number generator, and also benchmark results, are shown. (author)

Evaluation and comparison of SN and Monte-Carlo charged particle transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadad, K.

2000-01-01

A study was done to evaluate a 3-D S N charged particle transport code called SMARTEPANTS 1 and another 3-D Monte Carlo code called Integrated Tiger Series, ITS 2 . The evaluation study of SMARTEPANTS code was based on angular discretization and reflected boundary sensitivity whilst the evaluation of ITS was based on CPU time and variance reduction. The comparison of the two code was based on energy and charge deposition calculation in block of Gallium Arsenide with embedded gold cylinders. The result of evaluation tests shows that an S 8 calculation maintains both accuracy and speed and calculations with reflected boundaries geometry produces full symmetrical results. As expected for ITS evaluation, the CPU time and variance reduction are opposite to a point beyond which the history augmentation while increasing the CPU time do not result in variance reduction. The comparison test problem showed excellent agreement in total energy deposition calculations

Interface methods for hybrid Monte Carlo-diffusion radiation-transport simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Densmore, Jeffery D.

2006-01-01

Discrete diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC) is a technique for increasing the efficiency of Monte Carlo simulations in diffusive media. An important aspect of DDMC is the treatment of interfaces between diffusive regions, where DDMC is used, and transport regions, where standard Monte Carlo is employed. Three previously developed methods exist for treating transport-diffusion interfaces: the Marshak interface method, based on the Marshak boundary condition, the asymptotic interface method, based on the asymptotic diffusion-limit boundary condition, and the Nth-collided source technique, a scheme that allows Monte Carlo particles to undergo several collisions in a diffusive region before DDMC is used. Numerical calculations have shown that each of these interface methods gives reasonable results as part of larger radiation-transport simulations. In this paper, we use both analytic and numerical examples to compare the ability of these three interface techniques to treat simpler, transport-diffusion interface problems outside of a more complex radiation-transport calculation. We find that the asymptotic interface method is accurate regardless of the angular distribution of Monte Carlo particles incident on the interface surface. In contrast, the Marshak boundary condition only produces correct solutions if the incident particles are isotropic. We also show that the Nth-collided source technique has the capacity to yield accurate results if spatial cells are optically small and Monte Carlo particles are allowed to undergo many collisions within a diffusive region before DDMC is employed. These requirements make the Nth-collided source technique impractical for realistic radiation-transport calculations

On-the-fly doppler broadening for Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yesilyurt, G.; Martin, W. R.; Brown, F. B.

2009-01-01

A methodology to allow on-the-fly Doppler broadening of neutron cross sections for use in Monte Carlo codes has been developed. The Monte Carlo code only needs to store 0 K cross sections for each isotope and the method will broaden the 0 K cross sections for any isotope in the library to any temperature in the range 77 K-3200 K. The methodology is based on a combination of Taylor series expansions and asymptotic series expansions. The type of series representation was determined by investigating the temperature dependence of U3o8 resonance cross sections in three regions: near the resonance peaks, mid-resonance, and the resonance wings. The coefficients for these series expansions were determined by a regression over the energy and temperature range of interest. Since the resonance parameters are a function of the neutron energy and target nuclide, the ψ and χ functions in the Adler-Adler multi-level resonance model can be represented by series expansions in temperature only, allowing the least number of terms to approximate the temperature dependent cross sections within a given accuracy. The comparison of the broadened cross sections using this methodology with the NJOY cross sections was excellent over the entire temperature range (77 K-3200 K) and energy range. A Monte Carlo code was implemented to apply the combined regression model and used to estimate the additional computing cost which was found to be less than <1%. (authors)

ICF target 2D modeling using Monte Carlo SNB electron thermal transport in DRACO

Science.gov (United States)

Chenhall, Jeffrey; Cao, Duc; Moses, Gregory

2016-10-01

The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet multigroup diffusion electron thermal transport method is adapted into a Monte Carlo (MC) transport method to better model angular and long mean free path non-local effects. The MC model was first implemented in the 1D LILAC code to verify consistency with the iSNB model. Implementation of the MC SNB model in the 2D DRACO code enables higher fidelity non-local thermal transport modeling in 2D implosions such as polar drive experiments on NIF. The final step is to optimize the MC model by hybridizing it with a MC version of the iSNB diffusion method. The hybrid method will combine the efficiency of a diffusion method in intermediate mean free path regions with the accuracy of a transport method in long mean free path regions allowing for improved computational efficiency while maintaining accuracy. Work to date on the method will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratories and the Univ. of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

ITS, TIGER System of Coupled Electron Photon Transport by Monte-Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halbleib, J.A.; Mehlhorn, T.A.; Young, M.F.

1996-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: ITS permits a state-of-the-art Monte Carlo solution of linear time-integrated coupled electron/ photon radiation transport problems with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. 2 - Method of solution: Through a machine-portable utility that emulates the basic features of the CDC UPDATE processor, the user selects one of eight codes for running on a machine of one of four (at least) major vendors. With the ITS-3.0 release the PSR-0245/UPEML package is included to perform these functions. The ease with which this utility is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is maximized by employing the best available cross sections and sampling distributions, and the most complete physical model for describing the production and transport of the electron/ photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. Flexibility of construction permits the codes to be tailored to specific applications and the capabilities of the codes to be extended to more complex applications through update procedures. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: - Restrictions and/or limitations for ITS depend upon the local operating system

DOSE COEFFICIENTS FOR LIVER CHEMOEMBOLISATION PROCEDURES USING MONTE CARLO CODE.

Science.gov (United States)

Karavasilis, E; Dimitriadis, A; Gonis, H; Pappas, P; Georgiou, E; Yakoumakis, E

2016-12-01

The aim of the present study is the estimation of radiation burden during liver chemoembolisation procedures. Organ dose and effective dose conversion factors, normalised to dose-area product (DAP), were estimated for chemoembolisation procedures using a Monte Carlo transport code in conjunction with an adult mathematical phantom. Exposure data from 32 patients were used to determine the exposure projections for the simulations. Equivalent organ (H T ) and effective (E) doses were estimated using individual DAP values. The organs receiving the highest amount of doses during these exams were lumbar spine, liver and kidneys. The mean effective dose conversion factor was 1.4 Sv Gy -1 m -2 Dose conversion factors can be useful for patient-specific radiation burden during chemoembolisation procedures. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Heavy-ion transport codes for radiotherapy and radioprotection in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mancusi, Davide

2006-06-01

Simulation of the transport of heavy ions in matter is a field of nuclear science that has recently received attention in view of its importance for some relevant applications. Accelerated heavy ions can, for example, be used to treat cancers (heavy-ion radiotherapy) and show some superior qualities with respect to more conventional treatment systems, like photons (x-rays) or protons. Furthermore, long-term manned space missions (like a possible future mission to Mars) pose the challenge to protect astronauts and equipment on board against the harmful space radiation environment, where heavy ions can be responsible for a significant share of the exposure risk. The high accuracy expected from a transport algorithm (especially in the case of radiotherapy) and the large amount of semi-empirical knowledge necessary to even state the transport problem properly rule out any analytical approach; the alternative is to resort to numerical simulations in order to build treatment-planning systems for cancer or to aid space engineers in shielding design. This thesis is focused on the description of HIBRAC, a one-dimensional deterministic code optimised for radiotherapy, and PHITS (Particle and Heavy- Ion Transport System), a general-purpose three-dimensional Monte-Carlo code. The structure of both codes is outlined and some relevant results are presented. In the case of PHITS, we also report the first results of an ongoing comprehensive benchmarking program for the main components of the code; we present the comparison of partial charge-changing cross sections for a 400 MeV/n 40 Ar beam impinging on carbon, polyethylene, aluminium, copper, tin and lead targets

Neutron cross section library production code system for continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP. LICEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Kaneko, Kunio.

1996-05-01

A code system has been developed to produce neutron cross section libraries for the MVP continuous energy Monte Carlo code from an evaluated nuclear data library in the ENDF format. The code system consists of 9 computer codes, and can process nuclear data in the latest ENDF-6 format. By using the present system, MVP neutron cross section libraries for important nuclides in reactor core analyses, shielding and fusion neutronics calculations have been prepared from JENDL-3.1, JENDL-3.2, JENDL-FUSION file and ENDF/B-VI data bases. This report describes the format of MVP neutron cross section library, the details of each code in the code system and how to use them. (author)

Neutron cross section library production code system for continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP. LICEM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment; Kaneko, Kunio

1996-05-01

A code system has been developed to produce neutron cross section libraries for the MVP continuous energy Monte Carlo code from an evaluated nuclear data library in the ENDF format. The code system consists of 9 computer codes, and can process nuclear data in the latest ENDF-6 format. By using the present system, MVP neutron cross section libraries for important nuclides in reactor core analyses, shielding and fusion neutronics calculations have been prepared from JENDL-3.1, JENDL-3.2, JENDL-FUSION file and ENDF/B-VI data bases. This report describes the format of MVP neutron cross section library, the details of each code in the code system and how to use them. (author).

Research on GPU acceleration for Monte Carlo criticality calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Q.; Yu, G.; Wang, K.

2013-01-01

The Monte Carlo (MC) neutron transport method can be naturally parallelized by multi-core architectures due to the dependency between particles during the simulation. The GPU+CPU heterogeneous parallel mode has become an increasingly popular way of parallelism in the field of scientific supercomputing. Thus, this work focuses on the GPU acceleration method for the Monte Carlo criticality simulation, as well as the computational efficiency that GPUs can bring. The 'neutron transport step' is introduced to increase the GPU thread occupancy. In order to test the sensitivity of the MC code's complexity, a 1D one-group code and a 3D multi-group general purpose code are respectively transplanted to GPUs, and the acceleration effects are compared. The result of numerical experiments shows considerable acceleration effect of the 'neutron transport step' strategy. However, the performance comparison between the 1D code and the 3D code indicates the poor scalability of MC codes on GPUs. (authors)

New scope covered by PHITS. Particle and heavy ion transport code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Takashi; Niita, Koji; Iwase, Hiroshi; Sato, Tatsuhiko

2006-01-01

PHITS is a general high energy transport calculation code from hadron to heavy ions, which embedded in NMTC-JAM with JQMD code. Outline of PHITS and many application examples are stated. PHITS has been used by the shielding calculations of J-PARC, GSI, RIA and Big-RIPS and the good results were reported. The evaluation of exposure dose of astronauts, airmen, proton and heavy ion therapy, and estimation of error frequency of semiconductor software are explained as the application examples. Relation between the event generator and Monte Carlo method and the future are described. (S.Y.)

ZZ SAIL, Albedo Scattering Data Library for 3-D Monte-Carlo Radiation Transport in LWR Pressure Vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: Format: SAIL format; Number of groups: 23 neutron / 17 gamma-ray; Nuclides: Type 04 Concrete and Low Carbon Steel (A533B). Origin: Science Applications, Inc (SAI); Weighting spectrum: yes. SAIL is a library of albedo scattering data to be used in three-dimensional Monte Carlo codes to solve radiation transport problems specific to the reactor pressure vessel cavity region of a LWR. The library contains data for Type 04 Concrete and Low Carbon Steel (A533B). 2 - Method of solution: The calculation of the albedo data was perform- ed with a version of the discrete ordinates transport code DOT which treats the transport of neutrons, secondary gamma-rays and gamma- rays in one dimension, while maintaining the complete two-dimension- al treatment of the angular dependence

SCALE Continuous-Energy Monte Carlo Depletion with Parallel KENO in TRITON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goluoglu, Sedat; Bekar, Kursat B.; Wiarda, Dorothea

2012-01-01

The TRITON sequence of the SCALE code system is a powerful and robust tool for performing multigroup (MG) reactor physics analysis using either the 2-D deterministic solver NEWT or the 3-D Monte Carlo transport code KENO. However, as with all MG codes, the accuracy of the results depends on the accuracy of the MG cross sections that are generated and/or used. While SCALE resonance self-shielding modules provide rigorous resonance self-shielding, they are based on 1-D models and therefore 2-D or 3-D effects such as heterogeneity of the lattice structures may render final MG cross sections inaccurate. Another potential drawback to MG Monte Carlo depletion is the need to perform resonance self-shielding calculations at each depletion step for each fuel segment that is being depleted. The CPU time and memory required for self-shielding calculations can often eclipse the resources needed for the Monte Carlo transport. This summary presents the results of the new continuous-energy (CE) calculation mode in TRITON. With the new capability, accurate reactor physics analyses can be performed for all types of systems using the SCALE Monte Carlo code KENO as the CE transport solver. In addition, transport calculations can be performed in parallel mode on multiple processors.

Towards scalable parellelism in Monte Carlo particle transport codes using remote memory access

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romano, Paul K [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Brown, Forrest B [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Forget, Benoit [MIT

2010-01-01

One forthcoming challenge in the area of high-performance computing is having the ability to run large-scale problems while coping with less memory per compute node. In this work, they investigate a novel data decomposition method that would allow Monte Carlo transport calculations to be performed on systems with limited memory per compute node. In this method, each compute node remotely retrieves a small set of geometry and cross-section data as needed and remotely accumulates local tallies when crossing the boundary of the local spatial domain. initial results demonstrate that while the method does allow large problems to be run in a memory-limited environment, achieving scalability may be difficult due to inefficiencies in the current implementation of RMA operations.

Towards scalable parallelism in Monte Carlo particle transport codes using remote memory access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romano, Paul K.; Forget, Benoit; Brown, Forrest

2010-01-01

One forthcoming challenge in the area of high-performance computing is having the ability to run large-scale problems while coping with less memory per compute node. In this work, we investigate a novel data decomposition method that would allow Monte Carlo transport calculations to be performed on systems with limited memory per compute node. In this method, each compute node remotely retrieves a small set of geometry and cross-section data as needed and remotely accumulates local tallies when crossing the boundary of the local spatial domain. Initial results demonstrate that while the method does allow large problems to be run in a memory-limited environment, achieving scalability may be difficult due to inefficiencies in the current implementation of RMA operations. (author)

Application of Monte Carlo codes to neutron dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prevo, C.T.

1982-01-01

In neutron dosimetry, calculations enable one to predict the response of a proposed dosimeter before effort is expended to design and fabricate the neutron instrument or dosimeter. The nature of these calculations requires the use of computer programs that implement mathematical models representing the transport of radiation through attenuating media. Numerical, and in some cases analytical, solutions of these models can be obtained by one of several calculational techniques. All of these techniques are either approximate solutions to the well-known Boltzmann equation or are based on kernels obtained from solutions to the equation. The Boltzmann equation is a precise mathematical description of neutron behavior in terms of position, energy, direction, and time. The solution of the transport equation represents the average value of the particle flux density. Integral forms of the transport equation are generally regarded as the formal basis for the Monte Carlo method, the results of which can in principle be made to approach the exact solution. This paper focuses on the Monte Carlo technique

Monte-Carlo method - codes for the study of criticality problems (on IBM 7094); Methode de Monte- Carlo - codes pour l'etude des problemes de criticite (IBM 7094)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreau, J; Rabot, H; Robin, C [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1965-07-01

The two codes presented here allow to determine the multiplication constant of media containing fissionable materials under numerous and divided forms; they are based on the Monte-Carlo method. The first code apply to x, y, z, geometries. The volume to be studied ought to be divisible in parallelepipeds, the media within each parallelepiped being limited by non-secant surfaces. The second code is intended for r, 0, z geometries. The results include an analysis of collisions in each medium. Applications and examples with informations on time and accuracy are given. (authors) [French] Les deux codes presentes dans ce rapport permettent la determination des coefficients de multiplication de milieux contenant des matieres fissiles sous des formes tres variees et divisees, ils reposent sur la methode de Monte-Carlo. Le premier code s'applique aux geometries x, y, z, le volume a etudier doit pouvoir etre decompose en parallelepipedes, les milieux a l'interieur de chaque parallelepipede etant limites par des surfaces non secantes. Le deuxieme code s'applique aux geometries r, 0, z. Les resultats comportent une analyse des collisions dans chaque milieu. Des applications et des exemples avec les indications de temps et de precision sont fournis. (auteurs)

Transport methods: general. 2. Monte Carlo Particle Transport in Media with Exponentially Varying Time-Dependent Cross Sections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Forrest B.; Martin, William R.

2001-01-01

We have investigated Monte Carlo schemes for analyzing particle transport through media with exponentially varying time-dependent cross sections. For such media, the cross sections are represented in the form Σ(t) = Σ 0 e -at (1) or equivalently as Σ(x) = Σ 0 e -bx (2) where b = av and v is the particle speed. For the following discussion, the parameters a and b may be either positive, for exponentially decreasing cross sections, or negative, for exponentially increasing cross sections. For most time-dependent Monte Carlo applications, the time and spatial variations of the cross-section data are handled by means of a stepwise procedure, holding the cross sections constant for each region over a small time interval Δt, performing the Monte Carlo random walk over the interval Δt, updating the cross sections, and then repeating for a series of time intervals. Continuously varying spatial- or time-dependent cross sections can be treated in a rigorous Monte Carlo fashion using delta-tracking, but inefficiencies may arise if the range of cross-section variation is large. In this paper, we present a new method for sampling collision distances directly for cross sections that vary exponentially in space or time. The method is exact and efficient and has direct application to Monte Carlo radiation transport methods. To verify that the probability density function (PDF) is correct and that the random-sampling procedure yields correct results, numerical experiments were performed using a one-dimensional Monte Carlo code. The physical problem consisted of a beam source impinging on a purely absorbing infinite slab, with a slab thickness of 1 cm and Σ 0 = 1 cm -1 . Monte Carlo calculations with 10 000 particles were run for a range of the exponential parameter b from -5 to +20 cm -1 . Two separate Monte Carlo calculations were run for each choice of b, a continuously varying case using the random-sampling procedures described earlier, and a 'conventional' case where the

On the use of the Serpent Monte Carlo code for few-group cross section generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fridman, E.; Leppaenen, J.

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → B1 methodology was used for generation of leakage-corrected few-group cross sections in the Serpent Monte-Carlo code. → Few-group constants generated by Serpent were compared with those calculated by Helios deterministic lattice transport code. → 3D analysis of a PWR core was performed by a nodal diffusion code DYN3D employing two-group cross section sets generated by Serpent and Helios. → An excellent agreement in the results of 3D core calculations obtained with Helios and Serpent generated cross-section libraries was observed. - Abstract: Serpent is a recently developed 3D continuous-energy Monte Carlo (MC) reactor physics burnup calculation code. Serpent is specifically designed for lattice physics applications including generation of homogenized few-group constants for full-core core simulators. Currently in Serpent, the few-group constants are obtained from the infinite-lattice calculations with zero neutron current at the outer boundary. In this study, in order to account for the non-physical infinite-lattice approximation, B1 methodology, routinely used by deterministic lattice transport codes, was considered for generation of leakage-corrected few-group cross sections in the Serpent code. A preliminary assessment of the applicability of the B1 methodology for generation of few-group constants in the Serpent code was carried out according to the following steps. Initially, the two-group constants generated by Serpent were compared with those calculated by Helios deterministic lattice transport code. Then, a 3D analysis of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) core was performed by the nodal diffusion code DYN3D employing two-group cross section sets generated by Serpent and Helios. At this stage thermal-hydraulic (T-H) feedback was neglected. The DYN3D results were compared with those obtained from the 3D full core Serpent MC calculations. Finally, the full core DYN3D calculations were repeated taking into account T-H feedback and

The Monte Carlo method for shielding calculations analysis by MORSE code of a streaming case in the CAORSO BWR power reactor shielding (Italy)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zitouni, Y.

1987-04-01

In the field of shielding, the requirement of radiation transport calculations in severe conditions, characterized by irreducible three-dimensional geometries has increased the use of the Monte Carlo method. The latter has proved to be the only rigorous and appropriate calculational method in such conditions. However, further efforts at optimization are still necessary to render the technique practically efficient, despite recent improvements in the Monte Carlo codes, the progress made in the field of computers and the availability of accurate nuclear data. Moreover, the personal experience acquired in the field and the control of sophisticated calculation procedures are of the utmost importance. The aim of the work which has been carried out is the gathering of all the necessary elements and features that would lead to an efficient utilization of the Monte Carlo method used in connection with shielding problems. The study of the general aspects of the method and the exploitation techniques of the MORSE code, which has proved to be one of the most comprehensive of the Monte Carlo codes, lead to a successful analysis of an actual case. In fact, the severe conditions and difficulties met have been overcome using such a stochastic simulation code. Finally, a critical comparison between calculated and high-accuracy experimental results has allowed the final confirmation of the methodology used by us

Monte Carlo simulation of radioactive contaminant transport in unsaturated porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giacobbo, F.; Patelli, E.; Zio, E.

2005-01-01

In the current proposed solutions of radioactive waste repositories, the protective function against the radionuclide water-driven transport back to the biosphere is to be provided by an integrated system of artificial and natural geologic barriers. The complexity of the transport process in the barriers' heterogeneous media forces approximations to the classical analytical-numerical models, thus reducing their adherence to reality. In an attempt to overcome these difficulties, in the present paper we adopt a Monte Carlo simulation approach, previously developed on the basis of the Kolmogorov and Dmitriev theory of branching stochastic processes. The approach is here extended for describing transport through unsaturated porous media under unsteady flow conditions. This generalization entails the determination of the functional dependence of the parameters of the proposed transport model from the water content, which changes in space and time during the water infiltration process. The approach is verified with respect to a case of non-reactive transport under transient unsaturated field conditions by a comparison with a standard code based on the classical advection-dispersion equations. An application regarding linear reactive transport is then presented. (authors)

Recent developments of JAEA’s Monte Carlo code MVP for reactor physics applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Okumura, Keisuke; Mori, Takamasa

2015-01-01

Highlights: • This paper describes the recent development status of the Monte Carlo code MVP. • The basic features and capabilities of MVP are briefly described. • New capabilities useful for reactor analysis are also described. - Abstract: This paper describes the recent development status of a Monte Carlo code MVP developed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The basic features and capabilities of MVP are overviewed. In addition, new capabilities useful for reactor analysis are also described

Implementation of a Monte Carlo based inverse planning model for clinical IMRT with MCNP code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Tongming Tony

2003-01-01

Inaccurate dose calculations and limitations of optimization algorithms in inverse planning introduce systematic and convergence errors to treatment plans. This work was to implement a Monte Carlo based inverse planning model for clinical IMRT aiming to minimize the aforementioned errors. The strategy was to precalculate the dose matrices of beamlets in a Monte Carlo based method followed by the optimization of beamlet intensities. The MCNP 4B (Monte Carlo N-Particle version 4B) code was modified to implement selective particle transport and dose tallying in voxels and efficient estimation of statistical uncertainties. The resulting performance gain was over eleven thousand times. Due to concurrent calculation of multiple beamlets of individual ports, hundreds of beamlets in an IMRT plan could be calculated within a practical length of time. A finite-sized point source model provided a simple and accurate modeling of treatment beams. The dose matrix calculations were validated through measurements in phantoms. Agreements were better than 1.5% or 0.2 cm. The beamlet intensities were optimized using a parallel platform based optimization algorithm that was capable of escape from local minima and preventing premature convergence. The Monte Carlo based inverse planning model was applied to clinical cases. The feasibility and capability of Monte Carlo based inverse planning for clinical IMRT was demonstrated. Systematic errors in treatment plans of a commercial inverse planning system were assessed in comparison with the Monte Carlo based calculations. Discrepancies in tumor doses and critical structure doses were up to 12% and 17%, respectively. The clinical importance of Monte Carlo based inverse planning for IMRT was demonstrated

Validation of the 3D finite element transport theory code EVENT for shielding applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warner, Paul; Oliveira, R.E. de

2000-01-01

This paper is concerned with the validation of the 3D deterministic neutral-particle transport theory code EVENT for shielding applications. The code is based on the finite element-spherical harmonics (FE-P N ) method which has been extensively developed over the last decade. A general multi-group, anisotropic scattering formalism enables the code to address realistic steady state and time dependent, multi-dimensional coupled neutron/gamma radiation transport problems involving high scattering and deep penetration alike. The powerful geometrical flexibility and competitive computational effort makes the code an attractive tool for shielding applications. In recognition of this, EVENT is currently in the process of being adopted by the UK nuclear industry. The theory behind EVENT is described and its numerical implementation is outlined. Numerical results obtained by the code are compared with predictions of the Monte Carlo code MCBEND and also with the results from benchmark shielding experiments. In particular, results are presented for the ASPIS experimental configuration for both neutron and gamma ray calculations using the BUGLE 96 nuclear data library. (author)

Energy Conservation Tests of a Coupled Kinetic-kinetic Plasma-neutral Transport Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stotler, D. P.; Chang, C. S.; Ku, S. H.; Lang, J.; Park, G.

2012-08-29

A Monte Carlo neutral transport routine, based on DEGAS2, has been coupled to the guiding center ion-electron-neutral neoclassical PIC code XGC0 to provide a realistic treatment of neutral atoms and molecules in the tokamak edge plasma. The DEGAS2 routine allows detailed atomic physics and plasma-material interaction processes to be incorporated into these simulations. The spatial pro le of the neutral particle source used in the DEGAS2 routine is determined from the uxes of XGC0 ions to the material surfaces. The kinetic-kinetic plasma-neutral transport capability is demonstrated with example pedestal fueling simulations.

A probability-conserving cross-section biasing mechanism for variance reduction in Monte Carlo particle transport calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendenhall, Marcus H., E-mail: marcus.h.mendenhall@vanderbilt.edu [Vanderbilt University, Department of Electrical Engineering, P.O. Box 351824B, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States); Weller, Robert A., E-mail: robert.a.weller@vanderbilt.edu [Vanderbilt University, Department of Electrical Engineering, P.O. Box 351824B, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States)

2012-03-01

In Monte Carlo particle transport codes, it is often important to adjust reaction cross-sections to reduce the variance of calculations of relatively rare events, in a technique known as non-analog Monte Carlo. We present the theory and sample code for a Geant4 process which allows the cross-section of a G4VDiscreteProcess to be scaled, while adjusting track weights so as to mitigate the effects of altered primary beam depletion induced by the cross-section change. This makes it possible to increase the cross-section of nuclear reactions by factors exceeding 10{sup 4} (in appropriate cases), without distorting the results of energy deposition calculations or coincidence rates. The procedure is also valid for bias factors less than unity, which is useful in problems that involve the computation of particle penetration deep into a target (e.g. atmospheric showers or shielding studies).

A probability-conserving cross-section biasing mechanism for variance reduction in Monte Carlo particle transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendenhall, Marcus H.; Weller, Robert A.

2012-01-01

In Monte Carlo particle transport codes, it is often important to adjust reaction cross-sections to reduce the variance of calculations of relatively rare events, in a technique known as non-analog Monte Carlo. We present the theory and sample code for a Geant4 process which allows the cross-section of a G4VDiscreteProcess to be scaled, while adjusting track weights so as to mitigate the effects of altered primary beam depletion induced by the cross-section change. This makes it possible to increase the cross-section of nuclear reactions by factors exceeding 10 4 (in appropriate cases), without distorting the results of energy deposition calculations or coincidence rates. The procedure is also valid for bias factors less than unity, which is useful in problems that involve the computation of particle penetration deep into a target (e.g. atmospheric showers or shielding studies).

Introduction to the simulation with MCNP Monte Carlo code and its applications in Medical Physics; Introduccion a la simulacion con el codigo de Monte Carlo MCNP y sus aplicaciones en Fisica Medica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parreno Z, F.; Paucar J, R.; Picon C, C. [Instituto Peruano de Energia Nuclear, Av. Canada 1470, San Borja, Lima 41 (Peru)

1998-12-31

The simulation by Monte Carlo is tool which Medical Physics counts with it for the development of its research, the interest by this tool is growing, as we may observe in the main scientific journals for the years 1995-1997 where more than 27 % of the papers treat over Monte Carlo and/or its applications in the radiation transport.In the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy we are implementing and making use of the MCNP4 and EGS4 codes. In this work are presented the general features of the Monte Carlo method and its more useful applications in Medical Physics. Likewise, it is made a simulation of the calculation of isodose curves in an interstitial treatment with Ir-192 wires in a mammary gland carcinoma. (Author)

Development of burnup methods and capabilities in Monte Carlo code RMC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

She, Ding; Liu, Yuxuan; Wang, Kan; Yu, Ganglin; Forget, Benoit; Romano, Paul K.; Smith, Kord

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► The RMC code has been developed aiming at large-scale burnup calculations. ► Matrix exponential methods are employed to solve the depletion equations. ► The Energy-Bin method reduces the time expense of treating ACE libraries. ► The Cell-Mapping method is efficient to handle massive amounts of tally cells. ► Parallelized depletion is necessary for massive amounts of burnup regions. -- Abstract: The Monte Carlo burnup calculation has always been a challenging problem because of its large time consumption when applied to full-scale assembly or core calculations, and thus its application in routine analysis is limited. Most existing MC burnup codes are usually external wrappers between a MC code, e.g. MCNP, and a depletion code, e.g. ORIGEN. The code RMC is a newly developed MC code with an embedded depletion module aimed at performing burnup calculations of large-scale problems with high efficiency. Several measures have been taken to strengthen the burnup capabilities of RMC. Firstly, an accurate and efficient depletion module called DEPTH has been developed and built in, which employs the rational approximation and polynomial approximation methods. Secondly, the Energy-Bin method and the Cell-Mapping method are implemented to speed up the transport calculations with large numbers of nuclides and tally cells. Thirdly, the batch tally method and the parallelized depletion module have been utilized to better handle cases with massive amounts of burnup regions in parallel calculations. Burnup cases including a PWR pin and a 5 × 5 assembly group are calculated, thereby demonstrating the burnup capabilities of the RMC code. In addition, the computational time and memory requirements of RMC are compared with other MC burnup codes.

Implementation of the probability table method in a continuous-energy Monte Carlo code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutton, T.M.; Brown, F.B.

1998-10-01

RACER is a particle-transport Monte Carlo code that utilizes a continuous-energy treatment for neutrons and neutron cross section data. Until recently, neutron cross sections in the unresolved resonance range (URR) have been treated in RACER using smooth, dilute-average representations. This paper describes how RACER has been modified to use probability tables to treat cross sections in the URR, and the computer codes that have been developed to compute the tables from the unresolved resonance parameters contained in ENDF/B data files. A companion paper presents results of Monte Carlo calculations that demonstrate the effect of the use of probability tables versus the use of dilute-average cross sections for the URR. The next section provides a brief review of the probability table method as implemented in the RACER system. The production of the probability tables for use by RACER takes place in two steps. The first step is the generation of probability tables from the nuclear parameters contained in the ENDF/B data files. This step, and the code written to perform it, are described in Section 3. The tables produced are at energy points determined by the ENDF/B parameters and/or accuracy considerations. The tables actually used in the RACER calculations are obtained in the second step from those produced in the first. These tables are generated at energy points specific to the RACER calculation. Section 4 describes this step and the code written to implement it, as well as modifications made to RACER to enable it to use the tables. Finally, some results and conclusions are presented in Section 5

Heavy-ion transport codes for radiotherapy and radioprotection in space

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mancusi, Davide

2006-06-15

Simulation of the transport of heavy ions in matter is a field of nuclear science that has recently received attention in view of its importance for some relevant applications. Accelerated heavy ions can, for example, be used to treat cancers (heavy-ion radiotherapy) and show some superior qualities with respect to more conventional treatment systems, like photons (x-rays) or protons. Furthermore, long-term manned space missions (like a possible future mission to Mars) pose the challenge to protect astronauts and equipment on board against the harmful space radiation environment, where heavy ions can be responsible for a significant share of the exposure risk. The high accuracy expected from a transport algorithm (especially in the case of radiotherapy) and the large amount of semi-empirical knowledge necessary to even state the transport problem properly rule out any analytical approach; the alternative is to resort to numerical simulations in order to build treatment-planning systems for cancer or to aid space engineers in shielding design. This thesis is focused on the description of HIBRAC, a one-dimensional deterministic code optimised for radiotherapy, and PHITS (Particle and Heavy- Ion Transport System), a general-purpose three-dimensional Monte-Carlo code. The structure of both codes is outlined and some relevant results are presented. In the case of PHITS, we also report the first results of an ongoing comprehensive benchmarking program for the main components of the code; we present the comparison of partial charge-changing cross sections for a 400 MeV/n {sup 40}Ar beam impinging on carbon, polyethylene, aluminium, copper, tin and lead targets.

Head simulation of linear accelerators and spectra considerations using EGS4 Monte Carlo code in a PC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malatara, G; Kappas, K [Medical Physics Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Patras, 265 00 Patras (Greece); Sphiris, N [Ethnodata S.A., Athens (Greece)

1994-12-31

In this work, a Monte Carlo EGS4 code was used to simulate radiation transport through linear accelerators to produce and score energy spectra and angular distributions of 6, 12, 15 and 25 MeV bremsstrahlung photons exiting from different accelerator treatment heads. The energy spectra was used as input for a convolution method program to calculate the tissue-maximum ratio in water. 100.000 histories are recorded in the scoring plane for each simulation. The validity of the Monte Carlo simulation and the precision to the calculated spectra have been verified experimentally and were in good agreement. We believe that the accurate simulation of the different components of the linear accelerator head is very important for the precision of the results. The results of the Monte Carlo and the Convolution Method can be compared with experimental data for verification and they are powerful and practical tools to generate accurate spectra and dosimetric data. (authors). 10 refs,5 figs, 2 tabs.

Head simulation of linear accelerators and spectra considerations using EGS4 Monte Carlo code in a PC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malatara, G.; Kappas, K.; Sphiris, N.

1994-01-01

In this work, a Monte Carlo EGS4 code was used to simulate radiation transport through linear accelerators to produce and score energy spectra and angular distributions of 6, 12, 15 and 25 MeV bremsstrahlung photons exiting from different accelerator treatment heads. The energy spectra was used as input for a convolution method program to calculate the tissue-maximum ratio in water. 100.000 histories are recorded in the scoring plane for each simulation. The validity of the Monte Carlo simulation and the precision to the calculated spectra have been verified experimentally and were in good agreement. We believe that the accurate simulation of the different components of the linear accelerator head is very important for the precision of the results. The results of the Monte Carlo and the Convolution Method can be compared with experimental data for verification and they are powerful and practical tools to generate accurate spectra and dosimetric data. (authors)

Experimental validation of the DPM Monte Carlo code using minimally scattered electron beams in heterogeneous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chetty, Indrin J.; Moran, Jean M.; Nurushev, Teamor S.; McShan, Daniel L.; Fraass, Benedick A.; Wilderman, Scott J.; Bielajew, Alex F.

2002-01-01

A comprehensive set of measurements and calculations has been conducted to investigate the accuracy of the Dose Planning Method (DPM) Monte Carlo code for electron beam dose calculations in heterogeneous media. Measurements were made using 10 MeV and 50 MeV minimally scattered, uncollimated electron beams from a racetrack microtron. Source distributions for the Monte Carlo calculations were reconstructed from in-air ion chamber scans and then benchmarked against measurements in a homogeneous water phantom. The in-air spatial distributions were found to have FWHM of 4.7 cm and 1.3 cm, at 100 cm from the source, for the 10 MeV and 50 MeV beams respectively. Energy spectra for the electron beams were determined by simulating the components of the microtron treatment head using the code MCNP4B. Profile measurements were made using an ion chamber in a water phantom with slabs of lung or bone-equivalent materials submerged at various depths. DPM calculations are, on average, within 2% agreement with measurement for all geometries except for the 50 MeV incident on a 6 cm lung-equivalent slab. Measurements using approximately monoenergetic, 50 MeV, 'pencil-beam'-type electrons in heterogeneous media provide conditions for maximum electronic disequilibrium and hence present a stringent test of the code's electron transport physics; the agreement noted between calculation and measurement illustrates that the DPM code is capable of accurate dose calculation even under such conditions. (author)

The Monte Carlo code MCBEND - where it is and where it's going

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chukas, S.J.; Miller, P.C.; Power, S.W.

1990-05-01

The Monte Carlo method forms a corner stone to the calculational procedures established in the UK for shielding design and assessment. The emphasis of the work in the shielding area is centred on the Monte Carlo code MCBEND. The work programme in support of the code is broadly directed towards utilisation of new hardware, the development of improved modelling algorithms, the development of new acceleration methods for specific applications and enhancements to user image. This paper summarises the current status of MCBEND and reviews developments carried out over the past two years and planned for the future. (author)

General purpose code for Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilcke, W.W.

1983-01-01

A general-purpose computer called MONTHY has been written to perform Monte Carlo simulations of physical systems. To achieve a high degree of flexibility the code is organized like a general purpose computer, operating on a vector describing the time dependent state of the system under simulation. The instruction set of the computer is defined by the user and is therefore adaptable to the particular problem studied. The organization of MONTHY allows iterative and conditional execution of operations

Monte Carlo simulation on nuclear energy study. Annual report of Nuclear Code Evaluation Committee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, Kiyoshi; Yamamoto, Toshihiro

1999-03-01

In this report, research results discussed in 1998 fiscal year at Nuclear Code Evaluation Special Committee of Nuclear Code Committee were summarised. Present status of Monte Carlo calculation in high energy region investigated / discussed at Monte Carlo simulation working-group and automatic compilation system for MCNP cross sections developed at MCNP high temperature library compilation working-group were described. The 6 papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)