SCALE Modeling of Foil Irradiations at WSU’s TRIGA with Sensitivity/uncertainty Analysis

The Washington State University TRIGA reactor was modeled in the SCALE system’s KENO neutron transport code. The model includes 119 fuel rods, a central boral control rod, 4 control blades, 5 irradiation ports, and 20 graphite reflector blocks within a rectangular aluminum grid box. The model accurately simulated the irradiation of depleted uranium and highly enriched uranium foils and predicted reaction rate ratios for 238U(n,2n)237U / 238U(n,γ)239U and 99Mo / fission, which compared favorably to empirical values previously measured at Los Alamos. Finally, a sensitivity/uncertainty analysis was performed using the continuous-energy TSUNAMI-3D module of SCALE.