APPLICATION OF SENSITIVITY AND UNCERTAINTY METHODOLOGY TO FAST-REACTOR INTEGRAL EXPERIMENT ANALYSIS

This paper presents the first results of a comprehensive application of the sensitivity theory developed for the FORSS code system to the analysis of fast reactor integral experiments. A variety of assemblies and performance parameters were studied to determine the nuclear data sensitivity as a function of nuclide, reaction type, and energy. Comprehensive libraries of energy-dependent sensitivity coefficients were developed in a computer retrievable format for several critical assemblies. Calculational results, cross-section covariances, and integral results and their covarianceS were used in a consistent fashion to improve uncertainty estimates of fast reactor core performance. A first attempt was made to quantify specifications for new cross-section measurements required to satisfy specific design goals at minimum experimental cost.