A New Self-Shielding Method Based on a Detailed Cross-Section Representation in the Resolved Energy Domain

The calculation of a dilution cross section _e is the most important step in the self-shielding formalism based on the equivalence principle. If a dilution cross section that accurately characterizes the physical situation can be calculated, it can then be used for calculating the effective resonance integrals and obtaining accurate self-shielded cross sections. A new technique for the calculation of equivalent cross sections based on the formalism of Riemann integration in the resolved energy domain is proposed. This new method is compared to the generalized Stamm’ler method, which is also based on an equivalence principle, for a two-region cylindrical cell and for a small pressurized water reactor assembly in two dimensions. The accuracy of each computing approach is obtained using reference results obtained from a fine-group slowing-down code named CESCOL. It is shown that the proposed method leads to slightly better performance than the generalized Stamm’ler approach.