Testing and Applications of the QPANDA Nodal Model

The QPANDA nodal models, which are embodied in the SIMULA TE-3 code, have been extensively tested and benchmarked. Comparisons to quarter-core PDQ depletion calculations demonstrate the high degree of accuracy with which power distributions are predicted, even though SIMULA TE-3 contains no user-adjusted normalizations. The QPANDA pin power reconstruction model is introduced, and comparisons (versus CASMO colorset and PDQ quarter-core calculations) demonstrate that accurate pin power distributions are obtained by modulating the intranodal power distributions with single-assembly CASMO pin power distributions. Comparisons of SIMULATE-3 calculations to measured reactor fission rate integrals are presented. Also, the overall accuracy of the CASMO-3 cross sections, the QPANDA nodal model, and the QPANDA pin power reconstruction model is demonstrated.