Application of automatic few-group structure optimization based on perturbation theory to VHTR cores

A new automatic group structure optimization method based on the perturbation theory was proposed for the few-group structure in two-step nuclear design procedure for VHTR. It applies the sensitivity coefficient of the perturbation theory which includes not only the effect of the cross section on the multiplication factor but also the adjoint weighted reaction rate. The sensitivity coefficient of the fine group for the multiplication factor was calculated and the group boundary for a few-group can be determined so that the summation of the fine group sensitivity for a few-group should be evenly distributed over every few-group. This method was successfully implemented in the ABGO code. VHTR-350 and MiHTR 2D core were used to investigate the performance and applicability of the proposed method. The code generated the new group structures for two cores and the error of the multiplication and reaction rate by the new group structure was compared with the result by the fine group structure. The comparisons indicate that the new group structure by the proposed method can provide the multiplication factor and reaction rates comparable to the existing group structure and more accurate results than the group structure obtained using the Contributon theory.