annals of NUCLEAR ENERGY

Annals of Nuclear Energy 31 (2004) 18671881 www.elsevier.com/locate/anucene

Eect of new cross-section evaluations on criticality and neutron energy spectrum of a typical material test research reactor
Siraj-ul-Islam Ahmad *, Nasir Ahmad, Aslam
Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), PO Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan Received 30 March 2004; accepted 3 June 2004 Available online 30 July 2004

Abstract Several new WIMSD libraries based on recent cross-section evaluations such as IAEA, ENDFB-VI, JENDL, and JEF have been made available by IAEA. These libraries were used for the computation of multiplication factor and energy spectrum for Pakistan Research Reactor-1 (PARR-1). Methodology was validated for benchmark problems made available by IAEA and comparison with reference results. The value of eective multiplication factors for all newly released libraries are 1.83.2% less than that of 1981 WIMSD library. The eect of various cross-section libraries on neutron energy spectrum was also studied. Dierences of about 10% to 12.5% were found in thermal ux using the newly released libraries as compared with that obtained using 1981 WIMSD library. From the analysis, it was found that the main source of the dierence is the cross-sections of hydrogen bound in water. When these cross-sections of hydrogen (bound in water) from new libraries were used along with all other data in 1981 WIMSD library, the ke obtained in this way has a dierence of only 0.020.8% with that obtained from new libraries, while the ux spectrum agreed within 1% below 1 MeV with new libraries. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corresponding author. Fax: +92-51-9223727. E-mail address: siraj1@hotpop.com (S.-u.-I. Ahmad).

0306-4549/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2004.06.005

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1. Introduction The lattice code WIMSD (Roth et al., 1967) is a general-purpose code based on multigroup neutron transport theory. It uses a standard multigroup crosssection library, which provides nuclear cross-sections in the form of 69-energy group structure. It solves the neutron transport equation in one dimension with reective boundary conditions. Its non-commercial version WIMS-D4 (Halsall, 1980) is widely used by researchers and analysts (Khan et al., 1992, 2000; Zuniga et al., 2001; Dalle et al., 2002; Aslam and Ahmad, 2002; Malkawi and Ahmad, 2000, 2001) for reactor physics calculations such as the analysis of several core parameters including multiplication factors, cell average cross-sections, group wise normalized ux and scattering matrix, etc. for many types of research and power reactors. So far the widely used cross-section library freely available with the code is of UK origin and is based on very old evaluations carried out on the bases of data of early sixties (Leszczynski et al., 2003). Although the library has been improved signicantly by UK but the newer versions are not freely available. The work on up-gradation of the nuclear data has been carried out by dierent nuclear data centers worldwide and computerization has been done in ENDF-6 format for the storage and retrieval of evaluated nuclear data for applications of nuclear technology (BNL, 1990). Newly available basic evaluated nuclear data has been used to prepare and update the nuclear data les such as Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDFB-VI Release 8), Japanese Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (JENDL-3.2) (Nakagawa et al., 1995), Joint Evaluated File (JEF-2.2) (IAEA, 1993), USSR Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (BROND) (Manokhin, 1989) and Chinese Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (CENDL-2) (IAEA, 1997), etc. Since these data les cannot be directly used by WIMSD code, so the up-gradation of the cross-section data in the WIMSD multigroup library by processing data in these data les was necessary for improvement in the quality of reactor lattice calculations. For this purpose, IAEA has conducted an internationally coordinated research project named WIMSD library update Project (Thiyagarajan et al., 2002). As a result of this project, WIMSD libraries named WIMS-IAEA were released which are based on cross-section data of dierent nuclear data les. Most of the data in these libraries is taken from ENDFB-VI Release 8 and JENDL-3.2 data les. This library along with some other WIMSD libraries such as ENDFB, JENDL and JEF, based on data from ENDFB-VI Release 8, JENDL-3.2 and JEF-2.2 data les, are also available by IAEA in ASCII form through WLUP web page (WLUP, 2001). These libraries are in two sets, one with 69 neutron energy groups, and the other with 172 neutron energy groups. In addition, the fast neutron energy range in 172 energy group libraries has been extended up to 20 MeV (Leszczynski, 2002). When using iterative methods like STAYSL (Perry, 1977), SAND-II (McElory et al., 1967), MIEKE (Matzke, 1994) for unfolding energy spectrum, the priori spectrum used as input to the unfolding procedures is very important. In order to avoid systematic deviations in energy group cross-section values, it is necessary

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to have priori spectrum available in a more detailed group structure, especially for lower and higher energy regions (Zijp et al., 1998). The energy spectrum obtained using WIMS-D4 can be used as an input priori spectrum to the iterative neutron energy spectrum-unfolding codes. Improvements in the priori spectrum obtained from WIMS-D4 will result in an improvement in the unfolded spectrum. Furthermore, it has been claimed that while using the iterative solution methods to unfold the neutron energy spectrum with ne-group energy structures, only 2 3% dierence in the cross-sections of an element can produce anomalous results (Grin et al., 1992). Previously, for Pakistan Research Reactor-1 (PARR-1), which is a swimming pool type research reactor, in the work related to core neutronics, conversion from HEU to LEU fuel, thermal hydraulic, transient analysis, and determination of the neutron energy spectrum, the code WIMS-D4 has frequently been used for theoretical computations (Khan et al., 1992). The available cross-section library from UK origin (Saleem et al., 1995) has been used with the code for the calculations for PARR-1. After release of dierent WIMSD libraries by IAEA based on recent cross-section data, it is necessary to study the eect of new cross-sections on dierent reactor physics parameters of the reactor. This paper deals with the evaluation of reactor parameters such as multiplication factors and neutron ux spectrum using improved cross-sections available in dierent newly released WIMSD libraries. A mutual comparison of multiplication factor and ux pattern is made for dierent libraries, as well as improvements in the results were analyzed as compared to previously used 1981 WIMSD library.

2. Materials and methods 2.1. Reactor Description Pakistan Research Reactor-1 is a swimming pool type research reactor. It employs typical MTR type at plate fuel elements. In 1991, the reactor was converted from 93% enriched uranium fuel to 20% enriched uranium fuel. The core of PARR-1 consists of standard and control fuel elements. These are mounted on a grid plate. Different core congurations are obtained by rearrangement of fuel elements. A grid plate made of 127 mm thick aluminum having 54 holes accommodates end ttings of the fuel elements, in 9 6 pattern with a lattice spacing of 81.0 mm 77.1 mm. Table 1 illustrates some details of the core. The Standard Fuel Element of LEU core of PARR-1 consists of 23 at fuel plates. Each fuel element contains 1451 g of uranium having 290 g of 235U. The fuel meat is sandwiched between aluminum cladding. The clad thickness is 0.38 mm except the two outermost plates, where clad thickness is 0.495 mm. The active height of the fuel element is 600 mm. The physical dimensions of the fuel element are 79.63 mm 75.92 mm, so that there is a water gap of 1.19 mm between the side plates of two adjacent fuel elements. Similarly, there is a water gap of 1.37 mm between the two fuel elements in the direction perpendicular

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Table 1 Design parameters of low enriched uranium core of Pakistan Research Reactor-I Khan et al. (1992) Reactor type Steady-state power level Grid plate Lattice pitch Fuel material Fuel enrichment Cladding material Coolant Moderator Reector Fuel element dimensions Number of fuel plates Standard fuel element Control fuel element Number of dummy plates Standard Fuel Element Control Fuel Element Shape of fuel plates Total width of plates Total length of fuel plate Thickness of fuel plates Inner plates Outer plates Thickness of clad (mm) Inner plates Outer plates Thickness of side plates Length of side plates Fuel meat dimensions Length Width Thickness Water channel thickness Water gap between side plates of two fuel elements Pool type MTR 9 MWth 96 81.0 mm 77.1 mm U3 Si2-Al 19.99 w% Al H2O H2O H2O + Graphite 79.63 mm 75.92 mm 23 13 Nil 2 Flat 66.92 mm 625.0 mm 1.27 mm 1.50 mm 0.38 0.495 4.5 mm 724 mm 600 mm 62.75 mm 0.51 mm 2.10 mm 1.19 mm

to the fuel plates. The cross-sectional view of standard fuel element is shown in Fig. 1 (Khan et al., 1992). 2.2. Methodology The WIMS-D4 code was used for analysis of PARR-1 using newly released libraries as well as available 1981 WIMSD library to study the eects of newly available cross-sections on the criticality and the ux distribution. The group structure of 69 energy group libraries is the same as that in the 1981 WIMSD library, having 14 fast, 13 resonance and 42 thermal groups. The energy group structure is given in Table 2 (Roth et al., 1967). The fast neutron energy range is from 9.118 keV to 10 MeV, and the thermal neutron energy is below 4.0 eV.

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66.92 4.5

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1.5

1.27

79.63

2.1

1.88

62.75 75.92

Fig. 1. The cross-sectional view of a standard fuel element of PARR-1 (all dimensions are in mm).

3. Analysis and results 3.1. Validation of Calculation Methodology The procedure was veried for several benchmark problems provided by WLUP (Leszczynski et al., 2003). One such case for the AECL benchmark problem is illustrated here for comparison of eective multiplication factor. The computations of the eective multiplication factor using all the available libraries was carried out using WIMS-D4 code and the inputs for the problem provided by WLUP. The problem description is given in Table 3. Four regions were used here namely, uranium fuel, aluminum cladding, void and light water moderator. The number densities in dierent regions are given in Table 4. Table 5 gives a comparison with the reference

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Table 2 Energy group structure for 69 group WIMS Libraries Roth et al. (1967) Fast groups Group 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Emax (eV) 1.00000E + 07 6.06550E + 06 3.67900E + 06 2.23100E + 06 1.35300E + 06 8.21000E + 05 5.00000E + 05 3.02500E + 05 1.83000E + 05 1.11000E + 05 6.73400E + 04 4.08500E + 04 2.47800E + 04 1.50300E + 04 Resonance groups Group 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Emax (eV) 9.11800E + 03 5.53000E + 03 3.51910E + 03 2.23945E + 03 1.42510E + 03 9.06899E + 02 3.67263E + 02 1.48729E + 02 7.55014E + 01 4.80520E + 01 2.77000E + 01 1.59680E + 01 9.87700E + 00 Thermal groups Group 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 Emax (eV) 4.00000E + 00 3.30000E + 00 2.60000E + 00 2.10000E + 00 1.50000E + 00 1.30000E + 00 1.15000E + 00 1.12300E + 00 1.09700E + 00 1.07100E + 00 1.04500E + 00 1.02000E + 00 9.96000E 01 9.72000E 01 9.50000E 01 9.10000E 01 8.50000E 01 7.80000E 01 6.25000E 01 5.00000E 01 4.00000E 01 3.50000E 01 3.20000E 01 3.00000E 01 2.80000E 01 2.50000E 01 2.20000E 01 1.80000E 01 1.40000E 01 1.00000E 01 8.00000E 02 6.70000E 02 5.80000E 02 5.00000E 02 4.20000E 02 3.50000E 02 3.00000E 02 2.50000E 02 2.00000E 02 1.50000E 02 1.00000E 02 5.00000E 03

ke, which is unity, as well as with those values reported by WLUP. It can be seen from this table that the calculated values are same as the reported values up to ve decimal places. Although, the value of eective multiplication factor obtained using

S.-u.-I. Ahmad et al. / Annals of Nuclear Energy 31 (2004) 18671881 Table 3 General data for the benchmark problem Leszczynski et al. (2003) Pitch Lattice geometry Water/fuel volume ratio Moderator Fuel material Fuel density Radius of fuel rods Clad material Clad density Outer radius of clad Thickness of clad Temperature (all components) Experimental buckling B2

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5.359 cm Square 2.305 H2O U-met (0.714 wt% U-235) 18.95 gU/cm3 1.6255 cm Al 2.6999 g/cm3 1.7475 cm 0.102 cm 293.0 K 0.00193 cm2

Table 4 Number densities of dierent materials in the cell for benchmark problem Region 1 2 3 Outer radius (cm) 1.6255 1.6454999 1.7474999 Temperature (K) 293.0 Void 293.0 Material
235 238

Number density ( 1024) cm1 3.42316023E 04 4.76011075E 02 6.02597818E 02 6.67523816E 02 3.33761908E 02

U U

27 1

4 3.0239284 293.0 Buckling: radial 1.930E 03, axial 0.0

Al H 16 O

Table 5 Comparison of calculated and reported results for benchmark problem Library IAEA ENDFB JENDL JEF22 1981 WIMSD WLUP ke 1.00259 0.99963 0.99808 0.99653 Calculated ke 1.00259 0.99963 0.99808 0.99653 1.00755 % Dierence with reference value 1.00000 0.26 0.04 0.19 0.35 0.75

The values are rounded to ve decimal places.

WIMS-D4 (ke = 1.002587) and that obtained from WIMSD-5B (ke = 1.002586) (Trkov, 2004) have small dierence in the sixth decimal place, but as the reported values are rounded to ve decimal places so same was done for calculated values, which made the values exactly same. It can also be observed that the dierence with reference value is maximum for 1981 WIMSD library. 3.2. Computation of multiplication factors A plate type fuel cell was used with the SLAB geometry option of WIMS-D4. The cell consists of four regions, namely: uranium silicide fuel, aluminum cladding, light

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Fuel 0.255 Clad 0.38 Moderator 1.11587 Extra 0.4124

Fig. 2. Unit-cell used in WIMS-D4 input for standard fuel element of PARR-1 (all dimensions are in mm).

water moderator and an extra region containing mixture of aluminum and water. Fig. 2 shows the four-region cell, which was used to model the fuel cell for the computation of dierent parameters for PARR-1. The extra region contains the aluminum of side plates and ends of fuel plates (greater than 6.275 cm where there is no fuel meat), the water in between side plates of two fuel elements, and the water between fuel plates ends (greater than 6.275 cm). WIMS-D4 was used with the newly released libraries, and one currently used 1981 WIMSD library. The number densities in dierent regions of the cell are given in Table 6. The discrete ordinate method was used for the solution. Since the default convergence criterion in WIMSD-5B is 0.00001 so TOLERANCE card was added in input with a value 0.00001 (the default value in WIMS-D4 is 0.0001). For comparison of the eect of dierent libraries, the computations were performed using all available groups (69 groups) for a certain library. The buckling was searched for critical core using the WIMS-D4 code and the available 1981 WIMSD library. The innite multiplication factor and eective multiplication factor for other libraries were obtained using this calculated buckling, and are given in Table 7 for comparison. The dierence in multiplication factors observed using libraries from dierent origins is mainly due to dierence in cross-sections. The ke values from ENDFB and IAEA libraries are close and smaller than the value obtained using JENDL and JEF libraries. The ENDFB library gives lower value than IAEA library. The same dierences among ENDFB-VI, JENDL-3.2 and JEF-2.2 were reported for the Japanese Research Reactor-4 (JRR4) having 20% enriched U3Si3-Al MTR type fuel elements

S.-u.-I. Ahmad et al. / Annals of Nuclear Energy 31 (2004) 18671881 Table 6 Number densities of dierent materials in the cell of PARR-1 Region Fuel

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Slab outer dimensions (cm) Temperature (K) Material Number density ( 1024) cm1 0.0255 293.0
235 238

Clad 0.0635 Moderator 0.175087 Extra 0.216327

293.0 293.0 293.0

U U 27 Al 29 Si 27 Al 1 H 16 O 1 H 16 O 27 Al

0.001683 0.006631 0.040878 0.005542 0.060221 0.066873 0.033437 0.018056 0.009028 0.043962

Buckling: radial 0.0115813, axial 0.0

Table 7 Multiplication factors of PARR-1 using dierent libraries Library ENDFB IAEA JEND JEF 1981 WIMSD k1 1.63436 1.63935 1.64313 1.64418 1.62365 % dierence with 1981 WIMSD ke 0.66 0.97 1.20 1.26 0.96812 0.96992 0.97471 0.98215 1.00004 % dierence with 1981 WIMSD 3.2 3.0 2.5 1.8

while performing benchmark calculations for dierent reactors using Monte Carlo Code MVP with dierent libraries (Okumura and Mori, 2003). The eective multiplication factor from available 1981 WIMSD library is higher than all the new libraries IAEA and ENDFB libraries. During analysis of PARR-1 when theoretical results were compared with experimental data it has been observed by dierent researchers (Khan et al., 2000; Aslam and Ahmad, 2002), that calculated value of ke using WIMS-D4 and the 1981 WIMSD library (only available library at that time) was greater than experimental value. Moreover, similar results were reported during the IAEA benchmark calculations for PHWR when the results obtained using the available library were compared with those obtained by using newer versions of library at Argentina and Korea (Saleem et al., 1995). Since use of new libraries decreased the value ke as compared to 1981 WIMSD library, which will result in reduction of the dierence between experimental and calculated results. 3.3. Comparison of Energy Spectrum The energy spectra were obtained using WIMS-D4 and all the energy groups in all the libraries. Fig. 3 illustrates the ux spectrum obtained by using 69 energy group WLUP libraries. The ux obtained using 69 energy group 1981 WIMSD library is also plotted on the same graph, showing the same pattern. The dierences among

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14 12

Flux per unit Lethargy (arb. units)

10 8 6 4 2 0 10
-3

WIMS81 IAEA ENDFB JENDL JEF

10

-2

10

-1

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

Energy (eV)

Fig. 3. Neutron energy spectra obtained with various new WIMSD libraries along with the ux spectrum obtained from 1981 WIMSD library.

the uxes obtained from new libraries can be seen in fast energy region above 4 MeV in Fig. 4, where the ratios of the uxes from new libraries with ENDFB library are plotted. Below this energy the uxes of the three libraries IAEA, ENDFB and JENDL agree within 1%, whereas JEF library gives a maximum deviation of 3% in some energy groups. These dierences arise from the basic dierences in the data libraries themselves. To clearly analyze the dierence in ux using dierent libraries to the ux obtained from the 1981 WIMSD library the ratio of uxes obtained by the WLUP libraries to that obtained from the 1981 WIMSD library are plotted in Fig. 5. While comparing results of newly available libraries with the 1981 WIMSD library results, valuable dierence is encountered in thermal energy range as well as in fast energy range above 4 MeV. In thermal energy range the deviation of ux obtained using newly available libraries to that obtained from the 1981 WIMSD library is maximum at lowest energies. The ratio of the ux obtained from new libraries to that obtained from 1981 WIMSD library is 0.9 for all libraries except JEF for which the ratio is 0.86. This ratio gradually increases with increase in energy, and has maximum value of 1.12 at 0.1eV. Another peak is also observed at around 4 eV where ratio is 1.06. In fast energy range the maximum dierence is observed in last energy group where this ux ratio 0.87 to 0.94, dierent for all libraries. The dierences in the ux have been observed while performing reactor physics calculations and their experimental validation (Pervez and Iqbal, 1998; Khan et al., 2000). The plot of ux ratio has similar trend for all new libraries. To investigate further for the cross-sections which play major part for producing dierences in ux spectrum between 1981 WIMSD library and new libraries some special libraries were developed. Cross-sections data of dierent materials (elements)

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1.050

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Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

1.025

1.000

0.975

0.950 -3 10

10

-2

10

-1

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

(a)
1.050

Energy (eV)

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

1.025

1.000

0.975

0.950 -3 10

10

-2

10

-1

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

(b)
1.050

Energy (eV)

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

1.025

1.000

0.975

0.950 -3 10

10

-2

10

-1

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

(c)

Energy (eV)

Fig. 4. Ratio of group uxes obtained using (a) IAEA, (b) JENDL and (c) JEF libraries to the group uxes obtained using newly released ENDFB library.

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1.15 1.10

Ratio of Flux (arb. units) Energy (eV)

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 0.85 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 0.85 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

(a)
1.15 1.10

(b)
1.15 1.10

Energy (eV)

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 0.85 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 0.85 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

(c)

Energy (eV)

(d)

Energy (eV)

Fig. 5. Ratio of group uxes obtained using various libraries (a) ENDFB, (b) IAEA, (c) JENDL and (d) JEF to the group uxes obtained using 1981 WIMSD library.

were replaced from new libraries in 1981 WIMSD library one by one and ux spectrum was obtained using this modied library. The results of this modied library were compared with the new library from which these cross-sections were taken. It was observed that the dierences between uxes obtained using new libraries and 1981 WIMSD library below 1 MeV arise due to the dierences in cross-sections of Hydrogen (bound in water). Four libraries were developed by modifying 1981 WIMSD library by replacement of cross-sections of Hydrogen (bound in water) from new libraries. The multiplication factors and ux spectra were computed for all cases, and were compared with the results of corresponding new libraries. The ratios of uxes from new libraries to that obtained from the modied 1981 WIMD libraries are shown in Fig. 6. The spectra obtained for all the cases have shown same trend. It can be seen from the gure that both the ux spectra agree below 1 MeV for rst three libraries. The ux from JEF library agrees mostly below 1 MeV except at two locations (3% greater ux at 500 keV and 4% greater ux at 0.3 MeV). The effective multiplication factor obtained from the modied WIMSD libraries are also given in Table 8. For comparison, the eective multiplication factors from new libraries are also tabulated here. Since the cross-section data for hydrogen bound in

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1.15 1.10 1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 1.15 1.10 1.05 1.00 0.95

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Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

0.90 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

(a)
1.15

Energy (eV)

(b)
1.15 1.10 1.05 1.00 0.95

Energy (eV)

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Ratio of Flux (arb. units)

1.10

0.90 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

(c)

Energy (eV)

(d)

Energy (eV)

Fig. 6. Ratio of uxes obtained from modied 1981 WIMSD libraries (using cross-sections of hydrogen bound-in-water from new libraries) to that obtained from (a) ENDFB, (b) IAEA, (c) JENDL and (d) JEF libraries.

Table 8 Comparison of eective multiplication factors obtained by using cross-sections of hydrogen boundin-water from new libraries along with all other cross-sections from 1981 WIMSD library Library for hydrogen cross-sections ENDFB IAEA JEND JEF ke Modied 1981 WIMSD 0.97460 0.97460 0.97494 0.97437 % dierence with ke from 1981 WIMSD (1.00004) 2.54 2.54 2.51 2.57 ke new library 0.96812 0.96992 0.97471 0.98215 % dierence with ke from new library 0.67 0.48 0.02 0.79

water is same in IAEA and ENDFB libraries, so the result is same for the WIMSD libraries using this data. It can be seen that replacement of only the cross-sections of hydrogen bound-in-water in 1981 WIMSD library, the dierences in ke between the 1981 WIMSD library and new libraries is reduced to less than 0.8%.

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4. Conclusions Based on our analysis it may be concluded that a relatively better agreement will exist between calculated multiplication factors and neutron ux with experimental values when cross-sections from newly available libraries are used. The major dierences in the ux spectra between newly available libraries and the 1981 WIMSD library are due to the cross-sections of hydrogen bound in water. The use of only newly available cross-sections of hydrogen bound in water results in major improvement in value of ke as well ux spectra.

Acknowledgements Authors are thankful to Dr. Andrej Trkov for his valuable suggestions and help regarding validation of the methodology. Authors are also thankful to Higher Education Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan for providing nancial support for this research.

References
Aslam, Ahmad N., 2002. Eect of coolant channel width on group constants and multiplication factor of research reactors using MTR type low enriched uranium fuel. Ann. Nucl. Energy 29, 477488. BNL, 1990. ENDF-102 data formats and procedures for the evaluated nuclear data le ENDF-6, BNLNCS-44945-01/04 (last revised 2001). Dalle, H.M., Pereira, C., Souza, R.G.P., 2002. Neutronic calculation to the TRIGA Ipr-R1 reactor using the WIMSD4 and CITATION. Ann. Nucl. Energy 29, 901912. Grin, P.J., Kelly, J.G., Luera, T.F., 1992. Eect of neutron cross section evaluations on neutron spectrum determination. IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 39 (6), 20782085. Halsall, M.J., 1980. A summary of WIMS-D4 input options AEEW-M 1327, Winfrith. IAEA, 1993. The evaluated nuclear data library of NEA Data Bank (JEF-2), IAEA-NDS-120, Rev.2. IAEA, 1997. Chinese evaluated neutron data library (CENDL-2), IAEA-NDS-61, Rev. 4. Khan, L.A., Ahmad, N., Zafar, M.S., Ahmad, A., 2000. Reactor physics calculations and their experimental validation for conversion and upgrading of a typical swimming pool type research reactor. Ann. Nucl. Energy 27, 873885. Khan, L.A., Israr, M., Arshad, M., Karim, A., Akhtar, K.M., Moquit, A., 1992. Pakistan Research Reactor-1: nal safety analysis report for conversion to LEU fuel and power upgradation, Nuclear Engineering Division, Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Islamabad. Leszczynski, F., 2002. Description of WIMS library update project (WLUP). In: International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors, Bariloche, Argentina, November 38. Leszczynski, F., Aldama, D.L., Trkov, A., 2003. WIMS-D library update, Final report of a co-ordinated research project. Malkawi, S.R., Ahmad, N., 2000. Prediction and measurement of neutron energy spectrum in a material test research reactor. Ann. Nucl. Energy 27, 311327. Malkawi, S.R., Ahmad, N., 2001. Solution of the neutron spectrum adjustment problem in a typical MTR research reactor. Ann. Nucl. Energy 28, 2551. Manokhin, V.N., 1989. BROND USSR evaluated nuclear data library, IAEA-NDS-90, Rev. 2. Matzke, M., 1994. Unfolding of pulse height spectra, The HEPRO Program System, Report PTB-N-19, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig.

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