NEUTRONICS CALCULATIONS TO SUPPORT THE SNS ACCELERATOR FACILITY

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is an accelerator driven neutron scattering facility for materials research that recently started operations. After commissioning, the facility started at low power and is presently in the process of a power ramp to reach the Megawatt power level within two years of operations, maintenance, and tuning cycles. Extensive neutronics work for shielding development and dose rate predictions was completed during design and construction for various operational and shut down scenarios. Now that the facility is successfully operating, there is still demand for neutronics analyses for radiation- protection support. This need arises from redesigning some parts of the facility, facility upgrades, designing additional structures, designing test stands for accelerator structures, and verification and code validation analyses on the basis of the measured data.