A complete 3D map of Bell Glasstone spatial correction factors for BRAHMMA subcritical core

Accelerator driven subcritical systems have long been discussed as facilities which can be used for solving the nuclear waste problem. The physics of these systems is very different from conventional reactors and new techniques had to be developed for reactivity monitoring. One such technique is the Area Ratio Method which studies the response of a subcritical system upon insertion of a large number of neutron pulses. An issue associated with this technique is the spatial dependence of measured reactivity which is intrinsic to the sub criticality of the system since the reactor does not operate on the fundamental mode and measured reactivity depends on the detector position. This is generally addressed by defining Bell-Glasstone spatial correction factor. This factor upon multiplication with measured reactivity gives the correct reactivity which is independent of detector location. Monte Carlo Methods are used for evaluating these factors. This paper presents a complete three dimensional map of spatial correction factors for BRAHMMA subcritical system. In addition, the dataset obtained also helps in identifying detector locations where the correction factor is close to unity, thereby implying no correction if the detector is used at those locations.