THE SECOND SAUDI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NUCLEAR POWER ENGINEERING (SCOPE-2)

This study presents the development and validation of a detailed neutronic model of the Open Pool Australian Light water (OPAL) research reactor using OpenMC, an open-source Monte Carlo particle transport code. The OPAL reactor is a 20 MW pool-type facility utilizing low-enriched uranium (LEU) U₃Si₂-Al dispersion fuel assemblies and equipped with five control rods. The reactor serves multiple purposes, including radioisotope production, materials testing, and neutron beam research.

This validated model provides a reliable computational framework for future high-fidelity studies involving control rod worth, power distributions, and burnup analysis. It also demonstrates the capability of OpenMC for full-core modeling of complex pool-type research reactors, supporting its application in core design, safety analysis, and performance evaluation.