Abstract
This work applies the Second-Order Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis Methodology (2nd-ASAM) to compute the mixed 2nd-order sensitivities of a polyethylene-reflected plutonium (PERP) benchmark’s leakage response with respect to the benchmark’s imprecisely known isotopic number densities and the other benchmark imprecisely known parameters, including: (i) the 6 × 180 mixed 2nd-order sensitivities involving the total microscopic cross sections; (ii) the 6 × 21,600 mixed 2nd-order sensitivities involving the scattering microscopic cross sections; (iii) the 6 × 60 mixed 2nd-order sensitivities involving the fission microscopic cross sections; and (iv) the 6 × 60 mixed 2nd-order sensitivities involving the average number of neutrons produced per fission. It is shown that many of these mixed 2nd-order sensitivities involving the isotopic number densities have very large values. Most of the large sensitivities involve the isotopic number density of 239Pu, and the microscopic total, scattering or fission cross sections for the 12th or 30th energy groups of 239Pu or 1H, respectively. The 2nd-order mixed sensitivity of the PERP leakage response with respect to the isotopic number density of 239Pu and the microscopic total cross section for the 30th energy group of 1H is the largest of the above mentioned sensitivities, attaining the value −94.91.