In most studies, the Monte Carlo criticality code KENO-IV has been compared with other Monte Carlo codes, but evaluation of its performance with different box descriptions has not been done so far. In Monte Carlo computations, any fractional savings of computing time is highly desirable. Variation in computation time with box description in KENO for two different fast reactor fuel subassemblies of FBTR and PFBR is studied. The K
eff of an infinite array of fuel subassemblies is calculated by modelling the subassemblies in two different ways (i) multi-region, (ii) multi-box.
In addition to these two cases, excess reactivity calculations of FBTR are also performed in two ways to study this effect in a complex geometry.
It is observed that the K
eff values calculated by multi-region and multi-box models agree very well. However the increase in computation time from the multi-box to the multi-region is considerable, while the difference in computer storage requirements for the two models is negligible. This variation in computing time arises from the way the neutron is tracked in the two cases.
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