Benchmark study of TRIPOLI-4 through experiment and MCNP codes

Abstract : Reliability on simulation results is essential in nuclear physics. Although MCNP5 and MCNPX are the world widely used 3D Monte Carlo radiation transport codes, alternative Monte Carlo simulation tools exist to simulate neutral and charged particles' interactions with matter. Therefore, benchmark are required in order to validate these simulation codes. For instance, TRIPOLI-4.7, developed at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission for neutron and photon transport, now also provides the user with a full feature electron-photon electromagnetic shower. Whereas the reliability of TRIPOLI-4.7 for neutron and photon transport has been validated yet, the new development regarding electron-photon matter interaction needs additional validation benchmarks. We will thus demonstrate how accurately TRIPOLI-4's "deposited spectrum'' tally can simulate gamma spectrometry problems, compared to MCNP's "F8'' tally. The experimental setup is based on an HPGe detector measuring the decay spectrum of an $^{152}$Eu source. These results are then compared with those given by MCNPX 2.6d and TRIPOLI-4 codes. This paper deals with both the experimental aspect and simulation. We will demonstrate that TRIPOLI-4 is a potential alternative to both MCNPX and MCNP5 for gamma-electron interaction simulation.