SUMMARY

The coarse mesh radiation transport (COMET) method uses response functions and deterministic coupling to solve the neutron transport equation. COMET is in constant development at Georgia Tech and consequently requires benchmarking and validation. The European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) was chosen for benchmarking due to its core complexity and axial heterogeneity. The core specifications were taken directly from the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the reactor was modeled in a stylized manner while maintaining full heterogeneity at the pin and assembly level. Cross sections were generated for 2, 4, and 8 energy group calculations using the lattice depletion code HELIOS. The multi-group cross sections were utilized in the reference calculation, COMET calculation, and response function generation. The reference solution was obtained via an MCNP model identical to the one implemented in COMET. The purpose of this work is to reaffirm the validity of COMET while illuminating necessary future work to facilitate the use of the code. Detailed results including assembly eigenvalues, core eigenvalues, and pin fission densities are presented.