PyNMC: An Open-Source Framework for Neutron Multiplicity Counting Simulation Coupling OpenMC, FREYA, and ALPHANSO

Abstract

Neutron multiplicity counting (NMC) underpins plutonium assay in nuclear safeguards, arms control, and disarmament verification, but existing simulation tools are essentially limited to MCNPX-PoliMi [1] (export-controlled, MCNP license required) and ONMS [2] (open-source but built on Geant4 with no scripting API); other codes (RMC, MCNP-PTA) are institute-internal. We present PyNMC, an open-source, Python-native NMC simulation framework that couples OpenMC for transport with FREYA for event-by-event correlated prompt-neutron emission and ALPHANSO for native ($\alpha$, n)-source estimates, together with collision-level time-tagged event recording and a Python shift-register post-processor cross-validated against ONMS. The framework is validated against the ESARDA Neutron Multiplicity Benchmark on bare $^{252}$Cf (c2-10, c2-100), the low-multiplication Pu metal case c3s (M = 1.12 from an independent k-eigenvalue calculation; ESARDA spec M = 1.08), and a 10 g PuO2 sample with an ($\alpha$, n)-source term (c4s); an internal stress-test extension to a $\approx 100$ g Pu metal sample at M = 1.29 is reported alongside but lies beyond the ESARDA participant range. For c4s, ALPHANSO gives $\alpha$ = 0.78 with modern cross-section data; the reported benchmark comparison rescales the ($\alpha$,n) rate to the ESARDA value $\alpha$ = 0.853. Simulated rates agree with point-model predictions for all cases, and with the published ESARDA participant-code scatter where participant results exist. The framework is shipped as a Docker container under the MIT license and is openly available on GitHub at github.com/cfichtlscherer/nmc.