The properties of the variational nodal method for neutron transport calculations are investigated. The method is generalized for three-dimensional multigroup criticality problems in both hexagonal-z and Cartesian geometries. The method is implemented as part of the Argonne National Laboratory Code DIF3D, and applied to a series of benchmark reactor calculations. Variational nodal methods are compared of nodal transport methods based on both interface-current and discrete ordinate approximations. Model problems are used to examine the effect of running each of the three classes of nodal transport methods on computers with massively parallel architectures.
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