ON THE MARKOV CHAIN ANALYSIS OF SOURCE ITERATION MONTE CARLO PROCEDURES FOR CRITICALITY PROBLEMS: I.

Monte Carlo techniques for the calculation of the effective multiplication factor K//e//f//f of a nuclear reactor are discussed. A source iteration procedure based on a fixed number of fission point per generation is rigorously analyzed in the framework of the Markov chain corresponding to that procedure. It is shown that the estimated eigenvalue converges asymptotically to the correct eigenvalue of the transport equation and the bias in K//e//f//f is bounded by an expression of the form C multiplied by (times) N**1**/**2, where N is the number of fission points in each generation and C is a constant depending on the bulk properties of the reactor.