Verification is one of the necessary steps to ensure the quality of nuclear power software

and benchmark calculation is an important mean of nuclear power software verification. The traditional methods of obtaining benchmark data mainly include independent experiments

collecting operation data of nuclear power plants

joining international experimental research programs

and purchasing data of international benchmarks. However

they have the problems of high cost and long cycle. In order to provide more benchmarks for the verification of steady state nuclear reactor core design programs

a benchmark derivation technique based on metamorphic testing principle is proposed in this paper. First

the technology established the framework of benchmark derivation

whose main idea is to directly calculate and solve the related input and output parameters of the original benchmark according to the parameters and relations of the metamorphic relationship

so as to obtain the derived benchmark (new test cases). Furthermore

aiming at the characteristic that the benchmark problems can input the data of the program under test in the form of a fixed format input card

an automatic derivation algorithm for benchmark questions was designed and a benchmark automatic derivation system was developed to improve the efficiency of derivation. Finally

the two-dimensional and three-dimensional benchmarks of the steady state neutron diffusion program were demonstrated as examples. Results show that the technology can automatically generate two-dimensional and three-dimensional derivative benchmarks in a single or batch way

which not only generates data accurately and efficiently

but also costs less than traditional methods.