Program - Brookhaven National Laboratory

Shielding objects are assembled from building blocks using a dry process; their stability is ensured by a
system of locks. The objects can be therefore dismounted and the building blocks re-used. Individuals
may handle the different types of components, including drop ceilings with a high loading capacity. The
concentration of radon, thoron and their decay products inside the objects may be reduced by using
filtering and ventilation equipment that provides a mild internal excess pressure. Shielding materials
are suitable in particular for the measurement of materials, substances and objects with a low content
of radionuclides in laboratories and technological facilities, where a low background radiation has to be
achieved, e.g. for measurements during the release of a large quantity of waste when old nuclear facilities are
dismounted. The contribution describes the results of measurement in the selection of suitable aggregate
and other components originating from paleozoic geological formations, the results of optimization of
the composite mixture and the geometry of building components, the method of preparation of different
types of construction materials and components, the results of measurement of the internal content of
natural radionuclides contained in the individual types, the results of measurement of the shielding abilities,
including a comparison with metal shielding and practical examples for use.
PR 21
Cross-checking of Large Evaluated and Experimental Databases
E. Dupont, N. Soppera, M. Bossant, Nuclear Energy Agency, Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development. O. Zeydina, D. Raffanel, B. Beauzamy, Societe de Calcul Mathematique, Paris, France.
The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Data Bank maintains large nuclear databases and makes them available
to scientists and engineers through the web and the JANIS software, which facilitates the visualisation,
comparison and manipulation of nuclear physics data. Recent development and implementation at the
NEA Data Bank of methods for the verification of large experimental and evaluated databases are presented.
This work is a follow up of activities initiated in the framework of Subgroup 30 of the NEA
Working Party on International Nuclear Data Evaluation Co-operation, WPEC SG30, which was established
to improve the accessibility and the quality of the EXFOR experimental nuclear reaction database
[1]. In line with SG30 recommendations, the NEA Data Bank and the Societe de Calcul Mathematique codeveloped
statistical methods to (i) assess the self-consistency of experimental or evaluated data, (ii) assess
the consistency between experimental and evaluated data. These methods allow to assess the quality of
the data and to detect aberrant values in large databases. An outline of the procedure to check the mutual
consistency of experimental data for a given quantity is described in reference [2]. The focus of the present
contribution is to describe the method developed to check the mutual consistency of data from different
evaluated libraries (ENDF/B, JEFF, JENDL, TENDL, etc.) and to cross-check these evaluated data with
experimental data (EXFOR). This approach aims to use the valuable information stored in evaluated files
in order to assess the quality of some experimental data. In a complementary way, this cross-checking
helps assess the quality of evaluated data by comparison with recommended experimental data and helps
identify flaws in evaluated data files. The performance of this method on a selection of about two hundred
test cases is discussed and results obtained using large experimental and evaluated databases hosted at the
NEA Data Bank are presented.
[1] Quality improvement of the EXFOR database, International Evaluation Co-operation, Volume 30,
OECD/NEA, 2011 (www.oecd-nea.org/science/wpec) [2] Statistical methods for the verification of databases,
NEA News Magazine, No. 29.1, p.30, June 2011 (www.oecd-nea.org/nea-news)
PR 22
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