Program - Brookhaven National Laboratory

A revolutionary nuclear data system is presented which connects basic experimental and theoretical nuclear
data to a large variety of nuclear applications. This software system, built around the TALYS nuclear model
code, has several important outlets:
• The TENDL nuclear data library: complete isotopic data files for 2430 nuclides for incident gamma’s,
neutrons and charged particles up to 200 MeV, including covariance data, in ENDF and various
processed data formats. In 2013, TENDL has reached a quality nearing, equalling and even passing
that of the major data libraries in the world. It is based on reproductibility and is built from the
best possible data from any source.
• Total Monte Carlo: an exact way to propagate uncertainties from nuclear data to integral systems,
by employing random nuclear data libraries and transport, reactor and other integral calculations in
one large loop. For example, the entire ICSBEP database can now be predicted including uncertainty
estimates.
• Automatic optimization of nuclear data to differential and integral data simultaneously by combining
the two features mentioned above, and a combination of Monte Carlo and sensitivity analysis.
Both the differential quality, through theoretical-experimental comparison of cross sections, and the integral
performance of the entire system will be demonstrated. The impact of the latest theoretical modeling
additions to TALYS on differential nuclear data prediction will be outlined, while integral validation will be
presented for criticality benchmarks, safety-related (Doppler and void) coefficients, burnup, radiotoxicity,
14 MeV structural material shielding for fusion, and proton-induced medical isotope production. Comparisons
with the major world libraries will be shown. The effect of various uncertainty methods on the
results will be discussed. Since the system is designed with a high level of QA and reproducibility and at
the same time is based on high quality experimental and theoretical nuclear physics, we expect that the
features mentioned above will soon play an important role in the analysis of any nuclear application.
CC 2 2:00 PM
Improved Nuclear Inputs for Nuclear Model Codes Based on the Gogny Interaction
S. Hilaire
CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon, France
S. Goriely
Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique, C.P. 226, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels,
Belgium
A.J. Koning
Nuclear Res & Consultancy Grp NRG, POB 25, NL-1755 ZG Petten, Netherlands
The need for cross sections far from the valley of stability, for applications such as nuclear astrophysics or
future nuclear facilities, challenges the robustness as well as the predictive power of nuclear reaction models.
Traditionally, cross section predictions rely on more or less phenomenological approaches, depending on
parameters adjusted to generally scarce experimental data or deduced for systematic relations. While such
predictions are expected to be reliable for nuclei not too far from the experimentally accessible regions, they
are clearly questionable when dealing with exotic nuclei. To improve the predictive power of nuclear model
codes, one should use more fundamental approaches, relying on sound physical bases, when determining
the nuclear inputs (ingredients) required by the nuclear models. Thanks to the high computer power
available today, all these major ingredients have been microscopically or semi-microscopically determined,
starting from the information provided by a Skyrme effective (and efficient) nucleon-nucleon interaction.
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