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At least 181 records · Page 10

New approaches to provide feedback from nuclear and covariance data adjustment for effective improvement of evaluated nuclear data files

A critical examination of the role of uncertainty assessment, target accuracies, role of integral experiment for validation and, consequently, of data adjustments methods is underway since several years at OECD-NEA, the objective being to provide criteria and practical approaches to use effectively the results of sensitivity analyses and cross section adjustments for feedback to evaluators and experimentalists in order to improve without ambiguities the knowledge of neutron cross sections, uncertainties, and correlations to be used in a wide range of applications and to meet new requirements and constraints for innovative reactor and fuel cycle system design. An approach will be described that expands as much as possible the use in the adjustment procedure of selected integral experiments that provide information on “elementary” phenomena, on separated individual physics effects related to specific isotopes or on specific energy ranges. An application to a large experimental data base has been performed and the results are discussed in the perspective of new evaluation projects like the CIELO initiative.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

CASMO5 JENDL-4.0 and ENDF/B-VII.1beta4 libraries

This paper details the generation of neutron data libraries for the CASMO5 lattice physics code based on the recently released JENDL-4.0 and ENDF/B-VII.1beta4 nuclear data evaluations. This data represents state-of-the-art nuclear data for late-2011. The key features of the new evaluations are briefly described along with the procedure for processing of this data into CASMO5, 586-energy group neutron data libraries. Finally some CASMO5 results for standard UO{sub 2} and MOX critical experiments for the two new libraries and the current ENDF/B-VII.0 CASMO5 library are presented including the B and W 1810 series, DIMPLE S06A, S06B, TCA reflector criticals with iron plates and the PNL-30-35 MOX criticals. The results show that CASMO5 with the new libraries is performing well for these criticals with a very slight edge in results to the JENDL-4.0 nuclear data evaluation over the ENDF/B-VII.1beta4 evaluation. Work is currently underway to generate a CASMO5 library based on the final ENDF/B-VII.R1 evaluation released Dec. 22, 2011. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Release of the ENDF/B-VII.1 Evaluated Nuclear Data File

The Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG) released the ENDF/B-VII.1 library on December 22, 2011. The ENDF/B-VII.1 library is CSEWG's latest recommended evaluated nuclear data file for use in nuclear science and technology applications, and incorporates advances made in the five years since the release of ENDF/B-VII.0, including: many new evaluation in the neutron sublibrary (423 in all and over 190 of these contain covariances), new fission product yields and a greatly improved decay data sublibrary.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

ENDF-6 Formats Manual - Data Formats and Procedures for the Evaluated Nuclear Data Files ENDF/B-VI, ENDF/B-VII and ENDF/B-VIII

This revision of “ENDF-6 Formats Manual” pertains to version 6 of the ENDF formats. The seventh and eighth versions of the ENDF/B library, namely ENDF/B-VII and ENDF/B VIII, use the ENDF-6 format. The manual is based on the previous version of the document, revised in June 2005, In some cases the older version from October 1991 was consulted in order to resolve some ambiguities and errors that were introduced when the reference document was translated from WordPerfect in Word format.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Nuclear Data Uncertainty Quantification: Past, Present and Future

An historical overview is provided of the mathematical foundations of uncertainty quantification and the roles played in the more recent past by nuclear data uncertainties in nuclear data evaluations and nuclear applications. Significant advances that have established the mathematical framework for contemporary nuclear data evaluation methods, as well as the use of uncertainty information in nuclear data evaluation and nuclear applications, are described. This is followed by a brief examination of the current status concerning nuclear data evaluation methodology, covariance data generation, and the application of evaluated nuclear data uncertainties in contemporary nuclear technology. A few possible areas for future investigation of this subject are also suggested.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Covariances of Evaluated Nuclear Cross Section Data for (232)Th, (180,182,183,184,186)W and (55)Mn

The EMPIRE code system is a versatile package for nuclear model calculations that is often used for nuclear data evaluation. Its capabilities include random sampling of model parameters, which can be utilized to generate a full covariance matrix of all scattering cross sections, including cross-reaction correlations. The EMPIRE system was used to prepare the prior covariance matrices of reaction cross sections of (232)Th, (180,182,183,184,186)W and (55)Mn nuclei for incident neutron energies up to 60 MeV. The obtained modeling prior was fed to the GANDR system, which is a package for a global assessment of nuclear data, based on the Generalized Least-Squares method. By introducing experimental data from the EXFOR database into GANDR, the constrained covariance matrices and cross section adjustment functions were obtained. Applying the correction functions on the cross sections and formatting the covariance matrices, the final evaluations in ENDF-6 format including covariances were derived. In the resonance energy range, separate analyses were performed to determine the resonance parameters with their respective covariances. The data files thus obtained were then subjected to detailed testing and validation. Described evaluations with covariances of (232)Th, (180,182,183,184,186)W and (55)Mn nuclei are included into the ENDF/B-VII.1 library release.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

“Full Model” Nuclear Data and Covariance Evaluation Process Using TALYS, Total Monte Carlo and Backward-forward Monte Carlo

The “Full model” evaluation process, that is used in CEA DAM DIF to evaluate nuclear data in the continuum region, makes extended use of nuclear models implemented in the TALYS code to account for experimental data (both differential and integral) by varying the parameters of these models until a satisfactory description of these experimental data is reached. For the evaluation of the covariance data associated with this evaluated data, the Backward-forward Monte Carlo (BFMC) method was devised in such a way that it mirrors the process of the “Full model” evaluation method. When coupled with the Total Monte Carlo method via the T6 system developed by NRG Petten, the BFMC method allows to make use of integral experiments to constrain the distribution of model parameters, and hence the distribution of derived observables and their covariance matrix. Together, TALYS, TMC, BFMC, and T6, constitute a powerful integrated tool for nuclear data evaluation, that allows for evaluation of nuclear data and the associated covariance matrix, all at once, making good use of all the available experimental information to drive the distribution of the model parameters and the derived observables.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Using High Frequency Passive Microwave, A-train, and TRMM Data to Evaluate Hydrometer Structure in the NASA GEOS-5 Data Assimilation System

Validating water vapor and prognostic condensate in global models remains a challenging research task. Model parameterizations are still subject to a large number of tunable parameters; furthermore, accurate and representative in situ observations are very sparse, and satellite observations historically have significant quantitative uncertainties. Progress on improving cloud / hydrometeor fields in models stands to benefit greatly from the growing inventory ofA-Train data sets. ill the present study we are using a variety of complementary satellite retrievals of hydrometeors to examine condensate produced by the emerging NASA Modem Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, MERRA, and its associated atmospheric general circulation model GEOS5. Cloud and precipitation are generated by both grid-scale prognostic equations and by the Relaxed Arakawa-Schubert (RAS) diagnostic convective parameterization. The high frequency channels (89 to 183.3 GHz) from AMSU-B and MRS on NOAA polar orbiting satellites are being used to evaluate the climatology and variability of precipitating ice from tropical convective anvils. Vertical hydrometeor structure from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and CloudSat radars are used to develop statistics on vertical hydrometeor structure in order to better interpret the extensive high frequency passive microwave climatology. Cloud liquid and ice water path data retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MODIS, are used to investigate relationships between upper level cloudiness and tropical deep convective anvils. Together these data are used to evaluate cloud / ice water path, gross aspects of vertical hydrometeor structure, and the relationship between cloud extent and surface precipitation that the MERRA reanalysis must capture.

Robertson, Franklin↗

Measurement of leakage neutron spectra for zirconium with D-T neutrons and validation of evaluated nuclear data

Integral neutronics experiments have been a powerful tool and method for examining the reliability of evaluated nuclear data. In the present paper, the accuracy of evaluated nuclear data for Zirconium has been validated by comparing measured leakage neutron spectra with calculated ones. Leakage neutron spectra from the irradiation of D-T neutrons on Zirconium samples were experimentally measured at 60° and 120° by using a time-of-flight method. Theoretical calculations are carried out by Monte Carlo neutron transport code MCNP-4C with evaluated nuclear data of the ENDF/B-VII.0, ENDF/B-VIII.0, JENDL-4.0 and CENDL-3.1 libraries. From the comparisons, it is found that the calculations with JENDL-4.0 gives better agreements with the experiments at 60° while a large discrepancies are observed in the 4–13.5 MeV energy range at 120°. However, the calculated spectra using the data from ENDF/B-VII.0, ENDF/B-VIII.0 and CENDL-3.1 libraries showed some discrepancies with the measured ones, especially caused by the difference of the elastic and inelastic angular distributions and the secondary neutron energy distributions in the continuum inelastic scattering.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

TENDL-2011: TALYS-based Evaluated Nuclear Data Library

The 4. release of the TENDL library, TENDL-2011 (TALYS-based Evaluated Nuclear Data Library) is described. This library consists of a complete set of nuclear reaction data for incident neutrons, photons, protons, deuterons, tritons, helions and alpha particles, from 10-5 eV up to 200 MeV, for all isotopes from {sup 6}Li to {sup 281}Ds that are either stable of have a half-life longer than 1 second. All data are completely and consistently evaluated using a software system consisting of the TALYS-1.2 nuclear reaction code, and other programs to handle resonance data, experimental data, data from existing evaluations, and to provide the final ENDF-6 formatting. The result is a nuclear data library with mutually consistent reaction information for all isotopes and a quality that increases with yearly updates. To produce this library, TALYS input parameters are adjusted for many nuclides so that calculated cross sections agree with experimental data, while for important nuclides experimental data are directly included. All information is available on www.talys.eu and www.talys.eu/TENDL-2011. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Defender Policy Evaluation and Resource Allocation against MITRE ATT&CK Data and Evaluations

Protecting against multi-step attacks of uncertain duration and timing forces defenders into an indefinite, always ongoing, resource-intensive response. To effectively allocate resources, a defender must be able to analyze multi-step attacks under assumption of constantly allocating resources against an uncertain stream of potentially undetected attacks. To achieve this goal, we present a novel methodology that applies a game-theoretic approach to the attack, attacker, and defender data derived from MITRE´s ATT&CK ® Framework. Time to complete attack steps is drawn from a probability distribution determined by attacker and defender strategies and capabilities. This constraints attack success parameters and enables comparing different defender resource allocation strategies. By approximating attacker-defender games as Markov processes, we represent the attacker-defender interaction, estimate the attack success parameters, determine the effects of attacker and defender strategies, and maximize opportunities for defender strategy improvements against an uncertain stream of attacks. This novel representation and analysis of multi-step attacks enables defender policy optimization and resource allocation, which we illustrate using the data from MITRE´ s APT3 ATT&CK ® Framework.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Daily Ambient Air Pollution Metrics for Five Cities: Evaluation of Data Fusion-Based Estimates and Uncertainties

Spatiotemporal characterization of ambient air pollutant concentrations is increasingly relying on the combination of observations and air quality models to provide well-constrained, spatially and temporally complete pollutant concentration fields. Air quality models, in particular, are attractive, as they characterize the emissions, meteorological, and physiochemical process linkages explicitly while providing continuous spatial structure. However, such modeling is computationally intensive and has biases. The limitations of spatially sparse and temporally incomplete observations can be overcome by blending the data with estimates from a physically and chemically coherent model, driven by emissions and meteorological inputs. We recently developed a data fusion method that blends ambient ground observations and chemical transport-modeled (CTM) data to estimate daily, spatially resolved pollutant concentrations and associatedcorrelations. In this study, we assess the ability of the data fusion method to produce daily metrics (i.e., 1-hr max, 8-hr max, and 24-hr average) of ambient air pollution that capture spatiotemporal air pollution trends for 12 pollutants (CO, NO2, NOx, O3, SO2, PM (sub10), PM (sub 2.5), and five PM (sub 2.5) components) across five metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Birmingham, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis), from 2002 to 2008. Three sets of comparisons are performed: (1) the CTM concentrations are evaluated for each pollutant and metropolitan domain, (2) the data fusion concentrations are compared with the monitor data, (3) a comprehensive cross-validation analysis against observed data evaluates the quality of the data fusion model simulations across multiple metropolitan domains. The resulting daily spatial field estimates of air pollutant concentrations and uncertainties are not only consistent with observations, emissions, andmeteorology, but substantially improve CTM-derived results for nearly all pollutants and all cities, with the exception of NO2 for Birmingham. The greatest improvements occur for O3 and PM (sub 2.5). Squared spatiotemporal correlation coefficients range between simulations and observations determined using cross-validation across all cities for air pollutants of secondary and mixed origins are R-squared equal to 0.88-0.93 (O3), 0.81-0.89 (SO4), 0.67-0.83 (PM (sub 2.5)), 0.52-0.72 (NO3), 0.43-0.80 (NH4), 0.32-0.51 (OC), and 0.14-0.71 (PM (sub 10)). Results for relatively homogeneous pollutants of secondary origin, tend to be better than those for more spatially heterogeneous (larger spatial gradients) pollutants of primary origin (NOx, CO, SO2 and EC). Generally, background concentrations and spatial concentration gradients reflect interurban airshed complexity and the effects of regional transport, whereas daily spatial pattern variability shows intra urban consistency in the fused data. With sufficiently high CTM spatial resolution, traffic-related pollutants exhibit gradual concentration gradients that peak toward the urban centers. Ambient pollutant concentration uncertainty estimates for the fused data are both more accurate and smaller than those for either the observations or the model simulations alone.

spatiotemporal fusion↗