Validation and Testing of ENDF/B-VII Decay Data

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Nuclear Data Sheets

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nds.2014.06.134· OSTI ID:1147717

Gauld, Ian C ^[1]; Pigni, Marco T ^[1]; Ilas, Germina ^[1]

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1. ORNL

The nuclear decay library developed for the ORIGEN code was upgraded from ENDF/B-VI.8 to -VII.0 and released in the SCALE nuclear modeling and simulation code system in 2011. Experience with the ENDF/B-VII.0 library identified serious errors and performance issues in the evaluated decay sublibrary. Initially, errors were identified in the decay scheme for the 238U series, leading to large discrepancies in the gamma emission rate for uranium. Further testing of the fission product decay data revealed significant performance issues with ENDF/B-VII.0 relative to the previous release of ENDF/B-VI. To address the performance issues, the decay data library in SCALE was upgraded to ENDF/B-VII.1 and released as an update for users in 2013. This paper describes the practical impact of the ENDF/B-VII.0 decay data performance issues on common code applications, and the validation and testing performed on the updated ORIGEN libraries developed from the ENDF/B-VII.1 sublibrary.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1147717
• Journal Information: Nuclear Data Sheets, Vol. 120; ISSN 0090-3752
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English