A New International Evaluation of the Neutron Cross Section Standards

Published

October 16, 2008

Author(s)

Allan D. Carlson

Abstract

The measurements of most neutron cross sections are made relative to neutron cross section standards. The last complete evaluation ofthe standards, which was for ENDF/B-VI, took place almost 15 years ago. The cross section standards produced for the ENDF/B-VI evaluation were for the H(n,n), ³He(n,p), ⁶Li(n,t), ¹⁰B(n,α), ¹⁰B(n,α₁γ), C(n,n), Au(n,γ) and ²³⁵U(n,f)reactions. Some additional important reactions including the ^238^U(n,f) cross section, which is used as a standard cross section in the NEANDC/INDC NuclearStandards File, were evaluated. These standards were accepted internationally to ensure that all evaluation projects were using the sameset of standards. Significant experimental activity on the standards has occurred since that evaluation was completed which will causechanges in a new evaluation of the standards. International efforts are now underway to update the previous work by including standardsmeasurements made since that evaluation was completed and to improve the evaluation process. Due to the need for high energystandards, the energy region will be extended to about 200 MeV for some of the cross section standards. Work on the standardsevaluation has begun with an investigation of the completed experiments to determine uncertainties and correlations within and amongdata sets. Further work could lead to an improved evaluation procedure compared with that used in ENDF/B-VI. The status of the workon this evaluation will be discussed.

Citation

International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

¹⁰B(n, α, ₁γ), ²³⁵U(n, f), ²³⁸U(n, f), ³He(n, p), ⁶Li(n, t), Au(n, γ), C(n, n), ENDF/B-VI, H(n, n)

Citation

Carlson, A. (2008), A New International Evaluation of the Neutron Cross Section Standards, International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology (Accessed April 19, 2024)