OECD/NEA Data Bank e-newsletter

No. 6, October 2009

A year has passed since we launched this E-Newsletter. We hope that you will continue to find it useful throughout the coming year.

1. Nuclear data and tools

The compilation of experimental and bibliographic nuclear reaction data, (EXFOR and CINDA), is progressing as planned. A workshop on processing tools for evaluated data was successfully organised in November 2008 at the NEA in conjunction with the evaluated data project JEFF. In February 2009, we released the JEFF3.1.1 library, an updated version of the neutron induced file and the fission yields libraries. It can be found at: www.oecd-nea.org/dbforms/data/eva/evatapes/jeff_31/index-JEFF3.1.1.html. Improvements to this latest version of the JEFF.3.1.1 General Purpose library are particularly noteworthy as pertains to light water reactor applications and the associated fuel cycle. The documentation associated with this library has been published in draft form as the JEFF22 report. and can be found at: www.oecd-nea.org/dbforms/data/eva/evatapes/jeff_31/index-JEFF3.1.1.html.

The NEA will collaborate with the CEA in the organisation of the 2nd International Workshop On Nuclear Data Evaluation for Reactor applications, WONDER 2009, held in Cadarache, France from 29 September 2009 to 2 October 2009. For more information, please visit www.oecd-nea.org/science/meetings/WONDER2009.

The NEA, in association with the IAEA will organise a Technical Meeting on Specific Applications of Research Reactors: Provision of Nuclear Data. The meeting will be held in Vienna, Austria on 12-16 October 2009. More details regarding the meeting can be found at www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/physics/meetings/TM38228.html.

2. Processed data libraries

Recently acquired or tested application data libraries:

NEA-1847/01 ZZ MATJEFF31.BOLIB, JEFF-3.1 Multigroup Coupled(199n + 42gamma) X-Section Lib.in MATXS Fmt for Nuclear Fission Applications (New)
USCD1236/02 ZZ SCALE6.0/COVA-44G, 44-group cross section covariance matrix library extracted from SCALE6.0 (New)

3. Chemical Thermodynamics Data

Volume 11 in the TDB Series Chemical thermodynamics of Thorium was released in January 2009. For more information on this report, consult the list of available publications: www.oecd-nea.org/science/pubs/2007/6254-DB-chemical-thermodyn-11.pdf. Work is in progress on three (out of four) Reviews of Phase IV:

Studies of inorganic species and compounds of Molybdenum (Mo),
Review of auxiliary data,
Update of the selected value database accrued during the previous phases of the project.

4. Computer Programs

The RADTRAN-3 code system for analyzing the radiological impact of the transportation of radioactive materials was previously distributed by the NEA Databank as CCC-0508. This version of the code is obsolete and is no longer available. The current release, RADTRAN 5.6 bundled with RADCAT 2.3, may be downloaded from Sandia National Laboratories, radtran.sandia.gov

The most recently acquired or tested computer codes are:

NEA-1525/16 PENELOPE2008.1, A Code System for Monte-Carlo Simulation of Electron and Photon Transport (New)
USCD1238/01 ALICE2008, Particle Spectra from HMS precompound Nucleus Decay (New)
NEA-1839/01 ACAB-2008, ACtivation ABacus Code (New)
NEA-1840/01 SERPENT 1.1.0, 3-D continuous-energy Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation, lattice physics applications (New)
NEA-1833/03 FLUKA2008.3b, Monte Carlo general purpose tool for calculations of particle transport and interactions with matter (New)
CCC-0657/01 BETA-S, Multi-Group Beta-Ray Spectra (New)
NEA-1846/01 FSKY4C, Gamma Ray Skyshine Analysis Code (New)

Note for users of DVDs sent out by the NEA Data Bank :

The CD-ROM and DVD robot used at the NEA Data Bank to produce copies of the information it distributes has been upgraded. DVDs are produced for large packages with dual layers. The result of this upgrade and modification is that there might arise compatibility problems with operating systems and/or DVD-readers older than 12 years, i.e. released before 1997. Users experiencing problems with old DVD readers should either request information on CD-ROM or upgrade their readers.

Export control and license forms:

Users are requested to download the latest versions when making requests as these forms are regularly updated.

For more details see the daily updated list at www.oecd-nea.org/tools/abstract/new

5. Integral experiments data

Radiation shielding

NEA-1517/83 SINBAD-RA-SKYSHINE. Measurements of spatial energy distributions of neutrons and photons scattered in the air near the ground-air interface (skyshine-experiment) (1996-1998) (updated)

Fuel performance

NEA-1776/02 IFPE/PRIMO-BD8, Belgonucléaire and SCK-CEN PRIMO Ramped MOX Fuel Rod BD8 (updated)
NEA-1841/01 IFPE/EXP-BDL-406, performance of CANDU natural UO2 fuel (bundles AAH, GF, and XY) irradiated at low linear powers (30-40 kW/m) to burnups above 450 MWh/kgU (AECL-CR) (for FUMEX-III exercise)

Nuclear safety joint research projects

CSNI2014/01 OLHF, Sandia Lower Head Failure of the reactor pressure vessel OECD/NEA Project
CSNI2004/01 PAKS PROJECT, the fuel behaviour in accident conditions on the basis of analyses of the PAKS-2 event

For more details see www.oecd-nea.org/tools/abstract/new

6. Benchmarks and archived primary documents

NEA-1746/04 ZZ PBMR-400, OECD/NEA PBMR Coupled Neutronics/Thermal Hydraulics Transient Benchmark - The PBMR-400 Core Design
NEA-1849/01 ZZ PSBT NUPEC PWR Sub-channel Bundle Tests Benchmark
NEA-1731/07 ZZ BFBT, OECD/NEA-US/NRC NUPEC BWR Full-size Fine-mesh Bundle Tests Benchmark
NEA-1769/03 ZZ UAM-LWR, Uncertainty Analysis in Modelling, Coupled Multi-physics and Multi-scale LWR analysis
NEA-1848/01 ZZ KALININ3, KALININ-3 Coolant Transient Benchmark
NEA-1728/03 IRPhE-HTR-ARCH-01, Archive of HTR Primary Documents
NEA-1660/06 IRPHE-SNEAK, KFK SNEAK Fast Reactor Experiments, Primary Documentation

7. Training courses and workshops

8-12 March 2010 - A training course on the Monte Carlo computer code TRIPOLI-4, in co-operation with CEA, will be held at OECD/NEA Headquarters.
29 March-2 April 2010 - MCNP/MCNPX Training course, OECD NEA Data Bank - co-sponsored by ORNL/RSICC, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
6-9 April 2010 - Training course on "Analytical Benchmarks: Case Studies in Neutron Transport Theory" using the Handbook (including computer codes) published on "Analytical Benchmarks for Nuclear Engineering Applications (Case Studies in Neutron Transport Theory)". This course is intended for transport methods developers and those who teach reactor physics and transport theory. In addition, the course would be appropriate for anyone with an analytical interest in solving equations and the application of numerical methods to obtain extreme accuracy. Teacher: Prof. Barry D. Ganapol.
3-7 May 2010 - SCALE Criticality Safety and Radiation Shielding Course, OECD/NEA Data Bank - co-sponsored by ORNL/RSICC, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.

8. Conferences

Meetings and conferences sponsored by the Nuclear Science Committee & Data Bank

3-7 May 2009 - 2009 International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA Contact: Tom Sutton
7-10 June 2009 - First International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation, Measurement Methods and their Applications ANIMMA, Marseilles, France
29 June-3 July 2009 - 14th International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems ICENES 2009, Ericeira, Portugal
12-16 July 2009 - 17th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering ICONE 17, Brussels, Belgium
6-11 September 2009 - GLOBAL-2009: 8th Global Congress on Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Sustainable Options and Industrial Perspectives, Paris, France
13-17 September 2009 - ANS Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting, Hanford, WA, USA
27 September-2 October 2009 - 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics NURETH 13, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
29 September-2 October 2009 - 2nd International Workshop On Nuclear Data Evaluation for Reactor applications, WONDER2009, Cadarache, France
12-16 October 2009 - IAEA Technical Meeting on Specific Applications of Research Reactors: Provision of Nuclear Data, IAEA Technical Meeting 2009, Vienna, Austria.
19-23 April 2010 - 2010 Topical in Radiation Protection and Shielding (RPSD), Isotopes & Radiation (IRD), and Biology and Medicine (BMD) Joint Topical Las Vegas, NV, USA. Call for papers.
9-14 May 2010 - Physor-2010 Advances in Reactor Physics to Power the Nuclear Renaissance, Sheraton Station Square Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
17-20 October 2010 - Joint Symposium on Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications +Monte-Carlo 2010 Tokyo, SNA2010 + MC 2010, Hitotsubashi Memorial Hall, Tokyo, Japan