Use of integral experiments for the assessment of the 235U capture cross section within the CIELO Project

Abstract

A new 235U capture cross-section evaluation, evaluated by ORNL and the CEA Bruyères-le-Châtel (BRC) has been proposed within the CIELO project. IRSN, who participates in the CIELO project, contributes with data testing and has carried out benchmark calculations using few benchmarks, extracted from the ICSBEP database, for testing the new 235U evaluation. The benchmarks have been selected by privileging the experiments showing small experimental uncertainties and a significant sensitivity to 235U capture cross-section. The keff calculations were performed with both the MCNP 6 code and the 5.C.1 release of the MORET 5 code, using the ENDF/B-VII.1 library for all isotopes except 235U, for which both the ENDF/B-VII.1 and the new 235U evaluation was used. The benchmark selection allowed highlighting a significant effect on keff of the new 235U capture cross-section. The results of this data testing, provided as input for the evaluators, are presented here.