What to expect from microscopic nuclear modelling for keff calculations?

Abstract

Comparisons between predicted and benchmark k_eff values from criticality-safety systems are often used as metrics to estimate the quality of evaluated nuclear data libraries. Relevant nuclear data for these critical systems generally come from a mixture of expert knowledge and phenomenological predictions. In the present work, we use solely microscopic nuclear modelling from TALYS to estimate actinides cross sections and angular distributions, and we compare the calculated MCNP k_eff values for fast systems between the JEFF-3.3 evaluated library, phenomenological and microscopic modelling. The conclusion is that even if the evaluated library leads to the most adequate results, the microscopic nuclear modelling can reach very similar results for these integral quantities. It demonstrates the remarkable advances in the recent decades of microscopic nuclear reaction ingredients for applied integral observables.