Development and Verification of Activated Source Term Library Based on ENDF/B-VIII.0

Abstract

Developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the United States, the ORIGEN code for computing irradiation and decay processes is one of the most widely used point depletion programs. However, the nuclear data that accompanies it, crucial for its application, has been measured and evaluated a long time ago. This results in noticeable deficiencies when addressing the analysis needs of shielding source terms for advanced reactors. To effectively enhance the precision of source term calculations and achieve autonomous control over the activated source term library, this study has developed the PyTape program based on a newer version of the authoritative evaluated nuclear library to assist in automating the library processing. On this foundation, the study makes reasonable predictions of the impact arising from the inconsistent distribution of microscopic data. It conducts comparative verification of the library’s computational capabilities through benchmark model analysis and assesses the effects of data iteration in the irradiation and decay calculations of typical activation materials. The research results indicate that updating the evaluated nuclear data version has a significant effect on improving the accuracy of activated source term calculations based on the ORIGEN program. Therefore, the library iteration pathway established in this study can be effectively applied in precise calculations of activated source terms in practical engineering projects.