Fast neutron leakage spectra of the EUCLID experiment

Abstract

Special nuclear material in sub-critical and critical configurations measured in integral experiments are important for validation and adjustment of nuclear data. Many different evaluations of nuclear data exist, and these different evaluations can provide different values for individual cross sections that vary due to the uncertainties in differential experiments or lack of such data. For integral experiments, differences in these individual cross sections can have compensating errors, which lead to the same answer. One example of this is the Jezebel critical assembly, where keff of the system is correctly computed by both ENDF/B-VIII.0 and JEFF-3.3, despite having substantially different underlying evaluated values for specific reactions (such as elastic and inelastic cross sections).To reduce compensating errors in nuclear data, the Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in Nuclear Data (EUCLID) project has utilized machine learning to design a set of sub-critical and critical experiments. These experiments include slab- and cube-like configurations of 239Pu in the form of the ZPPR plates. Six different responses were measured on a total of thirteen different configurations. One of these responses, the neutron leakage spectrum, was measured using an EJ301D detector. The results of the neutron leakage spectra show good agreement (within 1–2 σ) with the expected spectrum from simulations and will be used in the subsequent nuclear data adjustment done by the EUCLID team.