Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences, Vol. 7, No.1, pp. N1-N4, 2006

Notes
Global Comparison of TALYS and ALICE Code Calculations and Evaluated Data from
ENDF/B, JENDL, FENDL, and JEFF Files with Measured Neutron Induced Reaction
Cross-sections at Energies above 0.1 MeV
C. H. M. Broeders, A. Yu. Konobeyev,* and L. Mercatali
Institut für Reaktorsicherheit, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH, 76021, Karlsruhe, Germany
Received: February 15, 2006; In Final Form: May 22, 2006
The neutron induced reaction cross-sections for target nuclei from 27Al to 209Bi and incident neutron energies
above 0.1 MeV have been calculated with the TALYS code and the modified ALICE code using different models
for the description of the nuclear level density. Several thousand experimental points from EXFOR have beenused for the comparison with these calculations. The obtained results give the possibility to find the best
approaches for the cross-section calculation for nuclei in different mass ranges.

1. Introduction
The goal of the work is the study of uncertainties in the calculation of activation and transmutation cross-sections for neutron induced reactions using nuclear models and codes having
direct relation to the generation of nuclear data files. The calculations were performed with the TALYS code1 and the
ALICE/ASH code, 2-4 which have been extensively used fornuclear data evaluation during the last decade.5-9 The results ofcalculations are compared with experimental cross-sections
from EXFOR10 for neutron induced reactions for nuclei from27
Al to 209Bi. The comparison is done for main reaction channels, for which experimental data are available, without thedistinction. The obtained deviation factors allow to define
appropriate models for nuclear reaction cross-section calculation at different mass ranges of target nuclei.
2. Brief description of nuclear models applied for crosssection calculations
2.1. The TALYS code. The pre-equilibrium particle emission
is described using the two-component exciton model.11 The
model implements new expressions for internal transition rates
and new parameterization of the average squared matrix element for the residual interaction obtained using the opticalmodel potential from Reference 12. The phenomenologicalmodel13 is used for the description of the pre-equilibrium com-plex particle emission. The contribution of direct processes ininelastic scattering is calculated using the ECIS-97 code incorporated in TALYS.
The equilibrium particle emission is described using the
Hauser-Feshbach model. In the present work the nuclear level
density for equilibrium states is calculated using different
nuclear models,14,15 which are briefly described in Table 1.
The cross-sections for total neutron nonelastic interactions
with nuclei have been calculated using the optical potentialfrom Reference 12.
2.2. The ALICE/ASH code. The ALICE/ASH code2-4 is a
modified and advanced version of the ALICE code.16
The geometry dependent hybrid model17 (GDH) is used forthe description of the pre-equilibrium particle emission from
nuclei. Intranuclear transition rates are calculated using theeffective cross-section of nucleon-nucleon interactions in
nuclear matter. Corrections are made to the GDH model forthe treatment of effects in peripheral nuclear regions.4,8 The
number of neutrons and protons for initial exciton state is calculated using realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction cross-sections in nucleus.4 The exciton coalescence model18,19 and theknock-out model are used for the description of the pre-equilibrium complex particle emission.
The equilibrium emission of particles is described by the
Weisskopf-Ewing model without detail consideration of angular momentum. Three models,14,16,2 0,21 which are briefly
described in Table 1, are used for the calculation of nuclear

Table 1: The list of the models used for the calculation of the nuclear level density
Symbols

Model for nuclear level density calculation

Code

Input variable14

IST(1)IST-C
GFG
IST(2)
SF

Fermi gas model with the energy dependent nuclear level density parameter, a(U)without explicit description of the collective enhancement.** The parameters aredefined in Reference 1.
Fermi gas model14 with a(U) with explicit description of the rotational andvibrational enhancement**
Microscopic calculations using the HF-BCS approach15
16

Fermi gas model with a=A/9**
14,16

Fermi gas model with the energy dependent nuclear level density parameter,
Superfluid nuclear model20,21

a(U)****At low energy of the excitation the “constant temperature” model is used.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: konobeev@irs.fzk.de© 2006 The Japan Society of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences
Published on Web 06/30/2006

TALYS

ldmodel=1

TALYS

ldmodel=2

TALYS

ldmodel=3

ALICE/ASH

ldopt=0

ALICE/ASH
ALICE/ASH

ldopt=4
ldopt=5

Konobeyev

J. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 7, No. 1, 2006

tions for these reactions. The rather scarce data for the (n, 3He)
reaction were ignored, because the lack of its theoretical prediction.
As a result, data for the following reactions were selected forthe comparison with calculations: (n, n’), (n, p), (n, α), (n, t),(n, 2n), (n, nα), (n, 2p), (n, pα), (n, 2α), (n, 3n), (n, 4n), andother reactions noted in EXFOR as (n, x).
The total number of experimental points (Z, A, E) used forthe comparison is equal to 17,937.

level density.
To exclude the possible difference in results of calculations
performed by codes caused by the use of different values ofnonelastic cross-sections, the cross-sections calculated by the
ALICE/ASH code were normalized on the values of nonelastic
cross-sections calculated by the TALYS (ECIS-97) code.
3. Evaluated data
The most complete evaluated data sets were used for thecomparison with measured cross-sections. The data weretaken from the widely used release of the ENDF/B library(ENDF/B-VI, Release 8), 22 the last version of the library(ENDF/B-VII beta 1),22 the Fusion Evaluated Nuclear Data
Library (Activation Sublibrary, FENDL/A-2.0)23, and European
Activation File (JEFF-3.0/A).24 Taking into account the completeness of JENDL-3.225 and JENDL-3.326 files, both old andnew version of the library have been used for the comparison
with experimental data.
Such comparison concerns the question on the general quality of different evaluations and on the accuracy one may expectfrom evaluated data compared with that from nuclear model
calculations.

5. Statistical factors used for the comparison of experimental data and calculations
The following deviation factors27-29 were used for the comparison of the results of calculations and measured data
13
13

2

,

(1)

R=

1 N σ icalc∑ ,N i =1 σ iexp

(2)

D=

calc
− σi
1 N σ expi
∑ σ exp ,N i =1
i

(3)

2

,

(4)
2

2

σ icalc,∑exp
i =1 ∆σ iN

13

σ icalc − σ expi
σ icalc

68

2

13
68

σ calc
L = (δu) = ∑ i exp
i =1 ∆σ i
N

2

1

13

F = 101 N
2)]∑ [ log( σ iexp ) − log( σ calci
N i =1

13

68

The experimental data were taken from EXFOR. The data
selection criteria concern i) all target nuclei with atomic number from 13 to 83, ii) the initial neutron energy above 0.1 MeV
up to the maximal energy available (64.4 MeV), iii) all (n,xnypzα) reactions including the neutron inelastic scattering(n, n’).
The data excluded from the consideration are i) out-dated
and superceded measurements, ii) measurements for targets,
which contain natural mixtures of isotopes, iii) data for reactions with metastable products, iv) identical data, v) data which
are referred in EXFOR to DATA-MIN or DATA-MAX, and vi)
data for the (n, γ), (n, np), (n, d) and (n, 3He) reactions. Datafor (n, np) and (n, d) reactions were omitted, because the
TALYS and ALICE/ASH codes calculate the sum of cross-sec-

68

68

4. Experimental data

1

2

− σ icalc
1 N σ expiH =∑N i =1∆σ iexp

68

N2

(5)

where σ iexp and ∆σ iexp are the measured cross-section and its
uncertainty, σicalc is the calculated cross-section, and N is thenumber of experimental points.
The use of different factors has been discussed in Reference
30. For the comparison performed in the present work, the Hfactor, eq 1, is evidently of the most importance.

Table 2: Deviation factors for nuclei from different mass number ranges calculated using the TALYS and ALICE/ASH codes
Factors

H
R
D
F
L
Number of points

IST (1)

TALYS
IST-C

10.33
1.25
0.50
2.10
0.13
14467

Target nuclei with mass number 27 ≤ A < 120
29.34
12.01
17.50
1.57
1.27
1.06
1.06
0.56
0.56
2.97
2.15
2.93
0.55
0.18
0.29
14441
14466
14313

G

H
R
D
F
L
Number of points

10.45
1.32
0.50
2.03
0.27
2829

36.39
1.77
0.95
2.41
0.77
2829

120 ≤ A ≤ 209
15.31
1.38
0.58
2.08
0.44
2829

H
R
D
F
L
Number of points

10.35
1.26
0.50
2.09
0.14
17296

30.60
1.60
1.05
2.88
0.59
17270

All nuclei with 27 ≤ A ≤ 209
12.61
1.29
0.57
2.14
0.21
17295

The best results are underlined. See Table 1 for symbols explanation.

FG

ALICE/ASH
IST (2)

SF

31.38
0.78
0.68
22.39
0.60
14277

14.88
1.01
0.56
3.76
0.24
14304

6.15
1.03
0.36
2.19
0.14
2823

7.38
0.84
0.42
4.42
0.29
2773

5.44
0.95
0.34
2.49
0.13
2818

16.18
1.05
0.53
2.81
0.29
17136

28.87
0.79
0.64
18.31
0.60
17050

13.78
1.00
0.52
3.55
0.23
17122

Global Comparison of TALYS and ALICE Code Calculations
30

TALYS, IST (1)
ALICE/ASH, SF

H-factor

25
20
15
10
5
0
50

100

150

200

100

150

200

2.5

R-factor

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
50

Mass number (A)Figure 1. The H- and R-deviation factors, eqs 1 and 2, as functionsof the target mass number (A) calculated using the results of the
TALYS and ALICE/ASH code calculations. Each point corresponds
to the factors calculated at the interval of the mass number ∆A=5. See
symbol explanation in Table 1.

6. Results and discussion
Table 2 shows the deviation factors, eqs 1–5, obtained using
results of model calculations for nuclei from 27Al to 209Bi. Data
are subdivided into two ranges by the mass number below and

J. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 7, No. 1, 2006

N3

above 120. Approximately, the division corresponds to thedominate contribution of equilibrium (A < 120) and precompound (A > 120) processes in the (n, p) and (n, α) reaction,
which give about 58% of the total number of experimental
points.
The data illustrate the global success or failure of different
methods of calculations. The use of the TALYS code with the
Fermi gas model14 applied for the nuclear level density calculations shows the best result for A < 120. The ALICE/ASH codewith any input parameters gives a smaller H-value for the target
mass number range A > 120 than the TALYS code does. The
best reproduction of experimental data is observed with the useof the superfluid model 20,21 for the calculation of the nuclear
level density.
Figure 1 shows the H- and R-factors calculated using the
TALYS and ALICE/ASH code for various nuclei. Each pointon the graph is obtained for the atomic mass range Ai ± 2.5 toimprove the statistics. The calculations have been carried out
using the Fermi gas model14 (TALYS) and the superfluid
model20,21 (ALICE/ASH) for the nuclear level density calculation. Data shown in Figure 1 give the possibility to define “thebest” nuclear model implemented in TALYS and ALICE/ASH
code for specific target mass ranges.
The deviation factors calculated using data from ENDF/BVI, ENDF/B-VII, FENDL/A-2, JEFF-3/A, JENDL-3.2, andJENDL-3.3 are presented in Table 3. One can see that the datafrom JEFF-3/A and JENDL-3.3 have smaller values of deviations factors compared with those for other libraries. The comparison with calculations (Table 2) shows the definite
advantage of evaluations, at least in the case of JEFF-3.0/A andJENDL-3.3.
7. Conclusion
The global comparison has been done for neutron induced
reaction cross-sections calculated using various nuclear models
implemented in the TALYS code and the ALICE/ASH codewith experimental data from EXFOR. The experimental data
for neutron induced reactions for target nuclei from 27Al to 209Bi
and incident neutron energies above 0.1 MeV have been

Table 3: Deviation factors for nuclei from different mass number ranges calculated using evaluated cross-sections from different nuclear data libraries
Factors

ENDF/B-VI.8

H
R
D
F
L
Number of points

8.13
1.09
0.26
1.48
0.06
10497

H
R
D
F
L
Number of points

14.12
1.34
0.54
2.30
0.41
1693

H
R
D
F
L
Number of points

9.20
1.12
0.30
1.61
0.09
12190

The best results are underlined.

ENDF/B-VII
FENDL-2/A
JEFF-3/A(beta 1)
Target nuclei with mass number 27 ≤ A < 120
9.56
76.26
7.05
1.74
2.17
1.23
0.91
1.34
0.44
2.02
2.10
1.91
0.10
0.87
0.06
13466
12591
12542
120 ≤ A ≤ 209
9.37
6.29
6.10
1.20
1.14
1.11
0.38
0.33
0.26
2.04
2.03
1.94
0.27
0.14
0.14
2257
2571
2548
All nuclei with 120 ≤ A ≤ 209
9.54
69.54
6.90
1.66
2.00
1.21
0.83
1.17
0.41
2.02
2.09
1.91
0.11
0.86
0.06
15715
15162
15090

JENDL-3.2

JENDL-3.3

24.42
1.83
1.02
2.05
0.43
13802

8.28
1.69
0.88
2.03
0.08
13516

7.45
1.19
0.38
2.22
0.19
1836

7.40
1.19
0.38
2.22
0.19
1902

23.08
1.75
0.95
2.07
0.43
15638

8.18
1.63
0.82
2.06
0.09
15418

N4

J. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 7, No. 1, 2006

selected for the comparison with calculations. The quantification of the difference between results of calculations and measured data has been performed using various deviation factors,
eqs 1–5.
The obtained data give the possibility to define the best codeand the approach for the nuclear level density calculation forvarious groups of nuclei. The use of the TALYS code and the
Fermi gas model14 with parameters from in Reference 1 shows
the best result for the mass number range of target nuclei A <120. The calculations with the ALICE/ASH code and thesuperfluid model gives the smallest value of main deviation
factors for A > 120.
The comparison has been performed for evaluated cross-sections from nuclear data libraries and experimental data. The
results show what advantage and accuracy one may expectfrom the evaluation work compared with model calculations.
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