Ⅱ-3. Nuclear Data

RIKEN Accel. Prog. Rep. 47 (2014)

Nuclear data format suitable simultaneously for databases,experimentalists, and users
M. Aikawa,∗1 M. Chiba,∗2 S. Ebata,∗3 T. Katayama,∗4 K. Katō,∗1 A. Makinaga,∗1 H. Noto,∗4 andK. Tsubakihara∗5
Nuclear reactions are useful in many ﬁelds related
to nuclear physics, such as astrophysics, nuclear engineering, and radiation therapy. Many experimental
studies have been performed worldwide to obtain nuclear reaction data, such as cross sections and productyields. The majority of such data is published in scientiﬁc journals, which may apply charges and are accessible only to researchers in the relevant academic ﬁelds.
In addition, nuclear reaction experiments require enormous cost and huge researcher eﬀort. Therefore, it isdesirable to make such data freely available throughthe Internet.
One such database is the EXFOR database1) maintained by the International Network of Nuclear Reaction Data Centres (NRDC) under the auspices of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Anotheris Nuclear Reaction Data File (NRDF)2) developed by
the Hokkaido University Nuclear Reaction Data Centre (JCPRG)3) . JCPRG and RIKEN Nishina Centerestablished a collaborative research contract in 2010
to increase the availability of the nuclear reaction data
produced at the RIBF. Under this collaboration, thenuclear reaction data obtained at the RIBF is compiled into the two databases above. However, including state-of-the-art experiments and physical quantities causes problems. For instance, the forthcoming
electron scattering data from SCRIT is outside thecompilation scope of NRDF and JCPRG on the EXFOR library at the moment. Therefore, we must extend the scope for the RIBF experiments.
In addition, the two databases have their own formats, which were deﬁned more than forty years ago
and designed for programming languages prevalent atthat time, e.g., Fortran. Therefore, a new format suitable for the current situation and technology is desirable. The format must be applicable for the conﬁrmation process of compiled data performed by experimentalists. It is also desirable for nuclear data users toread and manipulate data in the same format without
detailed explanations. The format is now under development using XML technology, which is both humanreadable and machine-readable. This feature is a requirement for the next-generation format to enable experimentalists to directly input data into the databases
and to enable nuclear data users to retrieve them.
∗1
∗2
∗3
∗4
∗5

Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University
Sapporo Gakuin University Professor Emeritus
Meme Media Laboratory, Hokkaido University
School of Economics, Hokusei Gakuen University
Department of Engineering Science, OsakaCommunication University

Fig. 1. Schematic of the process of accessing the databasewith the format under development using XML technology.

Here, we emphasize that this format does not aﬀect
other databases. The contents in the two databases
above and evaluated libraries in the ENDF format,e.g. JENDL4) , can be converted one to one nearly
equivalently into the new format. Figure 1 shows aschematic of the process of accessing the database withthe format under development using XML technology.
The format is described in simple terms and abbreviated less for users to understand and express contents
correctly. Through this format, experimentalists andusers can directly access the database in which contents are converted from the databases and libraries.
References
1) http://www.jcprg.org/exfor/2) http://www.jcprg.org/nrdf/
3) http://www.jcprg.org/
4) K. Shibata et al.: J. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 48, 1 (2011).

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