Investigation of Inconsistent ENDF/B-VII.1 Independent and Cumulative Fission Product Yields with Proposed Revisions

• Published in: Nuclear data sheets 2015-01, Vol.123 (C), p.231-236
• Main Authors: Pigni, M.T., Francis, M.W., Gauld, I.C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0090-3752; 1095-9904
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nds.2014.12.040

A recent implementation of ENDF/B-VII.1 independent fission product yields and nuclear decay data identified inconsistencies in the data caused by the use of updated nuclear schemes in the decay sub-library that are not reflected in legacy fission product yield data. Recent changes in the decay data sub-library, particularly the delayed neutron branching fractions, result in calculated fission product concentrations that do not agree with the cumulative fission yields in the library as well as with experimental measurements. To address these issues, a comprehensive set of independent fission product yields was generated for thermal and fission spectrum neutron-induced fission for 235,238U and 239,241Pu in order to provide a preliminary assessment of the updated fission product yield data consistency. These updated independent fission product yields were utilized in the ORIGEN code to compare the calculated fission product inventories with experimentally measured inventories, with particular attention given to the noble gases. Another important outcome of this work is the development of fission product yield covariance data necessary for fission product uncertainty quantification. The evaluation methodology combines a sequential Bayesian method to guarantee consistency between independent and cumulative yields along with the physical constraints on the independent yields. This work was motivated to improve the performance of the ENDF/B-VII.1 library for stable and long-lived fission products. The revised fission product yields and the new covariance data are proposed as a revision to the fission yield data currently in ENDF/B-VII.1.