U.S. EVALUATOR REQUESTS FOR NUCLEAR DATA MEASUREMENTS

Concept

Individuals in the nuclear data field who have been involved in various aspects of this activity, including measurements, nuclear modeling, and preparation of evaluated data files, realize that a potentially valuable source of requests for new nuclear data measurements are the evaluators themselves. In some cases, documentation accompanying evaluations have specified where specific evaluations have been hampered by an absence of particular data, or where the data that are available are of inadequate quality or even strongly discrepant. Unfortunately, evaluators have not been encouraged to document requests for new nuclear data measurements. The conventional wisdom is that requests for new nuclear data measurements from the nuclear data community itself might be viewed as “self serving”. Instead, it is thought that such requests should emanate only from nuclear data users. The Nuclear Energy Agency Nuclear Science Committee (NEANSC), Paris, France (http://www.nea.fr) maintains a High Priority Request List (HPRL) for just this purpose. While it is not unreasonable that nuclear data users be encouraged to define their nuclear data needs, whether they are for measured, evaluated, or processed evaluated data, it is nevertheless unfortunate that potentially valuable input from nuclear data evaluators is largely overlooked. Clearly, an evaluator who at a given time has assembled all the objective information that is known about a nuclear quantity should be in excellent position to define the database deficiencies in a quantitative fashion. There ought to be a relatively simple procedure available to evaluators to document the database deficiencies that they encounter and to express specific needs for new measured data.

Potential future projects to be undertaken by the Measurements and Basic Physics Committee were discussed during the annual meeting of the U.S. Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG) on 6-7 November 2002. A project to gather and document requests from evaluators for nuclear data measurements was suggested and it received strong endorsement from the CSEWG members present at this meeting. This survey result validates the concept defined in the preceding paragraph. It should be emphasized that this collection of requests for measured data is not intended to compete with the NEANSC HPRL. Instead, it should serve to document valuable evaluator experience from the evaluation process.

Scope

Although the responsibilities of CSEWG encompass mainly nuclear reaction issues, it is clear that the need for evaluators to express requirements for new nuclear data measurements applies to evaluators of nuclear structure data as well as nuclear reaction data. Consequently, this Web site is dedicated to collecting and disseminating requests for nuclear data measurements from both sub-communities of the nuclear data field. This information will be collected in the Evaluator Nuclear Data Measurements Request List.

Approach

It is intended that the procedures and formats for nuclear data evaluators to express their measured data requests be relatively flexible. Furthermore, it is suggested that these requests should be posted with minimal screening or editing by the Measurements and Basic Physics Committee of CSEWG or the Webmaster. The Evaluator Nuclear Data Measurements Request List will be updated several times a year to include recently received requests. Since no request should live forever, the Chairman of the CSEWG Measurement and Basic Physics Committee will contact, on an annual basis, each evaluator who has requested new measurements to see if the request is still valid. Requests that have outlived their usefulness will be eliminated at that time.

Format

Although it is desired that the procedure for submitting and posting data measurement requests from evaluators should be as simple and flexible as possible, some degree of quality control for these requests is essential. This can be achieved by insuring that each request include at least the following information:

1. Name of requesting evaluator.
2. Affiliation of requesting evaluator (e.g., Argonne National Laboratory).
3. E-mail address of requesting evaluator.
4. Telephone number of requesting evaluator.
5. Nature of the evaluation in question (e.g., ENDF/B, ENDF/A, ENSDF, etc.).
6. Specification of the isotope, reaction, or physical process for which data are requested.
7. A short description of precisely what is needed and why.
8. Particle energy range (for reactions).
9. A reasonable specification of required accuracy for the data to be measured.

Each request should be very specific (not generic) and as succinct as possible. Long, narrative tomes are not likely to be read and could lead to confusion and clutter of the request list.

Procedure for Submission of Requests

It is emphasized that these requests are to come from evaluators, not from measurers unless the measurer is also involved in the particular evaluation in question. The purpose for this restriction is to avoid the very real possibility of appearing to be “self serving”, as mentioned above.

Requests should be submitted to the Chairman of the Measurements and Basic Physics Committee in the form of an e-mail message (with or without attachment). Attachments are to be limited to textual material and should be prepared using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Wordpad, Microsoft Notepad, Microsoft EXCEL, or WordPerfect so that the transmitted request can be easily handled and entered into the Evaluator Nuclear Data Measurements Request List.

Contacts

Chairman of the CSEWG Measurements and Basic Physics Committee:

U.S. Nuclear Data Program

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