Nuclear Reactor Physics - Nuclear Data Processing

The articles Reactor physics – The basics of nuclear physics [BN 3 010] and Reactor physics – Nuclear reactions [BN 3 011] present the main characteristics of the atomic nucleus and of the nuclear phenomena of radioactivity and nuclear reactions. These characteristics are represented by sets of numerical values, which specialists refer to as basic physical data, nuclear data, atomic data and spectroscopic data. The term "nuclear data" is sometimes used generically to cover all these data.

This article outlines the way in which nuclear data (cross sections, particle emission spectra, radioactive decay data, etc.) are organized, physically and numerically processed for use, in particular, by software dedicated to nuclear applications, solving on the one hand the transport equation (Boltzmann equation) for neutrons and gamma rays in matter, and on the other hand the equations for the temporal evolution of nuclide concentrations (generalized Bateman equations). The central importance of neutrons in nuclear reactor physics justifies the special place given to them in this article.