The Los Alamos fission yield evaluation pipeline

¹ Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA
² X-Computational Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA

^* e-mail: mumpower@lanl.gov

Published online: 28 September 2020

Abstract

The nuclear data team at Los Alamos National Laboratory has undertaken a campaign to construct new fission yield evaluation. Significant advances have been made on a number of fronts. Nuclear potential energy surfaces can now be generated with the newly developed MicMac code based off the Finite Range Liquid-Drop Model (FRLDM). This model can be incorporated into the Los Alamos de-excitation framework codes BeOH and CGMF to perform modeling of prompt, independent (IFY) and cumulative (CFY) fission yields that take into account prompt and beta-delayed neutrons and photons consistent with decay data. This is in stark contrast to what exists in evaluated nuclear data libraries today, where only a few incident energy points are used with limited physical insights and no consistency between IFY, CFY and decay data. We highlight the latest progress with application of neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵ U and ²³⁹ Pu.