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LHC@home was launched as a BOINC project in 2004 as an outreach project for CERN's 50 years anniversary. Initially focused on the accelerator physics simulation code SixTrack, the project was expanded in 2011 to run other physics simulation codes on Linux thanks to virtualisation. Later on the experiment and theory applications running on the LHC@home platform have evolved to use containers and take advantage of the CVMFS file system as well as content delivery networks. Furthermore, a substantial part of the contributed computing capacity nowadays is provided as opportunistic back-fill from data centers with spare capacity, in addition to enthusiastic volunteers. The paper will address the challenges with this distributed computing model, new applications to exploit GPUs and the future outlook for volunteer computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Storage Group in the CERN IT Department operates several Ceph storage clusters with an overall capacity exceeding 100 PB. Ceph is a crucial component of the infrastructure delivering IT services to all the users of the Organization as it provides: i) Block storage for OpenStack, ii) CephFS, used as persistent storage by containers (OpenShift and Kubernetes) and as shared filesystems by HPC clusters and iii) S3 object storage for cloud-native applications, monitoring and software distribution across the WLCG. The Ceph infrastructure at CERN is being rationalized and restructured to allow for the implementation of a Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery plan. In this paper, we give an overview of how we transitioned from a single cluster providing block storage to multiple ones, enabling Storage Availability zones, and how block storage backups can be achieved. We also illustrate future plans for file systems backups through cback,a restic-based scalable orchestrator, and how S3 implements data immutability and provides a highly available, Multi-Data Centre object storage service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear data uncertainties are provided as covariance matrices in standard nuclear data libraries and propagating them trough neutronics simulations helps quantify the associated uncertainties on the final result. However, processing these matrices often poses challenges. Currently, the IRSN nuclear data processing code GAIA processes cross sections via several modules like DOP (Reconstruction and Doppler), TOP (URR), and SAB (TSL), but lacks the capability to process covariances. This paper introduces a new module named COP (COvariance Processing). The COP module aims to process covariance matrices comprehensively, including cross section (File 33), angular distribution (File 34), and resonance parameters (File 32). The preliminary results obtained using the COP module of GAIA in comparison with the ERRORR module of NJOY and PUFF module of AMPX are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JENDL-5, the latest version of the Japanese evaluated nuclear data library, includes several sub-libraries to contribute to various applications. In this paper, we outline the evaluation and validation of the deuteron reaction sub-library developed mainly for the design of accelerator-based neutron sources and the alpha-particle reaction sub-library developed mainly for use in the back-end field. As for the deuteron sub-library, the data for 6,7Li, 9Be, and 12,13C from JENDL/DEU-2020 were partially modified and adopted. The data up to 200 MeV for 27Al, 63,65Cu, and 93Nb, which are important as accelerator structural materials, were newly evaluated based on the calculations with the DEURACS code. As for the alpha-particle sub-library, the data up to 15 MeV for 18 light nuclides from Li to Si isotopes were evaluated based on the calculations with the CCONE code, and then only the neutron production cross sections were replaced with the data of JENDL/AN-2005. Validation on neutron yield by Monte Carlo transport simulations was performed for both sub-libraries. As a result, it was confirmed that the simulations based on the sub-libraries showed good agreement with experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FUDGE (For Updating Data and Generating Evaluations) is an open-source code that supports reading, visualizing, checking, modifying, and processing nuclear reaction and decay data. For ease of use the front-end of FUDGE is written in Python while C and C++ routines are employed for computationally intensive calculations. FUDGE has been developed primarily at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) with contributions from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). It is used by the LLNL Nuclear Data and Theory (NDT) group to deliver high-quality nuclear data libraries to users for a variety of applications. FUDGE is also the world leader in converting data to the Generalized Nuclear Database Structure (GNDS) and working with GNDS data, including processing and visualizing. GNDS is a new extensible hierarchy that has been internationally adopted as the new standard for storing and using nuclear data libraries, replacing the previous standard ENDF-6. A new public release of FUDGE has recently been published on github. This paper gives an overview of nuclear data processing capabilities in FUDGE, as well as describing the latest release, new capabilities, future plans, and basic instructions for users interested in applying FUDGE to their nuclear data workflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last years, a new version of the Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion File (JEFF) data library, namely JEFF-3.3, has been released with relevant updates in the neutron reaction, thermal neutron scattering and covariance sub-libraries. In the frame of the EU H2020 SANDA project, severale efforts have been made to enable the use of JEFF nuclear data libraries with the extensively tested and verified SCALE Code System. With this purpose, AMPX processing code has been applied to enable such application, allowing to provide insight into the interaction between the code and the new versions of JEFF data file. This paper provides an overview about the processing of JEFF-3.3 nuclear data library with AMPX for its application within the SCALE package. The AMPX-formatted cross-section library has been widely verified and tested using a comprehensive set of criticality benchmarks from ICSBEP, by comparing both with results provided by other processing and neutron transport codes and experimental. Processing of JEFF-3.3 covariances is also addressed along with their corresponding verification using covariances processed with NJOY. This work paves the way towards a successful future interaction between JEFF libraries and SCALE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern data centres an effective and efficient monitoring system is a critical asset, yet a continuous concern for administrators. Since its birth, INFN Tier-1 data centre, hosted at CNAF, has used various monitoring tools all replaced, a few years ago, by a system common to all CNAF departments (based on Sensu, Influxdb, Grafana). Given the complexity of the inter-dependencies of the several services running at the data centre and the foreseen large increase of resources in the near future, a more powerful and versatile monitoring system is needed. This new monitoring system should be able to automatically correlate log files and metrics coming from heterogeneous sources and devices (including services, hardware and infrastructure) thus providing us with a suitable framework to implement a solution for the predictive analysis of the status of the whole environment. In particular, the possibility to correlate IT infrastructure monitoring information with the logs of running applications is of great relevance in order to be able to quickly find application failure root cause. At the same time, a modern, flexible and user-friendly analytics solution is needed in order to enable users, IT engineers and IT managers to extract valuable information from the different sources of collected data in a timely fashion. In this paper, a prototype of such a system, installed at the INFN Tier-1, is described with an assessment of the state and an evaluation of the resources needed for a fully production system. Technologies adopted, amount of foreseen data, target KPIs and production design are illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The JUNO (Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory) Monte Carlo production tasks are composed of complicated workflow and dataflow linked by data. The paper will present the design of the JUNO production system based on the DIRAC transformation framework to meet the requirements of the JUNO Monte Carlo production activities among JUNO data centres according to the JUNO computing model. The approach allows JUNO data-driven workflow and dataflow to be chained automatically with availability of data and also provides a convenient interface for production groups to create and monitor production tasks. The functions and performance tests for evaluating the prototype system would be also presented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the objectives of reactor dosimetry is determination of activity of irradiated dosimeters, which are placed on reactor pressure vessel surface, and calculation of neutron flux in their position. The uncertainty of calculation depends mainly on the choice of nuclear data library, especially cross section used for neutron transport and cross section used as the response function for neutron activation. Nowadays, number of libraries already exists and can be still used in some applications. In addition, new nuclear data library was recently released. In this paper, we have investigated the impact of the cross section libraries on activity of niobium, one of the popular materials used as neutron fluence monitor. For this purpose, a MCNP6 model of VVER-1000 was made and we have compared the results between 14 commonly used cross section libraries. A possibility of using IRDFF library in activation calculations was also considered. The results show good agreement between the new libraries, with the exception of the most recent ENDF/B-VIII.0, which should be further validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge for any nuclear data evaluation project is to periodically release a revised, fully consistent and complete library, with all needed data and covariances, and ensure that it is robust and reliable for a variety of applications. Within an evaluation effort, benchmarking activities play an important role in validating proposed libraries. The Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion (JEFF) Project aims to provide such a nuclear data library, and thus, requires a coherent and efficient benchmarking process. The aim of this paper is to present the activities carried out by the new JEFF Benchmarking and Validation Working Group, and to describe the role of the NEA Data Bank in this context. The paper will also review the status of preliminary benchmarking for the next JEFF-3.3 candidate cross-section files. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neutron reference field produced by a heavy-water moderated 252Cf source is used at PTB for calibrating neutron-measuring devices. Knowledge of the precise neutron spectrum is very important for the investigation of operational radiation protection quantities. Recently, new fission spectrum data of 252Cf has been proposed based on the latest nuclear data library version. At PTB, earlier calculations for the D2O moderated 252Cf neutron source were carried out more than 20 years ago, thus updated and more detailed calculations are required. In this paper, a detailed simulation model of the PTB moderated 252Cf source assembly has been prepared and investigated using new spectral data and two different Monte Carlo transport codes MCNP6.1 and PHITS3.22, with ENDF/BVIII.0, ENDF/B-VII.1, ENDF/B-V, and ENDL85 evaluated nuclear data libraries. The results show that the evaluated nuclear data libraries influence the calculated operational quantities by (3-5) %. The dosimetric quantities calculated with the PHITS code and the ENDF/B-VII.1 data library agree well with the MCNP6 results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RANKERN 16 is the latest version of the point-kernel gamma radiation transport Monte Carlo code from AMEC Foster Wheeler’s ANSWERS Software Service. RANKERN is well established in the UK shielding community for radiation shielding and dosimetry assessments. Many important developments have been made available to users in this latest release of RANKERN. The existing general 3D geometry capability has been extended to include import of CAD files in the IGES format providing efficient full CAD modelling capability without geometric approximation. Import of tetrahedral mesh and polygon surface formats has also been provided. An efficient voxel geometry type has been added suitable for representing CT data. There have been numerous input syntax enhancements and an extended actinide gamma source library. This paper describes some of the new features and compares the performance of the new geometry capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two different use cases for monitoring are analysed in this paper: the CERN video conference system – a complex ecosystem, which is being used by most HEP institutes, together with Swiss Universities through SWITCH; and the CERN Audio-Visual and Conferencing (AVC) environment – a vast Internet of Things (IoT), which includes a great variety of devices accessible via IP. Despite the differences between both use cases, a common set of techniques underpinned by IT services is discussed in order to tackle each situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a generic and scalable anomaly detection framework. Anomaly detection can improve operation and maintenance efficiency and assure experiments can be carried out effectively. The framework facilitates common tasks such as data sample building, retagging and visualization, deviation measurement and performance measurement for machine learning-based anomaly detection methods. The samples we used are sourced from Ganglia monitoring data. There are several anomaly detection methods to handle spatial and temporal anomalies within the framework. Finally, we show the rudimental application of the framework on Lustre distributed file systems in daily operation and maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2013 CERN's local data centre combined with a colocation infrastructure at the Wigner data centre in Budapest [1] have been hosting the compute and storage capacity for Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) [2] Tier-0. In this paper we will describe how we try to optimize and improve the operation of our local data centre to meet the anticipated increment of the physics compute and storage requirements for Run 3, taking into account two important changes on the way: the end of the co-location contract with Wigner in 2019 and the loan of 2 out of 6 prefabricated compute modules being commissioned by the LHCb experiment [3] for their online computing farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments rely on the networks as one of the critical parts of their infrastructure both within the participating laboratories and sites as well as globally to interconnect the sites, data centres and experiments instrumentation. Network virtualisation and programmable networks are two key enablers that facilitate agile, fast and more economical network infrastructures as well as service development, deployment and provisioning. Adoption of these technologies by HEP sites and experiments will allow them to design more scalable and robust networks while decreasing the overall cost and improving the effectiveness of the resource utilization. The primary challenge we currently face is ensuring that WLCG and its constituent collaborations will have the networking capabilities required to most effectively exploit LHC data for the lifetime of the LHC. In this paper we provide a high level summary of the HEPiX NFV Working Group report that explored some of the novel network capabilities that could potentially be deployment in time for HL-LHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VyPR (http://pyvypr.github.io/home/) is a framework being developed with the aim of automating as much as possible the performance analysis of Python programs. To achieve this, it uses an analysis-by-specification approach; developers specify the performance requirements of their programs (without any modifications of the source code) and such requirements are checked at runtime. VyPR then provides tools which allow developers to perform detailed analyses of the performance of their code. Such analyses can include determining the common paths taken to reach badly performing parts of code, deciding whether a single path through code led to variations in time taken by future observations, and more. This paper describes the developments that have taken place in the past year on VyPR's analysis tools to yield a Python shell-based analysis library, and a web-based application. It concludes by demonstrating the use of the analysis tools on the CMS Experiment's Conditions Upload service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large scientific data centers have recently begun providing a number of different types of data storage in order to satisfy the various needs of their users. Users with interactive accounts, for example, might want a POSIX interface for easy access to the data from their interactive machines. Grid computing sites, on the other hand, likely need to provide an X509-based storage protocol, like SRM and GridFTP, since the data management system is built upon them. Meanwhile, an experiment producing large amounts of data typically demands a service that provides archival storage for the safe keeping of their unique data. To access these various types of data, users must use specific sets of commands tailored to their respective storage, making access to their data complex and difficult. BNLBox is an attempt to provide a unified and easy to use storage service for all BNL users, to store their important documents, code and data. It is a cloud storage system with an intuitive web interface for novice users. It provides an automated synchronization feature that enables users to upload data to their cloud storage without manual intervention, freeing them to focus on analysis rather than data management software. It provides a POSIX interface for local interactive users, which simplifies data access from batch jobs as well. At the same time, it also provides users with a straightforward mechanism for archiving large data sets for later processing. The storage space can be used for both code and data within the compute job environment. This paper will describe various aspects of the BNLBox storage service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Information Service (IS) is an integral part of the Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ) system of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The IS allows online publication of operational monitoring data, and it is used by all sub-systems and sub-detectors of the experiment to constantly monitor their hardware and software components including more than 25000 applications running on more than 3000 computers. The Persistent Back-End for the ATLAS Information System (PBEAST) service stores all raw operational monitoring data for the lifetime of the experiment and provides programming and graphical interfaces to access them including Grafana dashboards and notebooks based on the CERN SWAN platform. During the ATLAS data taking sessions (for the full LHC Run 2 period) PBEAST acquired data at an average information update rate of 200 kHz and stored 20 TB of highly compacted and compressed data per year. This paper reports how over six years PBEAST became an essential piece of the experiment operations including details of the challenging requirements, the failures and successes of the various attempted implementations, the new types of monitoring data and the results of the time-series database technology evaluations for the improvements towards LHC Run 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fraction of general internet traffic carried over IPv6 continues to grow rapidly. The transition of WLCG central and storage services to dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 is progressing well, thus enabling the use of IPv6-only CPU resources as agreed by the WLCG Management Board and presented by us at CHEP2016. By April 2018, all WLCG Tier-1 data centres should have provided access to their services over IPv6. The LHC experiments have requested all WLCG Tier-2 centres to provide dual-stack access to their storage by the end of LHC Run 2. This paper reviews the status of IPv6 deployment in WLCG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017 the CERN IT department and the major LHC experiments reviewed the possibility to build a common High Level Trigger facility, to share costs and for a more efficient utilization of computing resources. This paper describes a Proof-of-Concept built by the CERN IT-CS group and the LHCb online and offline teams to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposal: the dedicated, high speed connection between the LHCb detector and the IT data-centre, the setup of the servers and how they were used for offline simulation and online data taking, the different technologies considered and used, the challenges encountered and how they were tackled. The Proof of Concept exceed expectations and the remote servers were used for real data taking for more than two months during the summer 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LHCb has been using the CERN/IT developed Conditions Database library COOL for several years, during LHC Run 1 and Run 2. With the opportunity window of the second long shutdown of LHC, in preparation for Run 3 and the upgraded LHCb detector, we decided to investigate alternatives to COOL as Conditions Database backend. In particular, given our conditions and detector description data model, we investigated the possibility of reusing the internal Git repository database as a conditions storage, and we adopted it since 2017 data taking. The adoption of Git gave us improved performance, smaller storage size and simplified maintenance and deployment. In this paper we describe the implementation of our Git Conditions Database and the way it simplified our detector description and conditions development workflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LHC experiments make extensive use of web proxy caches, especially for software distribution via the CernVM File System and for conditions data via the Frontier Distributed Database Caching system. Since many jobs read the same data, cache hit rates are high and hence most of the traffic flows efficiently over Local Area Networks. However, it is not always possible to have local web caches, particularly for opportunistic cases where experiments have little control over site services. The Open High Throughput Computing (HTC) Content Delivery Network (CDN), openhtc.io, aims to address this by using web proxy caches from a commercial CDN provider. Cloudflare provides a simple interface for registering DNS aliases of any web server and does reverse proxy web caching on those aliases. The openhtc.io domain is hosted on Cloudflare's free tier CDN which has no bandwidth limit and makes use of data centers throughout the world, so the average performance for clients is much improved compared to reading from CERN or a Tier 1. The load on WLCG servers is also significantly reduced. WLCG Web Proxy Auto Discovery is used to select local web caches when they are available and otherwise select openhtc.io caching. This paper describes the Open HTC CDN in detail and provides initial results from its use for LHC@Home and USCMS opportunistic computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volunteer computing project ATLAS@Home has been providing a stable computing resource for the ATLAS experiment since 2013. It has recently undergone some significant developments and as a result has become one of the largest resources contributing to ATLAS computing, by expanding its scope beyond traditional volunteers and into exploitation of idle computing power in ATLAS data centres. Removing the need for virtualization on Linux and instead using container technology has made the entry barrier significantly lower for data centre participation and in this paper, we describe the implementation and results of this change. We also present other recent changes and improvements in the project. In early 2017 the ATLAS@Home project was merged into a combined LHC@Home platform, providing a unified gateway to all CERN-related volunteer computing projects. The ATLAS Event Service shifts data processing from file-level to event-level and we describe how ATLAS@Home was incorporated into this new paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the availability of high-statistics and high-resolution anti-neutrino energy spectra, measured in experiments dedicated to the study of the neutrino oscillation in proximity of a nuclear reactor, we can now envisage to use these data as integral measurements to constrain fission and beta-decay models and nuclear data libraries. In this paper we present the ingredients for the simulation of an anti-neutrino energy spectrum and their sensitivity to the constraint by measured energy spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System, PHITS, has been developed under the collaboration of several research institutes in Japan and Europe. This system can simulate the transport of most particles with energy levels up to 1 TeV (per nucleon for ion) using different nuclear reaction models and data libraries. More than 2,500 registered researchers and technicians have used this system for various applications such as accelerator design, radiation shielding and protection, medical physics, and space- and geo-sciences. This paper summarizes the physics models and functions recently implemented in PHITS, between versions 2.52 and 2.88, especially those related to source generation useful for simulating brachytherapy and internal exposures of radioisotopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TRIPOLI-4® Monte Carlo transport code and FIFRELIN fission model have been coupled by means of external files so that neutron transport can take into account fission distributions (multiplicities and spectra) that are not averaged, as is the case when using evaluated nuclear data libraries. Spectral effects on responses in shielding configurations with fission sampling are then expected. In the present paper, the principle of this coupling is detailed and a comparison between TRIPOLI-4® fission distributions at the emission of fission neutrons is presented when using JEFF-3.1.1 evaluated data or FIFRELIN data generated either through a n/g-uncoupled mode or through a n/g-coupled mode. Finally, an application to a modified version of the ASPIS benchmark is performed and the impact of using FIFRELIN data on neutron transport is analyzed. Differences noticed on average reaction rates on the surfaces closest to the fission source are mainly due to the average prompt fission spectrum. Moreover, when working with the same average spectrum, a complementary analysis based on non-average reaction rates still shows significant differences that point out the real impact of using a fission model in neutron transport simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an overview on the process of designing a radiation tolerant surveillance camera from consumer grade components and commercially available particle shielding materials is given. This involves utilization of Monte-Carlo particle transport code MCNP6 and ENDF/B-VII.0 nuclear data libraries, as well as testing the physical electrical systems against γ radiation, utilizing JSI TRIGA mk. II fuel elements as a γ-ray sources. A new, aluminum, 20 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm irradiation facility with electrical power and signal wire guide-tube to the reactor platform, was designed and constructed and used for irradiation of large electronic and optical components assemblies with activated fuel elements. Electronic components to be used in the camera were tested against γ-radiation in an independent manner, to determine their radiation tolerance. Several camera designs were proposed and simulated using MCNP, to determine incident particle and dose attenuation factors. Data obtained from the measurements and MCNP simulations will be used to finalize the design of 3 surveillance camera models, with different radiation tolerances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VENUS-F is a fast, zero-power reactor with 30% wt. metallic uranium fuel and solid lead as coolant simulator. It serves as a mockup of the MYRRHA reactor core. This paper describes integral experiments performed in two critical VENUS-F core configurations (with and without graphite reflector). Discrepancies between experiments and Monte Carlo calculations (MCNP5) of keff, fission rate spatial distribution and reactivity effects (lead void and fuel Doppler) depending on a nuclear data library used (JENDL-4.0, ENDF-B-VII.1, JEFF-3.1.2, 3.2, 3.3T2) are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear cross-sections are being re-evaluated time and again since decades, and in the recent years they are "tuned" to match better in particular the keff measurements. However, the keff parameter as a very global parameter provides simply too many possible combinations and variations, all more or less in agreement with the differential cross section data measurements and the associated uncertainties. Adding other types of integral measurements, such as shielding and kinetics benchmarks, on the cross-section evaluation menu is expected to provide a complementary and a more complete view on the problem. This paper discusses the advantages of exploiting the effective delayed neutron fraction (βeff) measurements for nuclear data (ND) evaluation and testing. The cross-section sensitivity and uncertainty analysis revealed some crucial differences in the keff and βeff sensitivity profiles which are favorable for ND validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many years now, IRSN has developed its own Monte Carlo continuous energy capability, which allows testing various nuclear data libraries. In that prospect, a validation database of 1136 experiments was built from cases used for the validation of the APOLLO2-MORET 5 multigroup route of the CRISTAL V2.0 package. In this paper, the keff obtained for more than 200 benchmarks using the JEFF-3.1.1 and JEFF- 3.2 libraries are compared to benchmark keff values and main discrepancies are analyzed regarding the neutron spectrum. Special attention is paid on benchmarks for which the results have been highly modified between both JEFF-3 versions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictive neutronics simulations depend on accurate nuclear data. We use integral experiments of near critical assemblies as one of the key validation experiments. The accuracy of these measurements is such that they are more constraining to a nuclear data evaluation than the underlying differential data. But the solutions found in calibrating to these benchmarks are degenerate and other data are necessary to discern which is correct. Recently, we have begun to use activation data for this purpose. This paper describes many of the early Los Alamos experiments that are used in this process, with particular attention given to some of the systematic errors that affect these measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JAEA has provided an evaluated nuclear data library JENDL and nuclear application codes such as MARBLE, SRAC, MVP and PHITS. These domestic codes have been widely used in many universities and industrial companies in Japan. However, we sometimes find problems in imported processing systems and need to revise them when the new JENDL is released. To overcome such problems and immediately process the nuclear data when it is released, JAEA started developing a new nuclear data processing system, FRENDY in 2013. This paper describes the outline of the development of FRENDY and both its capabilities and performances by the analyses of criticality experiments. The verification results indicate that FRENDY properly generates ACE files. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear research and development community has a history of using both integral and differential experiments to support accurate lattice-reactor, nuclear reactor criticality and shielding simulations, as well as verification and validation efforts of cross sections and emitted particle spectra. An important aspect to this type of analysis is the proper consideration of the contribution of the neutron spectrum in its entirety, with correct propagation of uncertainties and standard deviations derived from Monte Carlo simulations, to the local and total uncertainty in the simulated reactions rates (RRs), which usually only apply to one application at a time. This paper identifies deficiencies in the traditional treatment, and discusses correct handling of the RR uncertainty quantification and propagation, including details of the cross section components in the RR uncertainty estimates, which are verified for relevant applications. The methodology that rigorously captures the spectral shift and cross section contributions to the uncertainty in the RR are discussed with quantified examples that demonstrate the importance of the proper treatment of the spectrum profile and cross section contributions to the uncertainty in the RR and subsequent response functions. The recently developed inventory code FISPACT-II, when connected to the processed nuclear data libraries TENDL-2015, ENDF/B-VII.1, JENDL-4.0u or JEFF-3.2, forms an enhanced multi-physics platform providing a wide variety of advanced simulation methods for modelling activation, transmutation, burnup protocols and simulating radiation damage sources terms. The system has extended cutting-edge nuclear data forms, uncertainty quantification and propagation methods, which have been the subject of recent integral and differential, fission, fusion and accelerators validation efforts. The simulation system is used to accurately and predictively probe, understand and underpin a modern and sustainable understanding of the nuclear physics that is so important for many areas of science and technology; advanced fission and fuel systems, magnetic and inertial confinement fusion, high energy, accelerator physics, medical application, isotope production, earth exploration, astrophysics and homeland security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MAESTRO experimental program has been designed to improve nuclear data uncertainty on a large range of materials used for detection, absorption, moderation and structures in LWRs. It consists of pile-oscillation and neutron activation experiments, carried out in the MINERVE low power facility. For this program, the core configuration has been designed to be representative of HZP (Hot Zero Power) conditions of a typical PWR. Samples of high purity elements have been manufactured with severe technological constraints to reach a target accuracy of ±2% (1σ) on the measurement. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of activation experiments, based on TRIPOLI4 Monte-Carlo calculations and various nuclear data libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New processing capabilities are under development at the NEA Data Bank (DB) that aim to provide enlarged and enhanced nuclear data services to member countries in the framework of processing, verification and benchmarking of evaluated nuclear data. Within the context of the Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion Nuclear Data Library Project (JEFF), we undertake to generate, with the latest version of AMPX processing code, a JEFF-3.2 incident-neutron nuclear data application library for the SCALE tool suite. In this paper we describe the requirements, in terms of nuclear data content, for new data to be considered and used in the SCALE tool suite. An overview of how to process and prepare JEFF-3.2 incident-neutron data with AMPX for its application in SCALE neutron transport codes is given. The resulting library is verified and tested at differential and integral level by comparing the performance of JEFF-3.2 in AMPX format with other processing and transport codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The n_TOF neutron time-of-flight facility at CERN is used for nuclear data measurements. The n_TOF Collaboration works closely with the Nuclear Reaction Data Centres (NRDC) network to disseminate the experimental data through the international EXFOR library. In addition, the Collaboration helps integrate the results in the evaluated library projects. The present contribution describes the dissemination status of n_TOF results, their impact on evaluated libraries and ongoing efforts to provide n_TOF resonance parameters in ENDF-6 format for further use by evaluation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prompt gamma radiation from neutron interactions is an important issue as it affects the operation of nuclear facilities (radiation protection or gamma heating issues) or has various uses (non-destructive identification of elements). Despite of importance, its production is inaccurately described in present nuclear data libraries. Therefore, a set of experiments have been carried out focusing on this radiation - prompt gamma from neutron inelastic scattering on oxygen and prompt gamma from radiative capture on manganese, both present the form of an aqueous solution. The gammas were induced by the Am-Be neutron source (for oxygen) and 252Cf spontaneous fission neutron source (for manganese). In the case of oxygen, the present libraries can be used, but all the libraries tested overestimated the experiment by 20–30%, considering the experimental uncertainty of 6-9%. INDEN-4.0 library is giving the best results. In the case of manganese, none of the libraries tested give acceptable results. The INDEN updated data for gamma production on manganese give usable results, but there is still a discrepancy from -36% to 55% with uncertainties from 6-15%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unconstrained physics spaces between two or more nuclear data observables in a library occur when their values can be simultaneously adjusted without violating the uncertainties in either differential information or simulations of relevant integral experiments. Differential data are often too imprecise to fully bound all nuclear data observables of interest for application simulations. Integral data are simulated with combinations of nuclear data so that an error in one observable may be hidden by a counterbalancing error in another. In this manner compensating errors may lurk within nuclear data libraries and these errors have the potential to undermine the predictive power of neutron transport simulations, particularly in situations where there is no conclusive validation experiment that resembles the application of interest. The EUCLID project (Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in Nuclear Data) developed a preliminary workflow to identify these unconstrained physics spaces by bringing together results from a large collection of integral experiments with their simulated counter-parts as well as differential information that have a one-to-one correspondence to nuclear data. This wealth of information is processed by machine learning tools for subsequent refinement by human experts. Here, we show how the EUCLID work-flow is executed by applying it first to 239Pu and then to 9Be nuclear data in ENDF/B-VIII.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, development of adjusted nuclear data library for fast rector application based on the cross-section adjustment method has been conducted since the early 1990s. The adjusted library is called the unified cross-section set, which is an ABBN-type group constant set with 70-group energy structure. The first version was developed in 1991 and is called ADJ91. After that, ADJ98, ADJ2000, ADJ2000R, and ADJ2010 were constantly developed. For instance, ADJ2010 was developed based on JENDL-4.0, which provides covariance data needed to apply the cross-section adjustment method, by using 488 integral experimental data acquired in typical fast reactor systems. ADJ2010 has been used as the standard cross-section set for nuclear design in the fast reactor cycle technology development project (FaCT) and the succeeding fast reactor projects. In parallel, the integral experimental data were further expanded to improve the design prediction accuracy of the core loaded with MA and/or degraded Pu. Using the additional integral experimental data, development of the next version of ADJ2017 was started in 2017. In 2022, the latest unified cross-section set AJD2017R was developed based on JENDL-4.0 by using 619 integral experimental data. An overview of the latest version with a review of previous ones will be shown. On the other hand, the latest Japanese evaluated nuclear data library JENDL-5 was released at the end of 2021. In the development of JENDL-5, some of the integral experimental data used in ADJ2017R were explicitly utilized in the nuclear data evaluation. However, this is not reflected in the covariance data. This situation needs to be considered when developing a next version of the unified cross-section set based on JENDL-5. Preliminary adjustment calculation based on JENDL-5 is performed using C/E (calculation/experiment) values simply evaluated by a sensitivity analysis. The preliminary result of the JENDL-5-based adjustment will be also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by the need to carefully plan and optimise the resources for the next data taking periods of Big Science projects, such as CERN's Large Hadron Collider and others, sites started a common activity, the HEPiX Technology Watch Working Group, tasked with tracking the evolution of technologies and markets of concern to the data centres. The talk will give an overview of general and semiconductor markets, server markets, CPUs and accelerators, memories, storage and networks; it will highlight important areas of uncertainties and risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring of the CERN Data Centres and the WLCG infrastructure is now largely based on the new monitoring infrastructure provided by CERN IT. This is the result of the migration from several old in-house developed monitoring tools into a common monitoring infrastructure based on open source technologies such as Collectd, Flume, Kafka, Spark, InfluxDB, Grafana and others. This new infrastructure relies on CERN IT services (OpenStack, Puppet, Gitlab, DBOD, etc) and covers the full range of monitoring tasks: metrics and logs collection, alarms generation, data validation and transport, data enrichment and aggregation (where applicable), dashboards visualisation, reports generation, etc. This contribution will present the different services offered by the infrastructure today, highlight the main monitoring use cases from the CERN Data Centres and WLCG, and analyse the last years experience of moving from legacy well-established custom monitoring tools into a common open source-based infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]