The OKTAVIAN TOF experiments in SINBAD: Evaluation of the experimental uncertainties

Validation of nuclear data is performed with computational models that use these data for the simulation of integral experiments. International benchmark databases, such as SINBAD (Shielding INtegral Benchmark Archive Database) are extremely useful for this purpose. A thorough review and classification of the benchmarks included in SINBAD was undertaken recently in order to verify, and if possible, to extend the usage of the experiments for modern nuclear data validation, and to assist the users in selecting the proper benchmarks from the database. The main criteria used in the review were the completeness and consistency of the information, in particular concerning the evaluation of the experimental sources of uncertainty. These concern the experimental setup, the neutron source specifications, the detector characteristics, the geometry and precise material composition of the components. In this paper a review of the OKTAVIAN benchmarks is presented. The experimental information made available on the OKTAVIAN experiments was found in some respects incomplete, which prevented detailed modelling of these experiments, limiting thus the usefulness of the OKTAVIAN benchmark experiments for high-accuracy data validation. Recent revisions made to the benchmark specifications in the SINBAD database leads to a marked improvement in completeness so that the OKTAVIAN benchmarks can now be used with a reasonable degree of confidence. The uncertainties quoted by the experimentalists and augmented by the uncertainties in the applied correction factors are relatively high in some energy ranges, but this is not unexpected for these benchmarks performed in the 1980s. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.