Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of 14 MeV neutron benchmark experiment on silicon carbide

A shielding experiment on a silicon carbide (SiC) composite, a potentially important low activation structural material for the fusion reactor, was performed at the 14 MeV Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) in 2001 and analyzed using both deterministic and probabilistic transport, sensitivity and uncertainty methods. The objective of the experiment was to verify the nuclear cross section files, as well as the calculational methods, used in the design and shielding calculations for fusion reactor. Neutron activation reaction rates, neutron and photon flux spectra, and nuclear heating rates were measured at several positions inside the SiC block. Point-wise and group cross sections derived from the European Fusion File (EFF-2.4 and -3.0) and the Fusion Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (FENDL-2) were used in the analysis. Results indicate that the calculation based on the recent EFF-3.0 Si-28 nuclear data estimates the measured quantities with a reasonable uncertainty of ±(10–15)% for 1 σ.