First Assessment of ENDF/B-VIII and EPICS atomic data libraries

Abstract

This paper reports an extensive assessment of widely used evaluated atomic data libraries released in ENDF/B-VIII.0 and in EPICS2017 in early 2018. The new versions are intended to replace the data libraries currently used by major Monte Carlo particle transport codes to model electron and photon interactions with matter, which date back to the 1990s. The evaluation is performed from a user perspective and concerns various characteristics of the data, including their intrinsic consistency, the differences across their various formats and distribution sources, and the effects on computational performance associated with their use. The results of the tests demonstrate the impact of using the new data libraries in a Monte Carlo simulation environment and highlight some opportunities for improvement in future versions.