Abstract
MCNP6, the latest and most advanced LANL transport code representing a recent merger of MCNP5 and MCNPX, has been Validated and Verified (V&V) against a variety of intermediate and high-energy experimental data and against results by different versions of MCNPX and other codes. In the present work, we V&V MCNP6 using mainly the latest modifications of the Cascade-Exciton Model (CEM) and of the Los Alamos version of the Quark-Gluon String Model (LAQGSM) event generators CEM03.03 and LAQGSM03.03. We found that MCNP6 describes reasonably well various reactions induced by particles and nuclei at incident energies from 18MeV to about 1TeV per nucleon measured on thin and thick targets and agrees very well with similar results obtained with MCNPX and calculations by CEM03.03, LAQGSM03.03 (03.01), INCL4 + ABLA, and Bertini INC + Dresner evaporation, EPAX, ABRABLA, HIPSE, and AMD, used as stand-alone codes. Most of several computational bugs and more serious physics problems observed in MCNP6/X during our V&V have been fixed; we continue our work to solve all the known problems before MCNP6 is distributed to the public.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H.G. Hughes et al., Recent Developments in MCNP and MCNPX, LANL report LA-UR-08-01065 (2008)
J.T. Goorley, Eolus L2: MCNP MCNPX merger (U), LANL report LA-UR-09-06034 (2009)
X-5 Monte Carlo Team, MCNP - A General Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code, Version 5, Volume I: Overview and Theory, LANL report LA-UR-03-1987 (2008)
L.S. Waters (Editor), MCNPX User’s Manual, Version 2.3.0, LANL report LA-UR-02-2607 (2002)
S.G. Mashnik et al., CEM03.03 and LAQGSM03.03 Event Generators for the MCNP6, MCNPX, and MARS15 Transport Codes, LANL report LA-UR-08-2931 (2008)
S.G. Mashnik, Validation and Verification of MCNP6 against High-Energy Experimental Data and Calculations by other Codes. I. The CEM Testing Primer, LANL report LA-UR 11-xxxxx (2011)
S.G. Mashnik, Validation and Verification of MCNP6 against High-Energy Experimental Data and Calculations by other Codes. II. The LAQGSM Testing Primer, LANL report LA-UR 11-xxxxx (2011)
D.B. Pelowitz (Editor), MCNPX User’s Manual, Version 2.6.0, LANL report LA-CP-07-1473 (2008)
R.E. Prael, Tally Edits for the MCNP6 GENXS Option, LANL Research Note X-5-RN(U) 04-41 (2004)
M. Hagiwara, Spectrum Measurement of Neutrons and Gamma-rays from Thick H218O Target Bombarded with 18 MeV Protons, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology (ND2010), Jeju Island, Korea, April 26–30, 2010, in press.
H.W. Bertini, Phys. Rev. 131, 1801 (1963)
R.E. Prael, M. Bozoian, Adaptation of the Multistage Preequilibrium Model for the Monte Carlo Method, LANL report LA-UR-88-3238 (1988)
L. Dresner, EVAP - A Fortran Program for Calculation the Evaporation of Various Particles from Excited Compound Nuclei, Oak Ridge National Laboratory report ORNL-TM-196 (1962)
A.A. Cowley et al., Phys. Rev. C 54, 778 (1996)
Benchmark of Spallation Models organized at the International Atomic Energy Agency during 2008–2009, http://nds121.iaea.org/alberto/mediawiki-1.6.10/index.php/Main_Page
A. Sandoval et al., Phys. Rev. C 21, 1321 (1980)
C. Villagrasa-Canton et al., Phys. Rev. C 75, 044603 (2007)
I.L. Azhgirey et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 267, 3601 (2009)
D.B. Pelowitz et al., MCNPX 2.7.A Extensions, LANL report LA-UR-08-07182 (2008)
A. Boudard et al., Phys. Rev. C 66, 044615 (2002)
A.R. Junghans et al., Nucl. Phys. A 629, 635 (1998)
I.L. Azhgirey et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 268, 3426 (2010)
S. Nagamiya et al., Phys. Rev. C 24, 971 (1981)
M. Mocko, Rare Isotope Production, PhD thesis, Michigan State University (2006), http://groups.nscl.msu.edu/nscl_library/Thesis/index.htm
K. Summerer, B. Blank, Phys. Rev. C 61, 034607 (2000)
J.-J. Gaimard, K.-H. Schmidt, Nucl. Phys. A 531, 709 (1991)
D. Lacroix et al., Phys. Rev. C 69, 054604 (2004)
A. Ono, H. Horiuchi, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 53, 501 (2004)
L. Heilbronn et al., Nucl. Sci. Eng. 157, 142 (2007)
D.B. Pelowitz et al., MCNPX 2.7.B Extensions, LANL report LA-UR-09-04150 (2009).
J.R. Cummings et al., Phys. Rev. C 42, 2508 (1990)
L.Y. Geer et al., Phys. Rev. C 52, 334 (1995)
C. Scheidenberger et al., Phys. Rev. C 70, 014902 (2004)
M.A. Rana, S. Manzoor, Rad. Measur. 43, 1383 (2008)
N.A. Nikiforov et al., Phys. Rev. C 22, 700 (1980)
S. Frankel et al., Phys. Rev. C 20, 2257 (1979)
S.G. Mashnik et al., J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 41, 340 (2006) arXiv:nucl-th/0510070
S.G. Mashnik et al., Overview and Validation of the CEM03.01 and LAQGSM03.01 Event Generators for MCNP6, MCNPX, and MARS15, presentation at the Hadronic Shower Simulation Workshop (HSSW06), FNAL, Batavia, IL, USA, September 6–8, 2006, http://indico.cern.ch/conferenceOtherViews.py?view=standard&confId=3734
S. Mashnik, arXiv:1011.4978
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mashnik, S.G. Validation and verification of MCNP6 against intermediate and high-energy experimental data and results by other codes. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 126, 49 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2011-11049-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2011-11049-1