Benchmarks of Neutron and Proton Induced Nuclear Data Against Accelerator-Related Experiments in SINBAD

Nuclear particle transport codes are essential in the design and licensing of shielding of nuclear installations. Accurate shielding design is based on calculations using Monte Carlo radiation transport codes, which predict the secondary particle production from the proton interactions as they traverse in the material. The particle transport simulation is based on the use of nuclear data or physics models. The ideal way to test the nuclear data libraries, physics models and particle transport itself in the code is benchmarking against experimental data. Therefore a representative benchmarks from the SINBAD database [1] were selected for nuclear data and code validation. The measured transmitted neutron fluxes produced from Cu t and C targets irradiated with a 75 MeV and 52 MeV proton beams, respectively, were reproduced with the MCNP6.2 [2] radiation transport code using nuclear data libraries (TENDL [3], ENDF [4], JENDL [5], JEFF [6]) and MCNP6 build-in physics models. Selection of the experiments for this benchmarking was made considering their relevance to the MYRRHA accelerator driven system (ADS) [6] designed at SCK CEN, which couples a proton accelerator to a subcritical reactor. In its first phase, the MINERVA (MYRRHA Isotopes productioN coupling the linEar acceleRator to the Versatile proton target fAcility), a linear accelerator of protons up to 100 MeV will deliver the beam to dedicated end facilities. In the present work, we consider the shielding problem with concrete and graphite shields behind Cu and C targets, which are the potential candidate materials for shielding and beam dump of MINERVA.