Novel tools for estimation of activation dose: description, preliminary comparison and nuclear data requirements
Two different tools for the estimation of activation dose in ITER and fusion devices based on the rigorous-two-step formalism are presented and compared in a simple geometry and irradiation conditions. The tools, one in-house and one commercially available, are based on the two main numerical methods used in radiation transport, Monte Carlo and discrete ordinates respectively. They couple transport and activation calculations in an integrated manner, allowing for the necessarily fine energy and spatial resolution required for this kind of analyses. The accuracy and completeness of the nuclear data of the commercial software is assessed against the well-established EAF data. The test problem is essentially 1D, and ITER-like irradiation conditions are employed. Despite differences in input nuclear data and output isotopic and photon production, activation dose results at several decay times and two different locations are within 15% of each other; this shows the robustness of the methods and the adequacy of the default activation data in ATTILA for shutdown dose calculations under these undemanding conditions. Recommendations are given for the improvement of the nuclear data for other applications.