Nuclear Data Interagency Working Group / Research Program

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The DOE SC program in Nuclear Physics (NP), the NP Isotopes Program (IP), the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) and the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22) hereby announce their interest in receiving applications to the Nuclear Data Interagency Working Group / Research program for research projects intended to answer nuclear data questions of interest to the research communities supported by those programs and offices. The range of nuclear physics has a broad range of uses in modern society. Notable examples include fundamental research in nuclear physics, which motivates the development of accelerator technology, high-speed electronics, and special materials for sensitive detectors and targets; nuclear reactors, which have applications including the generation of electrical power, the production of isotopes, and tests of the properties of materials using neutrons; national security and nonproliferation applications, such as safeguards, nuclear forensics, and the detection of special nuclear materials (SNM); nuclear medicine, and the associated production, testing, distribution and use of isotopes in medical diagnostics and treatment; and applications to more familiar industrial problems, such as the use of radioisotopes in geological resource surveys. This FOA seeks research applications that will enhance understanding of the basic characteristics of isotopes without respect to particular uses. These applications require accurate quantitative information regarding the properties of nuclei and their interactions with matter and radiation. In reference to the applications cited above, without the appropriate nuclear data, the accurate simulation and design of experiments for fundamental research would not be possible, nuclear reactor design and operation would suffer from problematic uncertainties, it would not be possible to determine the correct dose levels in medical procedures involving nuclear isotopes, and one could not predict the sensitivity of novel remote sensing techniques. Extensive databases dedicated to nuclear data do already exist, notably those developed and maintained by NP through the US Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). However, a critical examination of the existing nuclear data often finds that it is inadequate for current applications. This may be due for example to limits on the sensitivity of experiments that were carried out in previous decades, studies that accessed only a few experimental parameters (such as limited beam energies or angular coverage), or attempts to constrain a large number of parameters with limited data. One may also require information about the nuclear properties of materials that simply did not exist previously, or that were never adequately studied under conditions that are now considered important.

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