On the uncertainty in the nuclear model calculation of neutron and proton induced reaction cross sections

Abstract
The paper deals with the investigation of the uncertainty associated to the calculation of activation and transmutation cross sections for neutron and proton induced reactions. Results of the calculations performed by means of the TALYS code and the ALICE/ASH code with different models for the description of the nuclear level densities have been extensively compared with EXFOR experimental data. Statistical deviation factors quantifying the discrepancy between experimental and theoretical results have been obtained, which can be used to define appropriate models for the nuclear reaction cross section calculation for different mass range of target nuclei. Furthermore, experimental data have been also compared against the most modern nuclear data files in order to investigate the gain in accuracy one should expect from the evaluation work with respect to the data obtained via nuclear model calculation.