Present status of neutron potential further development of optical potential research

Recent needs of nuclear data are found not only in the fields related to nuclear power plants but also in the other fields : medical applications, transmutation of nuclear waste, space development, non-destructive test, analysis, wide-range dosimetry, etc. To meet such wide needs, nuclear data are required for various types of incident particles and target nuclei in the wide energy range. Under these circumstances, "Research Committee on Neutron Optical Potentials" had been organized in the period from April, 1992 to March, 1994, and had investigated and discussed various problems related to neutron optical potentials which are indispensable for nuclear data evaluation. Their final report, "Present Status of Neutron Potential" was published in May, 1997. In the present report, we overview the results given in the committee.