“NJOY21: RECONR Input Error for TENDL-2023 n-Pm131 File – Invalid MAT or Routine Label”

[evagena]

Hello NJOY developers and community,

I’m trying to use NJOY21 to process TENDL-2023 neutron files into ACE (.z) format for use with Geant4’s G4ParticleHP model. However, when I run NJOY21 with the following input for n-Pm131.tendl, I consistently get errors like:

[error] Encountered invalid value for mat
[info] Error while parsing line 9
'Processed with NJOY21'/
^
Here is my full NJOY21 input file:
moder
20 21
reconr
21 22
'Converted from TENDL n-Pm131'/
6101 0/
0.001/
'Processed with NJOY21'/
'See original TENDL evaluation'/
' '/
0/
broadr
22 23
6101 0/
0.001/
300.0/
0/
heatr
23 24
6101/
0 3 4 5 6 7/
thermr
24 25
6101 0/
0/
0.001/
300.0/
0/
acer
25 0 0 0 0 0
6101 0/
'G4NDL_z_files/Pm131.z'/
1 0 1 1 0/
stop

I am using symbolic links:
• tape20 → the raw TENDL ENDF-6 file n-Pm131.tendl
• Output tapes are written to tape21, tape22, etc.

I have verified that the MAT number in the TENDL file header is 6101, and that the file is in standard ENDF-6 format.

Despite matching what I see in the NJOY tests/01 examples, this input fails with either:
• “Unrecognized routine label on line 9”
• “Invalid MAT number”
• or “nout value out of range”

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me debug:
• Is there a formatting problem in my reconr block?
• Am I misusing the string/comment lines?
• Can anyone share a minimal working NJOY21 input example for a TENDL-2023 neutron file (e.g. n-Pm131.tendl)?

Thank you in advance!

— Eleni

[nathangibson14]

Hello, On line 3, you set “ncards” equal to 0, but you give 3 lines of descriptive data (“cards”). You should either get rid of the descriptive data or change ncards to 3. Note that you are running moder, which is typically used to change an input ENDF file from ASCII to binary, but you are using ASCII both for input and output. There’s nothing wrong with sticking with the ASCII format, but in this case, you don’t need to run moder at all.

…

--Nathan From: evagena ***@***.***> Reply-To: njoy/NJOY21 ***@***.***> Date: Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 1:47 AM To: njoy/NJOY21 ***@***.***> Cc: Subscribed ***@***.***> Subject: [EXTERNAL] [njoy/NJOY21] “NJOY21: RECONR Input Error for TENDL-2023 n-Pm131 File – Invalid MAT or Routine Label” (Discussion #190) Hello NJOY developers and community, I’m trying to use NJOY21 to process TENDL-2023 neutron files into ACE (.z) format for use with Geant4’s G4ParticleHP model. However, when I run NJOY21 with the following input for n-Pm131.tendl, I consistently get errors like: [error] Encountered invalid value for mat [info] Error while parsing line 9 'Processed with NJOY21'/ ^ Here is my full NJOY21 input file: moder 20 21 reconr 21 22 'Converted from TENDL n-Pm131'/ 6101 0/ 0.001/ 'Processed with NJOY21'/ 'See original TENDL evaluation'/ ' '/ 0/ broadr 22 23 6101 0/ 0.001/ 300.0/ 0/ heatr 23 24 6101/ 0 3 4 5 6 7/ thermr 24 25 6101 0/ 0/ 0.001/ 300.0/ 0/ acer 25 0 0 0 0 0 6101 0/ 'G4NDL_z_files/Pm131.z'/ 1 0 1 1 0/ stop I am using symbolic links: • tape20 → the raw TENDL ENDF-6 file n-Pm131.tendl • Output tapes are written to tape21, tape22, etc. I have verified that the MAT number in the TENDL file header is 6101, and that the file is in standard ENDF-6 format. Despite matching what I see in the NJOY tests/01 examples, this input fails with either: • “Unrecognized routine label on line 9” • “Invalid MAT number” • or “nout value out of range” I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me debug: • Is there a formatting problem in my reconr block? • Am I misusing the string/comment lines? • Can anyone share a minimal working NJOY21 input example for a TENDL-2023 neutron file (e.g. n-Pm131.tendl)? Thank you in advance! — Eleni — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/github.com/njoy/NJOY21/discussions/190__;!!Bt8fGhp8LhKGRg!DQN4pfUw2ejjeazAmq5jX0wZchXRuFCICTzWLo8Dp4duJ4HqDh0YMcX8xoNlNbLDAkd4N8yt73b1DxBrSmlcD8ZA$>, or unsubscribe<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAK6KQ3PQXQHDZ5X2HXKAZL3EUEYNAVCNFSM6AAAAAB7Z2VQMCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ERDJONRXK43TNFXW4OZYGQ3TQNRXGY__;!!Bt8fGhp8LhKGRg!DQN4pfUw2ejjeazAmq5jX0wZchXRuFCICTzWLo8Dp4duJ4HqDh0YMcX8xoNlNbLDAkd4N8yt73b1DxBrSrrCYJ3J$>. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[evagena]

Thank you for you answer. Now I am using this so far:
moder
20 -21/
reconr
-21 -22/
'Converted from TENDL n-Pm131'/
6101 1/
0.001/
'Processed with NJOY21'/
0/
broadr
-21 -22 -23/
6101 1/
0.001/
300.0/
0/
heatr
-21 -23 -24/
6101/
gaspr
-21 -24 -25/

How to continue to make the files .z compatible for Geant4? acer is only for MCNP?