The imaginary part of the nuclear optical potential for neutrons is calculated by means of a method of the volume direct processes, on the basis of the statistical independent particle model with a eiffuse nuclear surface. It is shown that the localization of the absorption near the surface, which was found by Bjorklund and Fernbach, can be reproduced using reasonable values for the relevant parameters. The effect of the Pauli exclusion principle, of the energy dependence of the two-body collision cross section, of the mass number dependence of the parameters, and of the correlation between nucleons are also discussed.