(n, γ)-Cross-section measurements of 99Tc,Eu, Sm and Fe in the energy range 1 eV to 50 keV with a slowing-down time spectrometer

Absolute (n, γ)-cross-sections of some fission products with high yield have been measured. In addition, Fe has been studied to remove some unexplained discrepancies in earlier cross-section measurements. Both, the γ- and the neutron-detector have been calibrated absolutely, so the values derived here had not to be normalized to some other n, γ-cross-sections but rely on the 1/v-dependence of the ¹⁰B(n, α) ⁷Li- and the thermal Au-cross-section only.     

Thermal neutron cross section determination of short-to-medium lived nuclides using a 20 Ci Am–Be neutron source

While there are growing demands for the nuclear data at higher energy regions than keV for up-to-date scientific and technological development, accurate capture cross sections at thermal energy are still needed. The thermal neutron capture cross sections for the reactions ¹²⁷I(n,γ)¹²⁸I, ¹⁵²Sm(n,γ)¹⁵³Sm,¹⁵⁴Sm(n,γ)¹⁵⁵Sm, and ²³⁸U(n,γ)²³⁹U were determined by the method of foil activation using ⁵⁵Mn(n,γ)⁵⁶Mn as a reference reaction. The experimental samples with and without a Cd cover were irradiated in an isotropic neutron field of a 20 Ci ²⁴¹Am–Be neutron source facility. A high purity Ge detector was used to measure the induced gamma-rays from the samples and the monitor. The thermal neutron capture cross sections of the reactions ¹²⁷I(n,γ)¹²⁸I, ¹⁵²Sm(n,γ)¹⁵³Sm, ¹⁵⁴Sm(n,γ)¹⁵⁵Sm, and ²³⁸U(n,γ)²³⁹U were deduced from the analysis of obtained gamma-ray spectra. The thermal neutron capture cross section values for ¹²⁷I(n,γ)¹²⁸I, ¹⁵²Sm(n,γ)¹⁵³Sm, ¹⁵⁴Sm(n,γ)¹⁵⁵Sm, and ²³⁸U(n,γ)²³⁹U reactions are (5.93 ± 0.52), (207.3 ± 9.4), (7.7 ± 0.3), and (2.79 ± 0.09) barns respectively. The obtained results have been discussed and compared with the available experimental data and were found to be in agreement with each other.     

Differential elastic scattering cross sections of protons from Al in 2.4–4.8 MeV energy range

Measurement of differential elastic cross section of protons from aluminum was taken at 165° degree in the2.4–4.8 Me V energy range. The results and measured energy resonances were compared with reported measurements.These data will improve the reliability of backscattering analysis of Al with protons in this energy region.     

Measurement of neutron capture cross-section of the Ga(n, γ)Ga reaction at 0.0536 eV energy

The neutron capture cross-section for the ⁷¹Ga(n,  γ)⁷²Ga reaction at 0.0536 eV energy was measured using activation technique based on TRIGA Mark-II research reactor. The ¹⁹⁷Au(n, γ)¹⁹⁸Au monitor reaction was used to determine the effective neutron flux. Neutron absorption and γ-ray attenuation in gallium oxide pellet were corrected in determination of cross-section. The cross-section for the above reaction at 0.0536 eV amounts to 2.75 ± 0.14 b. As far as we know there are no experimental data available at our investigated energy. So far we are the first, who carried out experiment with 0.0536 eV neutrons for cross-section measurement. The present result is larger than that of JENDL-3.3, but consistent within the uncertainty range. The value of ENDF/B-VII is higher than this work. The result of this work will be useful to observe energy dependence of neutron capture cross-sections.     

Optimization of the steady neutron source technique for absorption cross section measurement by using an 124Sb–Be neutron source

An improved experimental approach has been developed to determine thermal neutron absorption cross sections. It uses an ¹²⁴Sb–Be neutron source which has an average neutron energy of only about 12 keV. It can be moderated in either a water tank or a paraffin filled box and can be used for aqueous or powder samples. This new design is first optimized by MCNP simulation and then benchmarked and calibrated with experiments to verify the simulations and realize the predicted improved measurement sensitivity and reproducibility. The ¹²⁴Sb–Be source device is from 1.35 to 1.71 times more sensitive than the previous method based on the use of a ²⁵²Cf source.     

Thermal neutron capture cross sections for the Sm(n,γ)Sm and Sm(n,γ)Sm reactions at 0.0536 eV energy

The neutron capture cross sections for the ¹⁵²Sm(n,γ)¹⁵³Sm and ¹⁵⁴Sm(n,γ)¹⁵⁵Sm reactions at 0.0536 eV neutron energy were measured using an activation technique based on the TRIGA Mark-II research reactor, relative to the reference reaction ¹⁹⁷Au(n,γ)¹⁹⁸Au. The activity was measured nondestructively using gamma-ray spectroscopy. Our measured values at this neutron energy are the first ones and are compared with 1/v based evaluated cross sections reported in the ENDF/B-VII and JENDL-3.3 libraries. The measured value for the ¹⁵²Sm(n,γ)¹⁵³Sm reaction is 0.28% lower than JENDL-3.3 and 0.48% higher than ENDF/B-VII. Our value for the production of ¹⁵⁵Sm is about 3% and 2.3% higher than the evaluated value with ENDF/B-VII and JENDL-3.3 at 0.0536 eV, respectively.     

Measurements of the Y(n,γ)Y cross-section in the neutron energy range of 13.5-14.6 MeV

The ⁸⁹Y(n,γ)^90mY cross-section has been measured at three neutron energy points between 13.5 and 14.6 MeV using the activation technique and a coaxial HPGe γ-ray detector. The data for the ⁸⁹Y(n,γ)^90mY cross-sections are reported to be 0.39 ± 0.02, 0.43 ± 0.02, and 0.38 ± 0.02 mb at 13.5 ± 0.2, 14.1 ± 0.1, and 14.6 ± 0.2 MeV incident neutron energies, respectively. The first data for the ⁸⁹Y(n,γ)^90mY reaction at neutron energy points of 13.5 and 14.1 MeV are presented. The natural high-purity Y₂O₃ powder was used as target material. The fast neutrons were produced by the T(d,n)⁴He reaction. Neutron energies were determined by the method of making cross-section ratios of ⁹⁰Zr(n,2n)^89m+gZr and ⁹³Nb(n,2n)^92mNb reactions, and the neutron fluencies were determined using the monitor reaction ⁹³Nb(n,2n)^92mNb. The results obtained are compared with existing data.     

Neutron cross-sections of 240Pu in the energy range 0.01–5.5 MeV

Calculated neutron cross-sections in agreement with the existing experimental data have been obtained for ²⁴⁰Pu applying a number of methods developed before for ²³⁹Pu and ²⁴²Pu. Thus accurate theoretical data have been obtained, proving in the same time the adequacy of these calculation methods for different types of isotopes.     

A function to provide neutron spectrum produced from the 9Be + p reaction with protons of energy below 12 MeV

A function to give the total neutron production cross section, angular distribution, and energy spectrum via the ⁹Be + p reaction has been created by fitting experimental data to characterize compact neutron sources with thick Be targets bombarded by protons with energy below 12 MeV. To examine the suitability of the function, calculations of the angle-dependent neutron energy spectra produced in thick Be targets with 4- and 12-MeV protons using the function were compared with corresponding experiments and calculations using the nuclear data libraries of ENDF/B-VII.0 and JENDL4.0/HE. The function was in better agreement with the experiments than the calculations using the libraries except for at backward angles. The ¹¹⁵In(n,n’)^115mIn reaction rates calculated using GEANT4 with source neutrons given by both the function and ENDF/B-VII.0 were compared with that measured at the RIKEN Accelerator-Driven Compact Neutron Source to evaluate the neutron spectrum above 1 MeV. The function slightly overestimated the measurement by 14% and the calculation with ENDF/B-VII.0 underestimated by 35%. It was concluded that the function can be applied in compact neutron source designs.     

The cross section calculation of ~(112)Sn(α,γ) ~(116)Te reaction with different nuclear models at the astrophysical energy range

The theoretical cross section calculations for the astrophysical p process are needed because most of the related reactions are technically very difficult to be measured in the laboratory. Even if the reaction was measured,most of the measured reactions have been carried out at the higher energy range from the astrophysical energies.Therefore, almost all cross sections needed for p process simulation have to be theoretically calculated or extrapolated to the astrophysical energies.~(112)Sn(α,γ)~(116)Te is an important reaction for the p process nucleosynthesis. The theoretical cross section of ~(112)Sn(α,γ)~(116)Te reaction was investigated for different global optical model potentials,level density, and strength function models at the astrophysically interested energies. Astrophysical S factors were calculated and compared with experimental data available in the EXFOR database. The calculation with the optical model potential of the dispersive model by Demetriou et al., and the back-shifted Fermi gas level density model and Brink-Axel Lorentzian strength function model best served to reproduce experimental results at an astrophysically relevant energy region. The reaction rates were calculated with these model parameters at the p process temperature and compared with the current version of the reaction rate library Reaclib and Starlib.     

Investigation of a total absorption lead-glass Cherenkov γ-spectrometer in the energy range 0.25–4.0 GeV

The possibility is studied of using lead-glass Cherenkov spectrometers of relatively small size (18 × 18 × 30 cm³), to measure the energy of gamma-quanta above 1 GeV. The spectrometer has been calibrated using monoenergetic electrons of energy 0.25, 0.5, 2.0 and 4.0 GeV. Within this range the γ-spectrometer has a linear dependence of Cherenkov pulse amplitude with energy and a high-energy resolution (half-width at half-maximum) of ±5% for electrons with E_e = 4 GeV.     

Measurement of thermal neutron capture cross section and resonance integral of the 138Ba(n, γ)139Ba reaction using 55Mn(n, γ)56Mn as a monitor

The thermal neutron capture cross section (σ_o) and the resonance integral cross section (I_o) of the ¹³⁸Ba(n, γ)¹³⁹Ba reaction have been measured by the activation method using the Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1). The barium and manganese targets were irradiated within and without a cadmium capsule. The result of the thermal neutron capture cross section for the ¹³⁸Ba(n, γ)¹³⁹Ba reaction is 0.53 ± 0.01barns. The result was obtained relative to the reference value 13.2 barns of the ⁵⁵Mn(n, γ)⁵⁶Mn reaction. The resonance integral cross section for the ¹³⁸Ba(n, γ)¹³⁹Ba reaction was also measured relative to the reference value of 13.9 barns for the ⁵⁵Mn(n, γ)⁵⁶Mn reaction. The present resonance integral cross section for the ¹³⁸Ba(n, γ)¹³⁹Ba reaction is 0.380 ± 0.005 barns. The previous measurements of the σ_o and I_o of the reaction ¹³⁸Ba(n, γ)¹³⁹Ba were reviewed and the difference between the present values and the previous results were discussed. The present work was undertaken with the aim to contribute to the experimental basis of σ_o and I_o evaluations.     

The tensile properties of plutonium gallium alloys in the temperature range 20–100° C

The room temperature compositional dependence of U.T.S., flow stress, elongation, reduction in area, density and hardness has been determined for plutonium-gallium alloys having compositions lying within the range 0—5.6 at % Ga. The tensile properties were also measured at 60° C and 100° C for δ-stabilised alloys having compositions in the range 1.1—5.6 at % Ga. These data together with that previously determined for plutonium-aluminium and plutonium-cerium alloys has enabled some deductions to be made regarding the solution hardening of α-stabilised plutonium.