Abstract
Background: Neutron-induced fission cross-section data are needed in various fields of applied and basic nuclear science. However, cross sections of short-lived nuclei are difficult to measure directly due to experimental constraints.
Purpose: The first experimental determination of the neutron-induced fission cross section of Np at nonthermal energies was performed. This minor actinide is the waiting point to Pu production in a nuclear reactor.
Method: The surrogate ratio method was employed to indirectly deduce the cross section. The surrogate reactions used were and with the reference cross section given by the well-known cross section. The ratio of observed fission reactions resulting from the two formed compound nuclei, Np and Np, was multiplied by the directly measured cross section to determine the cross section.
Results: The cross section was determined with an uncertainty ranging between 4 and 30 over the energy range of 0.5–20 MeV. The resulting cross section agrees closest with the JENDL-4.0 evaluation.
Conclusions: The measured cross section falls in between the existing evaluations, but it does not match any evaluation exactly (with JENDL-4.0 being the closest match); hence reactor codes relying on existing evaluations may under- or overestimate the amount of Pu produced during fuel burnup. The measurement helps constrain nuclear structure parameters used in the evaluations.
2 More- Received 23 December 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.87.034613
©2013 American Physical Society