Neutron capture cross section measurement of U-238 at the CERN n_TOF facility in the energy region from 1 eV to 700 keV

Author(s)

F. Mingrone, C. Massimi, G. Vannini, N. Colonna, F. Gunsing, P. Zugec, S. Altstadt, J. Andrzejewski, L. Audouin, M. Barbagallo, V. Becares, F. Becvar, F. Belloni, E. Berthoumieux, J. Billowes, D. Bosnar, M. Brugger, M. Calviani, F. Calvino, D. Cano-Ott, C. Carrapico, F. Cerutti, E. Chiaveri, M. Chin, G. Cortes, M. A. Cortes-Giraldo, M. Diakaki, C. Domingo-Pardo, I. Duran, R. Dressler, C. Eleftheriadis, A. Ferrari, K. Fraval, S. Ganesan, A. R. Garcia, G. Giubrone, I. F. Goncalves, E. Gonzalez-Romero, E. Griesmayer, C. Guerrero, A. Hernandez-Prieto, D. G. Jenkins, E. Jericha, Y. Kadi, F. Kaeppeler, D. Karadimos, N. Kivel, C. Lederer, Andreas Pavlik, Anton Wallner,

Abstract

The aim of this work is to provide a precise and accurate measurement of the U238(n,γ) reaction cross section in the energy region from 1 eV to 700 keV. This reaction is of fundamental importance for the design calculations of nuclear reactors, governing the behavior of the reactor core. In particular, fast reactors, which are experiencing a growing interest for their ability to burn radioactive waste, operate in the high energy region of the neutron spectrum. In this energy region most recent evaluations disagree due to inconsistencies in the existing measurements of up to 15%. In addition, the assessment of nuclear data uncertainty performed for innovative reactor systems shows that the uncertainty in the radiative capture cross section of U238 should be further reduced to 1-3% in the energy region from 20 eV to 25 keV. To this purpose, addressed by the Nuclear Energy Agency as a priority nuclear data need, complementary experiments, one at the GELINA and two at the n-TOF facility, were proposed and carried out within the 7th Framework Project ANDES of the European Commission. The results of one of these U238(n,γ) measurements performed at the n-TOF CERN facility are presented in this work. The γ-ray cascade following the radiative neutron capture has been detected exploiting a setup of two C6D6 liquid scintillators. Resonance parameters obtained from this work are on average in excellent agreement with the ones reported in evaluated libraries. In the unresolved resonance region, this work yields a cross section in agreement with evaluated libraries up to 80 keV, while for higher energies our results are significantly higher.

Organisation(s)

Isotope Physics

External organisation(s)

University of Bologna, University of Zagreb, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Roma, Université Paris-Saclay, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, University of Lodz, Institut de Physique Nucléaire d'Orsay (IPN), Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnológica, Charles University Prague, University of Manchester, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Universidad de Sevilla, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Paul Scherrer Institute, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Technische Universität Wien, York University

Journal

Physical Review C

Volume

95

No. of pages

14

ISSN

0556-2813

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.95.034604

Publication date

03-2017

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103014 Nuclear physics

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Portal url

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/neutron-capture-cross-section-measurement-of-u238-at-the-cern-ntof-facility-in-the-energy-region-from-1-ev-to-700-kev(dc5abaf7-ff7d-45e1-b563-8682caed229a).html