Measurement and analysis of the ²⁴⁶Cm and ²⁴⁸Cm neutron capture cross-sections at the EAR2 of the n_TOF facility at CERN

Author(s)

, V. Alcayne, A. Kimura, E. Mendoza, D. Cano-Ott, T. Martínez, O. Aberle, F. Álvarez-Velarde, J. Andrzejewski, L. Audouin, V. Bécares, M. Bacak, M. Barbagallo, F. Bečvář, G. Bellia, E. Berthoumieux, J. Billowes, D. Bosnar, A. Brown, M. Busso, M. Caamaño, L. Caballero-Ontanaya, F. Calviño, M. Calviani, A. Casanovas, F. Cerutti, Y. H. Chen, E. Chiaveri, N. Colonna, G. Cortés, M. A. Cortés-Giraldo, L. Cosentino, S. Cristallo, L. A. Damone, M. Diakaki, M. Dietz, C. Domingo-Pardo, R. Dressler, E. Dupont, I. Durán, Z. Eleme, B. Fernández-Domínguez, A. Ferrari, P. Finocchiaro, V. Furman, K. Göbel, A. Gawlik, S. Gilardoni, A. Pavlik, A. Wallner, T. Wright

Abstract

The 246Cm(n,γ) and 248Cm(n,γ) cross-sections have been measured at the Experimental Area 2 (EAR2) of the n_TOF facility at CERN with three C6D6 detectors. This measurement is part of a collective effort to improve the capture cross-section data for Minor Actinides (MAs), which are required to estimate the production and transmutation rates of these isotopes in light water reactors and innovative reactor systems. In particular, the neutron capture in 246Cm and 248Cm open the path for the formation of other Cm isotopes and heavier elements such as Bk and Cf and the knowledge of (n,γ) cross-sections of these Cm isotopes plays an important role in the transport, transmutation and storage of the spent nuclear fuel. The reactions 246Cm(n,γ) and 248Cm(n,γ) have been the two first capture measurements analyzed at n_TOF EAR2. Until this experiment and two recent measurements performed at J-PARC, there was only one set of data of the capture cross-sections of 246Cm and 248Cm, that was obtained in 1969 in an underground nuclear explosion experiment. In the measurement at n_TOF a total of 13 resonances of 246Cm between 4 and 400 eV and 5 of 248Cm between 7 and 100 eV have been identified and fitted. The radiative kernels obtained for 246Cm are compatible with JENDL-5, but some of them are not with JENDL-4, which has been adopted by JEFF-3.3 and ENDF/B-VIII.0. The radiative kernels obtained for the first three 248Cm resonances are compatible with JENDL-5, however, the other two are not compatible with any other evaluation and are 20 and 60% larger than JENDL-5.

Organisation(s)

Isotope Physics

External organisation(s)

Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnológica, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), University of Lodz, IPHC, Technische Universität Wien, Université Paris Saclay, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Roma, Charles University Prague, Università degli Studi di Catania, University of Manchester, University of Zagreb, University of York, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Universitat de València, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universidad de Sevilla, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), University of Edinburgh, Paul Scherrer Institute, University of Ioannina, Dubna, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Australian National University

Journal

European Physical Journal A

Volume

60

No. of pages

20

ISSN

1434-6001

DOI

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2407.06377

Publication date

12-2024

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103014 Nuclear physics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/8cb3333a-be30-4197-9fdb-36095178a8e6