Abstract
In the present work, the measurement of the 237Np(n,f) cross section with reference to the standard 238U(n,f) reaction was performed for the first time with a MicroMegas detector, especially developed at CERN, for these measurements, within the framework of the n_TOF Collaboration. The incident monoenergetic neutron beam with energies in the range 4.5-5.3MeV was produced via the 2H(d,n) reaction at the neutron facility of the 5.5MV Tandem accelerator laboratory at NCSR “Demokritos”. The mass of the actinide content of the targets used and of their impurities was quantitatively determined via alpha spectroscopy. Furthermore, their thickness and homogeneity have been examined via the RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry) technique. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out using the code MCNP5 implementing the neutron beam setup and the MicroMegas assembly in order to determine the neutron flux for each target, as well as the existence of possible low-energy neutrons due to scattering. Additional simulations with FLUKA were performed, studying the energy deposition of the fission fragments in the active area of the detector, in order to accurately estimate the detection efficiency. Fair discrimination of the heavy and light mass peaks of the fission fragments at the energy spectra was achieved. The present work is compared to existing evaluations and previous data which present discrepancies of up to 8% within the same energy range.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
The n_TOF Collaboration (C. Paradela et al.), Phys. Rev C 82, 034601 (2010)
F. Tovesson, T.S. Hill, Phys. Rev. C 75, 034610 (2007)
O. Shcherbakov, A. Donets, A. Evdokimov, A. Fomichev, T. Fukahori, A. Hasegawa, A. Laptev, V. Maslov, G. Petrov, S. Soloviev, Y. Tuboltsev, A. Vorobyev, J. Nucl. Sci. Tech. Suppl. 2, 230 (2002)
K. Merla, P. Hausch, C. Herbach, G. Musiol, G. Pausch, U. Todt, L. Drapchinskiy, V. Kalinin, V. Shpakov, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology, Jülich, Germany (1991), edited by R. Haight, M. Chadwick, T. Kawano P. Talou (American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD, 2005) p. 510
P. Lisowski, J. Ullman, S. Balestrini, A. Carlson, O. Wasson, N. Hill, in Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology, Mito 1988, edited by S. Igarasi (Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, 1988) p. 97
H. Terayama, Y. Karino, F. Manabe, M. Yanagawa, K. Kanda, N. Hirakawa, Technical Report 47, Internal Tohoku University Reports (1986)
A.A. Goverdovskii, A.K. Gordyushin, B.D. Kuzminov, V.F. Mitrofanov, A.I. Sergachev, S.M. Solovev, G.M. Stepchenkova, Sov. At. Energy 58, 137 (1985)
W. Jingxia, R.Chaofan, S. Zhongfa, L. Jingwen, Y. Zongyuan, D. Xinlu, Chin. J. Nucl. Phys. 6, 369 (1984)
J.W. Meadows, Nucl. Sci. Eng. 85, 271 (1983)
J. Behrens, J. Browne, J. Walden, Nucl. Sci. Eng. 80, 271 (1983)
K. Kobayashi, I. Kimura, H. Gotoh, H. Yagi, Technical Report 6, Kyoto University, Research Reactor Institute (1973)
R. Jiacoletti, W. Brown, H. Olson, Nucl. Sci. Eng 48, 412 (1972)
W.E. Stein, R.K. Smith, H.L. Smith, Technical Report 9205, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (1968)
J. Grundl, Nucl. Sci. Eng. 30, 30 (1967)
P.H. White, G.P. Warner, J. Nucl. Energy 21, (1967)
H.W. Schmitt, R.B. Murray, Phys. Rev. 116, 1575 (1959)
M.B. Chadwick et al., Nuclear Data Sheets 112, 2887 (2011)
K. Shibata, O. Iwamoto, T. Nakagawa, N. Iwamoto, A. Ichihara, S. Kunieda, S. Chiba, K. Furutaka, N. Otuka, T. Ohsawa, T. Murata, H. Matsunobu, A. Zukeran, S. Kamada, J. Katakura, J. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 48, 1 (2011)
Y. Giomataris, Ph. Rebourgeard, J.P. Robert, G. Charpak, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 376, 29 (1996)
The n_TOF Collaboration (S. Andriamonje et al.), J. Korean Phys. Soc. 59, 1597 (2011)
G. Vourvopoulos, T. Paradellis, A. Asthenopoulos, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 220, 23 (1984)
R. Vlastou, M. Kokkoris, M. Diakaki, Ch. Constantinou, C.A. Kalfas, A. Kotrotsou, A. Lagoyannis, M. Lambrou, V. Loizou, E. Mara, V. Paneta, G. Provatas, A. Tsinganis, Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 269, 3266 (2011)
C. Rubbia, A high resolution spallation driven facility at the CERN-PS to measure neutron cross-sections in the Interval from 1 eV to 250 MeV, CERN/ LHC/98-02 (EET)
U. Abbondanno, n_TOF Performance Report. CERN/INTC-O-011 INTC-2002, 2002, p. 037
A. Ferrari, P.R. Sala, A. Fasso, J. Ranft, FLUKA: a multi-particle transport code, CERN-2005-10 (2005) INFN/TC_05/11, SLAC-R-773
G.D. Adeev, A method of calculation of mass and energy distributions of fission residuals in reactions induced by intermediate energy particles, Preprint INR RAS 861/93 (1993)
F.-J. Hambsch, F. Vives, P. Siegler, S. Oberstedt, Nucl. Phys. A 679, 3 (2000)
R.B. Gardner, K. Verghese, H.M. Lee, Nucl. Instrum. Methods 176, 615 (1980)
MCNPX, Version 2.5.0, LA-CP-05-0369 (Los Alamos National Laboratory, April 2005)
D. Sokaras, E. Bistekos, L. Georgiou, J. Salomon, M. Bogovac, E.A.-Siotis, V. Paschalis, I. Aslani, S. Karabagia, A. Lagoyannis, S. Harissopulos, V. Kantarelou, A.-G. Karydas, Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 269, 519 (2011)
M. Mayer, AIP Conf. Proc. 475, 541 (1999)
J.F. Ziegler, J.P. Biersack, U. Littmark, The stopping and range of ions in solids (Pergamon Press, New York, 1985)
F.B. Brown, R.F. Barrett, T.E. Booth, J.S. Bull, L.J. Cox, R.A. Forster, T.J. Goorley, R.D. Mosteller, S.E. Post, R.E. Prael, E.C. Selcow, A. Sood, J. Sweezy, Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc. 87, 273 (2002)
H. Liskien, A. Paulsen, Nucl. Data Tables 11, 569 (1973)
S. Kumar, G.L.N. Reddy, P. Rao, R. Verma, J.V. Ramana, S. Vikramkumar, V.S. Raju, Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 274, 154 (2012)
J.E. Naya, P. Jean, J. Bockholt, P. von Ballmoos, G. Vedrenne, J. Matteson, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 368, 832 (1996)
G. Meierhofer, P. Grabmayr, J. Jochum, P. Kudejova, L. Canella, J. Jolie, Phys. Rev. C 81, 027603 (2010)
V.M. Pankratov et al., At. Energy 9, 399 (1960)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by D. Pierroutsakou
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Diakaki, M., Kokkoris, M., Kyrtsos, A. et al. Determination of the 237Np(n,f) reaction cross section for En = 4.5-5.3 MeV, using a MicroMegas detector assembly. Eur. Phys. J. A 49, 62 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2013-13062-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2013-13062-3