• Energy Research

The ratio of the neutron-induced fission cross-sections of 243Am and 235U was measured in the energy range from 0.5 to 20 MeV with uncertainties of ≈4%. The experiment was performed at the CERN n TOF facility using a fast ionization chamber. With the good counting statistics that could be achieved thanks to the high instantaneous flux and the low backgrounds, the present results are useful for resolving discrepancies in previous data sets and are important for future reactors with improved fuel burn-up.

The successful development of advanced nuclear systems for sustainable energy production and nuclear waste management depends on high quality nuclear data libraries. Recent sensitivity stud- ies and reports [1-3] have identi ed the need for substantially improving the accuracy of neutron cross-section data for minor actinides. The n TOF collaboration has initiated an ambitious exper- imental program for the measurement of neutron capture cross sections of minor actinides. Two experimental setups have been constructed for this purpose: a Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) [4] for measuring neutron capture cross-sections of low-mass and/or radioactive samples and a set of two low neutron sensitivity C6D6 detectors for the less radioactive materials.

During the 2004 campaign, the n_TOF collaboration measured neutron fission cross sections for 233U, 241,243Am, 245Cm, as well as the fission standards 235,238U, using a sealed Fission Ionization Chamber (FIC). The setup included a total of 16 targets and 18 electrodes mounted together in a 50-cm length chamber, allowing the measurements of all isotopes at the same time, thus in the same experimental conditions. A brief description of the facility and of the detector setup will be presented followed by the preliminary results of the analysis of 235U, 233U, and 245Cm from thermal energies up to some tenths of MeV.

Neutron-induced ssion cross-sections of minor actinides have been measured using the n TOF white neutron source at CERN, Geneva, as part of a large experimental program aiming at collecting new data relevant for nuclear astrophysics and for the design of advanced reactor systems. The measurements at n TOF take advantage of the innovative features of the n TOF facility, namely the wide energy range, high instantaneous neutron ux and good energy resolution. Final results on the ssion cross-section of 233U, 245Cm and 243Am from thermal to 20 MeV are here reported, together with preliminary results for 241Am. The measurement have been performed with a dedicated Fast Ionization Chamber (FIC), a ssion fragment detector with a very high e ciency, relative to the very well known cross-section of 235U, measured simultaneously with the same detector.

We have measured the neutron capture cross sections of the stable magnesium isotopes 24,25,26Mg in the energy range of interest to the s process using the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN. Capture events from a natural metal sample and from samples enriched in 25Mg and 26Mg were recorded using the total energy method based on C6 2H6 detectors. Neutron resonance parameters were extracted by a simultaneous resonance shape analysis of the present capture data and existing transmission data on a natural isotopic sample. Maxwellian-averaged capture cross sections for the three isotopes were calculated up to thermal energies of 100 keV and their impact on s-process analyses was investigated. At 30 keV the new values of the stellar cross section for 24Mg, 25Mg, and 26Mg are 3.8±0.2 mb, 4.1±0.6 mb, and 0.14±0.01 mb, respectively.