• Energy Research

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.

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.

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.

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.