0000000000370456
AUTHOR
Emilio Mendoza
Radiative neutron capture on 242Pu in the resonance region at the CERN n_TOF-EAR1 facility
The spent fuel of current nuclear reactors contains fissile plutonium isotopes that can be combined with uranium to make mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. In this way the Pu from spent fuel is used in a new reactor cycle, contributing to the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy. However, an extensive use of MOX fuels, in particular in fast reactors, requires more accurate capture and fission cross sections for some Pu isotopes. In the case of 242Pu there are sizable discrepancies among the existing capture cross-section measurements included in the evaluations (all from the 1970s) resulting in an uncertainty as high as 35% in the fast energy region. Moreover, postirradiation experiments evaluat…
Measurement of the U 238 (n,γ) cross section up to 80 keV with the total absorption calorimeter at the CERN n-TOF facility
The radiative capture cross section of a highly pure (99.999%), 6.125(2) grams and 9.56(5)× 10−4 atoms/barn areal density 238U sample has been measured with the Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) in the 185 m flight path at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF. This measurement is in response to the NEA High Priority Request list, which demands an accuracy in this cross section of less than 3% below 25 keV. These data have undergone careful background subtraction, with special care being given to the background originating from neutrons scattered by the 238U sample. Pileup and dead-time effects have been corrected for. The measured cross section covers an energy range between 0.2 …