https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201714604014
New prompt fission neutron spectra measurements in the 238U(n,f) reaction with a dedicated setup at LANSCE/WNR
1 CEA, DAM, DIF, 91297 Arpajon, France
2 LPC Caen, ENSICAEN, Université de Caen, CNRS/IN2P3, Caen, France
3 P-27, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
a e-mail: benoit.laurent@cea.fr
Published online: 13 September 2017
A new prompt fission neutron spectra (PFNS) measurement in the 238U(n,f) reaction was performed at LANSCE/WNR facility. Evaluated data show discrepancies on the low (below 1 MeV) and high (above 5 MeV) energy parts in the PFNS for different major and minor actinides. The goal is to improve these measurements in a wide range of incident energy. The energy of the incoming neutron, inducing the fission, and the prompt neutron energies, are measured by time-of-flight method. A dedicated fission chamber was developed, in order to improve alpha-fission discrimination, timing resolution, actinide mass, and to reduce the amount of neutron scattering. To detect prompt neutrons, the 54 Chi-Nu scintillator cells array were surrounding the fission chamber. High statistics were recorded during this experiment, allowing a precise study of PFNS behavior as a function of incident neutron energy, from 1 MeV to 200 MeV. This experiment also showed that all the new tools developed to improve PFNS measurements are performing. Therefore, measurements of PFNS with others actinides such as 239Pu are planned.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
