https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201921103005
Neutron inelastic scattering of 232Th: measurements and beyond
1 Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
2 Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Reactorului 30, Magurele – Bucharest, 077125, Romania
3 Institut de Physique Nucléaire, CNRS-IN2P3, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91406 Orsay Cedex, France
4 European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate G – Nuclear Safety and Security, Unit G.2, Retieseweg 111, 2440 Geel, Belgium
* e-mail: eliot.party@etu.unistra.fr
Published online: 5 June 2019
Gamma production cross sections have been obtained for 81 transitions in 232Th from (n,n’γ), 11 in 231Th from (n,2nγ) and 7 in 230Th from (n,3nγ) reactions using prompt gamma spectroscopy. Incident neutron energies were determined using the neutron time-of-flight technique. Sources of uncertainty have been examined and their correlations have been computed. Total uncertainty on cross sections ranges from 4 to 20%. Obtained cross sections are in agreement with prior experiments, but are not well reproduced by the TALYS 1.8 reaction code using default parameters. During analysis, discrepancies between our findings and the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) were noted. Future work related to the present experiment includes: improving theoretical models, quantifying the influence of the 232Th inelastic neutron cross section on reactor core parameters, and conducting additional measurements.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2019
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.
