A new accurate determination of beta-delayed neutron emission probabilities from nuclei in the low mass region of the light fission group has been performed. The measurements were carried out using ...the BELEN 4π neutron counter at the IGISOL-JYFL mass separator in combination with a Penning trap. The new results significantly improve the uncertainties of neutron emission probabilities for 91Br, 86As, 85As, and 85Ge nuclei.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
A knowledge of the decay heat emitted by thermal neutron-irradiated nuclear fuel is an important factor in ensuring safe reactor design and operation, spent fuel removal from the core, and subsequent ...storage prior to and after reprocessing, and waste disposal. Decay heat can be readily calculated from the nuclear decay properties of the fission products, actinides and their decay products as generated within the irradiated fuel. Much of the information comes from experiments performed with HPGe detectors, which often underestimate the beta feeding to states at high excitation energies. This inability to detect high-energy gamma emissions effectively results in the derivation of decay schemes that suffer from the pandemonium effect, although such a serious problem can be avoided through application of total absorption γ-ray spectroscopy (TAS). The beta decay of key radionuclei produced as a consequence of the neutron-induced fission of 235U and 239Pu are being re-assessed by means of this spectroscopic technique. A brief synopsis is given of the Valencia-Surrey (BaF2) TAS detector, and their method of operation, calibration and spectral analysis.
Total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy is used to measure accurately the intensity of γ emission from neutron-unbound states populated in the β-decay of delayed-neutron emitters. From the comparison ...of this intensity with the intensity of neutron emission one can deduce information on the (n,γ) cross section for unstable neutron-rich nuclei of interest in r process abundance calculations. A surprisingly large γ branching was observed for a number of isotopes. The results are compared with Hauser-Feshbach calculations and discussed.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Remarkable results have been published recently on the β decay of 56Zn. In particular, the rare and exotic β-delayed γ-proton emission has been detected for the first time in the fp shell. Here we ...focus the discussion on this exotic decay mode and on the observed competition between β-delayed protons and β-delayed γ rays from the Isobaric Analogue State.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The knowledge of the beta -decay properties of nuclei contributes decisively to our understanding of nuclear phenomena: the beta -delayed neutron emission of neutron rich nuclei plays an important ...role in the nucleosynthesis r-process and constitutes a probe for nuclear structure of very neutron rich nuclei providing information about the high energy part of the full beta strength (S sub( beta )) function. In addition, beta -delayed neutrons are essential for the control and safety of nuclear reactors. In order to determine the neutron energy spectra and emission probabilities from neutron precursors a MOdular Neutron time-of-flight SpectromeTER (MONSTER) has been proposed for the DESPEC experiment at the future FAIR facility. The design of MONSTER and status of its construction are reported in this work.
Decay heat studies for nuclear energy Algora, A.; Jordan, D.; Taín, J. L. ...
Hyperfine interactions,
2014/1, Volume:
223, Issue:
1-3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The energy associated with the decay of fission products plays an important role in the estimation of the amount of heat released by nuclear fuel in reactors. In this article we present results of ...the study of the beta decay of some refractory isotopes that were considered important contributors to the decay heat in reactors. The measurements were performed at the IGISOL facility of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. In these studies we have combined for the first time a Penning trap (JYFLTRAP), which was used as a high resolution isobaric separator, with a total absorption spectrometer. The results of the measurements as well as their consequences for decay heat summation calculations are discussed.
Even mass neutron-rich niobium isotopes are among the principal contributors to the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum. They are also among the most challenging to measure due to the refractory ...nature of niobium, and because they exhibit isomeric states lying very close in energy. The β-intensity distributions of 100gs,100mNb and 102gs,102mNb β decays have been determined using the total absorption γ-ray spectroscopy technique. The measurements were performed at the upgraded Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility at the University of Jyväskylä. Here, the double Penning trap system JYFLTRAP was employed to disentangle the β decay of the isomeric states. The new data obtained in this challenging measurement have a large impact in antineutrino summation calculations. As a result, for the first time the discrepancy between the summation model and the reactor antineutrino measurements in the region of the shape distortion has been reduced.
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CMK, CTK, FMFMET, IJS, NUK, PNG, UM
A new detection system for the measurement of beta-delayed neutron emission probabilities has been characterized using fission products with well known β-delayed neutron emission properties. The ...setup consists of BELEN-20, a 4π neutron counter with twenty 3He proportional tubes arranged inside a large polyethylene neutron moderator, a thin Si detector for β counting and a self-triggering digital data acquisition system. The use of delayed-neutron precursors with different neutron emission windows allowed the study of the effect of energy dependency on neutron, β and β–neutron rates. The observed effect is well reproduced by Monte Carlo simulations. The impact of this dependency on the accuracy of neutron emission probabilities is discussed. A new accurate value of the neutron emission probability for the important delayed-neutron precursor 137I was obtained, Pn=7.76(14)%.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP