A new summation method model of the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum is presented. It is updated with the most recent evaluated decay databases and with our total absorption gamma-ray ...spectroscopy measurements performed during the last decade. For the first time, the spectral measurements from the Daya Bay experiment are compared with the antineutrino energy spectrum computed with the updated summation method without any renormalization. The results exhibit a better agreement than is obtained with the Huber-Mueller model in the 2-5 MeV range, the region that dominates the detected flux. A systematic trend is found in which the antineutrino flux computed with the summation model decreases with the inclusion of more pandemonium-free data. The calculated flux obtained now lies only 1.9% above that detected in the Daya Bay experiment, a value that may be reduced with forthcoming new pandemonium-free data, leaving less room for a reactor anomaly. Eventually, the new predictions of individual antineutrino spectra for the ^{235}U, ^{239}Pu, ^{241}Pu, and ^{238}U are used to compute the dependence of the reactor antineutrino spectral shape on the fission fractions.
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In this review we will present the results of recent
β
-decay studies using the total absorption technique that cover topics of interest for applications, nuclear structure and astrophysics. The ...decays studied were selected primarily because they have a large impact on the prediction of (a) the decay heat in reactors, important for the safety of present and future reactors and (b) the reactor electron anti-neutrino spectrum, of interest for particle/nuclear physics and reactor monitoring. For these studies the total absorption technique was chosen, since it is the only method that allows one to obtain
β
-decay probabilities free from a systematic error called the Pandemonium effect. The total absorption technique is based on the detection of the
γ
cascades that follow the initial
β
decay. For this reason the technique requires the use of calorimeters with very high
γ
detection efficiency. The measurements presented and discussed here were performed mainly at the IGISOL facility of the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) using isotopically pure beams provided by the JYFLTRAP Penning trap. Examples are presented to show that the results of our measurements on selected nuclei have had a large impact on predictions of both the decay heat and the anti-neutrino spectrum from reactors. Some of the cases involve
β
-delayed neutron emission thus one can study the competition between
γ
- and neutron-emission from states above the neutron separation energy. The
γ
-to-neutron emission ratios can be used to constrain neutron capture (n,
γ
) cross sections for unstable nuclei of interest in astrophysics. The information obtained from the measurements can also be used to test nuclear model predictions of half-lives and Pn values for decays of interest in astrophysical network calculations. These comparisons also provide insights into aspects of nuclear structure in particular regions of the nuclear chart.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
In this Letter, we study the impact of the inclusion of the recently measured beta decay properties of the (102;104;105;106;107)Tc, (105)Mo, and (101)Nb nuclei in an updated calculation of the ...antineutrino energy spectra of the four fissible isotopes (235,238)U and (239,241)Pu. These actinides are the main contributors to the fission processes in pressurized water reactors. The beta feeding probabilities of the above-mentioned Tc, Mo, and Nb isotopes have been found to play a major role in the γ component of the decay heat of (239)Pu, solving a large part of the γ discrepancy in the 4-3000 s range. They have been measured by using the total absorption technique, insensitive to the pandemonium effect. The calculations are performed by using the information available nowadays in the nuclear databases, summing all the contributions of the beta decay branches of the fission products. Our results provide a new prediction of the antineutrino energy spectra of (235)U, (239,241)Pu, and, in particular, (238)U for which no measurement has been published yet. We conclude that new total absorption technique measurements are mandatory to improve the reliability of the predicted spectra.
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We report results on the long-term variation of the neutron counting rate at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory, of importance for several low-background experiments installed there, including ...rare-event searches. The measurement campaign was performed employing the High Efficiency Neutron Spectrometry Array (HENSA) mounted in Hall A and lasted 412 live days. The present study is the first long-term measurement of the neutron rate with sensitivity over a wide range of neutron energies (from thermal up to 0.1 GeV and beyond) performed in any underground laboratory so far. Data on the environmental variables inside the experimental hall (radon concentration, air temperature, air pressure and humidity) were also acquired during all the measurement campaign. We have investigated for the first time the evolution of the neutron rate for different energies of the neutrons and its correlation with the ambient variables.
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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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Effort has been expended to assess the relative merits of undertaking further decay-data measurements of the main fission-product contributors to the decay heat of neutron-irradiated fissionable fuel ...and related actinides by means of Total Absorption Gamma-ray Spectroscopy (TAGS - sometimes abbreviated to TAS) and Discrete Gamma-ray Spectroscopy (DGS). This review has been carried out following similar work performed under the auspices of OECD/WPEC-Subgroup 25 (2005–2007) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (2009, 2014), and various highly relevant TAGS measurements completed as a consequence of such assessments. We present our recommendations for new decay-data evaluations, along with possible requirements for total absorption and discrete high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy studies that cover approximately 120 fission products and various isomeric states.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the β- and γ-secretases
generates the amino and carboxy termini, respectively, of the Aβ amyloidogenic
peptides Aβ40 and Aβ42-the major constituents of ...the amyloid
plaques in the brain parenchyma of Alzheimer's disease patients.
There is evidence that the polytopic membrane-spanning proteins, presenilin
1 and 2 (PS1 and PS2), are important determinants of γ-secretase activity:
mutations in PS1 and PS2 that are associated with early-onset familial
Alzheimer's disease increase the production of Aβ42
(refs 4,5,6), the more amyloidogenic peptide; γ-secretase activity
is reduced in neuronal cultures derived from PS1-deficient mouse embryos; and directed mutagenesis of two conserved aspartates in transmembrane
segments of PS1 inactivates the ability of γ-secretase to catalyse processing
of APP within its transmembrane domain. It is unknown, however,
whether PS1 (which has little or no homology to any known aspartyl protease)
is itself a transmembrane aspartyl protease or a γ-secretase cofactor,
or helps to colocalize γ-secretase and APP. Here we report photoaffinity
labelling of PS1 (and PS2) by potent γ-secretase inhibitors that were
designed to function as transition state analogue inhibitors directed to the
active site of an aspartyl protease. This observation indicates that PS1 (and
PS2) may contain the active site of γ-secretase. Interestingly, the
intact, single-chain form of wild-type PS1 is not labelled by an active-site-directed
photoaffinity probe, suggesting that intact wild-type PS1 may be an aspartyl
protease zymogen.
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Total absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate the β-decay intensity to states above the neutron separation energy followed by γ-ray emission in (87,88)Br and (94)Rb. Accurate results are ...obtained thanks to a careful control of systematic errors. An unexpectedly large γ intensity is observed in all three cases extending well beyond the excitation energy region where neutron penetration is hindered by low neutron energy. The γ branching as a function of excitation energy is compared to Hauser-Feshbach model calculations. For (87)Br and (88)Br the γ branching reaches 57% and 20%, respectively, and could be explained as a nuclear structure effect. Some of the states populated in the daughter can only decay through the emission of a large orbital angular momentum neutron with a strongly reduced barrier penetrability. In the case of neutron-rich (94)Rb the observed 4.5% branching is much larger than the calculations performed with standard nuclear statistical model parameters, even after proper correction for fluctuation effects on individual transition widths. The difference can be reconciled by introducing an enhancement of 1 order of magnitude in the photon strength to neutron strength ratio. An increase in the photon strength function of such magnitude for very neutron-rich nuclei, if it proves to be correct, leads to a similar increase in the (n,γ) cross section that would have an impact on r process abundance calculations.
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The antineutrino spectra measured in recent experiments at reactors are inconsistent with calculations based on the conversion of integral beta spectra recorded at the ILL reactor. Rb-92 makes the ...dominant contribution to the reactor antineutrino spectrum in the 5-8 MeV range but its decay properties are in question. We have studied Rb-92 decay with total absorption spectroscopy. Previously unobserved beta feeding was seen in the 4.5-5.5 region and the GS to GS feeding was found to be 87.5(25)%. The impact on the reactor antineutrino spectra calculated with the summation method is shown and discussed.
The antineutrino spectra measured in recent experiments at reactors are inconsistent with calculations based on the conversion of integral beta spectra recorded at the ILL reactor. Rb-92 makes the dominant contribution to the reactor antineutrino spectrum in the 5-8 MeV range but its decay properties are in question. We have studied Rb-92 decay with total absorption spectroscopy. Previously unobserved beta feeding was seen in the 4.5-5.5 region and the GS to GS feeding was found to be 87.5(25)%. The impact on the reactor antineutrino spectra calculated with the summation method is shown and discussed.
Peer Reviewed
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