Taking benefit of the R3B/SOFIA setup to measure the mass and the nuclear charge of both fission fragments in coincidence with the total prompt-neutron multiplicity, the scission configurations are ...inferred along the thorium chain, from the asymmetric fission in the heavier isotopes to the symmetric fission in the neutron-deficient thorium. Against all expectations, the symmetric scission in the light thorium isotopes shows a compact configuration, which is in total contrast to what is known in the fission of the heavier thorium isotopes and heavier actinides. This new main symmetric scission mode is characterized by a significant drop in deformation energy of the fission fragments of about 19 MeV, compared to the well-known symmetric scission in the uranium-plutonium region.
Isobaric single charge-exchange reactions, changing nuclear charges by one unit but leaving the mass partitions unaffected, have been for the first time investigated by peripheral collisions of 112Sn ...ions accelerated up to 1A GeV at the GSI facilities. The high-resolving power of the FRS spectrometer allows us to obtain (p,n)-type isobaric charge-exchange cross sections with an uncertainty of 3.5% and to separate quasi-elastic and inelastic components in the missing-energy spectra of the ejectiles. The inelastic component is associated to the excitation of the Δ(1232) isobar resonance and the emission of pions in s-wave both in the target and projectile nucleus, while the quasi-elastic contribution is associated to the nuclear spin-isospin response of nucleon-hole excitations. An apparent shift of the Δ-resonance peak of ∼63 MeV is observed when comparing the missing-energy spectra obtained from the measurements with proton and carbon targets. A detailed analysis, performed with a theoretical model for the reactions, indicates that this observation can be simply interpreted as a change in the relative magnitude between the contribution of the excitation of the resonance in the target and in the projectile.
A novel MicroMegas detector based on microbulk technology with an embedded XY strip structure was developed, obtained by segmenting both the mesh and the anode in perpendicular directions. This ...results in a very low-mass device with good energy and spatial resolution capabilities. Such a detector is practically “transparent” to neutrons, being ideal for in-beam neutron measurements and can be used as a quasi-online neutron beam profiler at neutron time-of-flight facilities. A dedicated front end electronics and acquisition system has been developed and used. The first studies of this new detection system are presented and discussed.
235
U neutron-induced fission cross-section is commonly used as reference for determining other isotope fission cross-section. However, below 150 keV this cross section is only included as Standard ...at the thermal point and recently its integral value between 7.8 eV and 11 eV 1. The resolved resonance region, spanning up to 2.25 keV, has been reevaluated with high resolution in the last ENDF/B-VIII release 2 and a SAMMY resonance analysis was done by L. Leal et al. 3 including the CERN-nTOF experimental work of Paradela el al. 4 up to 10 keV, taken into account the IAEA Reference file.
In this work the
235
U(n,f) low-background and high-resolution experimental data obtained at the CERN-nTOF facility is combined with previous high-resolution experimental data, in order to produce a very fine grid dataset with normalisation to the IAEA Reference file. The extremelyhigh energy calibration required to reproduce the resonance sharp profiles is based on the nTOF DAQ system with a resolution below 0.1% with reference to the 8.78 eV resonance and to the sharp Al(n,g) capture dip at 5.904 keV.
The comparison of the so-evaluated profile with the experimental data and with the evaluated ones will be discussed.
A characterisation of cylindrical samples by Neutron Resonance Transmission Analysis (NRTA) at the GELINA facility of JRC Geel (Belgium) is presented. The samples were designed and produced for ...reactivity worth measurements in the MINERVE reactor of CEA Cadarache (France). NRTA was applied to determine the nuclide composition of UO2, Al2O3 and liquid samples that were doped with silver. The volume number densities of
238
U,
107
Ag and
109
Ag obtained by NRTA are within 2 % fully consistent with the values that are quoted by the manufacturer. In addition, the NRTA data reveal a tungsten contamination which is not reported by the provider. It is shown that such a contamination contributes by up to 5.7 % to the reactivity worth.
Low energy fission of 234,235,236,238U and 237,238Np radioactive beams, provided by the GSI/FRS facility, has been studied using the R3B/SOFIA setup. The latter allows, on an event-by-event basis, to ...simultaneously identify, in terms of their mass and atomic numbers, the fissioning nucleus in coincidence with both fission fragments after prompt-neutron emission. This presentation reports on new results on elemental, isobaric and isotopic yields.
To satisfy the world's constantly increasing demand for energy, a suitable mix of different energy sources has to be devised. In this scenario, an important role could be played by nuclear energy, ...provided that major safety, waste and proliferation issues affecting current nuclear reactors are satisfactorily addressed. To this purpose, a large effort has been under way for a few years towards the development of advanced nuclear systems with the aim of closing the fuel cycle. Generation IV reactors, with full or partial waste recycling capability, accelerator driven systems, as well as new fuel cycles are the main options being investigated. The design of advanced systems requires improvements in basic nuclear data, such as cross-sections for neutron-induced reactions on actinides. In this paper, the main concepts of advanced reactor systems are described, together with the related needs of new and accurate nuclear data. The present activity in this field at the neutron facility n_TOF at CERN is discussed.
Neutron-induced reaction cross-sections of actinides have been obtained at CERN n_TOF to improve the accuracy of basic data needed for the design of advanced nuclear energy systems.
The time resolution of double-gap timing resistive plate chambers (tRPC) has been measured with 10 MeV electron bunches of variable intensity. The use of electrons delivered in bunches of a few ...picoseconds was an attempt to mimic the energy deposition of heavy ions in the tRPC gas gap. The measurements show a clear dependence of the time resolution with the number of electrons per bunch, reaching 21 ps (standard deviation) for the highest beam intensity. The signal charge distribution and the time resolution are compared to data obtained with the same detectors for cosmic rays and 238U ions at 1 AGeV.
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