Abstract
The 232Th(n,f) cross section is very important in basic nuclear physics and applications based on the Th/U fuel cycle. Using the time-of-flight method and a multi-cell fast-fission ionization chamber, a novel measurement of the 232Th(n,f) cross section relative to 235U in the 1–200 MeV range was performed at the China Spallation Neutron Source Back-n white neutron source (Back-n). The fission event-neutron energy spectra of 232Th and 235U fission cells were measured in the single-bunch mode. Corrected 232Th/235U fission cross-sectional ratios were obtained, and the measurement uncertainties were 2.5–3.7% for energies in the 2–20 MeV range and 3.6–6.2% for energies in the 20–200 MeV range. The 232Th(n,f) cross section was obtained by introducing the standard cross section of 235U(n,f). The results were compared with those of previous theoretical calculations, measurements, and evaluations. The measured 232Th fission cross section agreed with the main evaluation results in terms of the experimental uncertainty, and 232Th fission resonances were observed in the 1–3 MeV range. The present results provide 232Th(n,f) cross-sectional data for the evaluation and design of Th/U cycle nuclear systems.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Science Data Bank at https://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.09535 and https://cstr.cn/31253.11.sciencedb.09535.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Zhi-Zhou Ren, Yi-Wei Yang, Yong-Hao Chen, Rong Liu, Bang-Jiao Ye, Jie Wen, Hai-Rui Guo, Zi-Jie Han, Qi-Ping Chen, Zhong-Wei Wen, Wei-Li Sun, Han Yi, Xing-Yan Liu, Tao Ye, Jiang-Bo Bai, Qi An, Jie Bao, Yu Bao, Ping Cao, Hao-Lei Chen, Zhen Chen, Zeng-Qi Cui, Rui-Rui Fan, Chang-Qing Feng, Ke-Qing Gao, Xiao-Long Gao, Min-Hao Gu, Chang-Cai Han, Guo-Zhu He, Yong-Cheng He, Yang Hong, Yi-Wei Hu, Han-Xiong Huang, Xi-Ru Huang, Hao-Yu Jiang, Wei Jiang, Zhi-Jie Jiang, Han-Tao Jing, Ling Kang, Bo Li, Chao Li, Jia-Wen Li, Qiang Li, Xiao Li, Yang Li, Jie Liu, Shu-Bin Liu, Ze Long, Guang-Yuan Luan, Chang-Jun Ning, Meng-Chen Niu, Bin-Bin Qi, Jie Ren, Xi-Chao Ruan, Zhao-Hui Song, Kang Sun, Zhi-Jia Sun, Zhi-Xin Tan, Jing-Yu Tang, Xin-Yi Tang, Bin-Bin Tian, Li-Jiao Wang, Peng-Cheng Wang, Zhao-Hui Wang, Xiao-Guang Wu, Xuan Wu, Li-Kun Xie, Xiao-Yun Yang, Li Yu, Tao Yu, Yong-Ji Yu, Guo-Hui Zhang, Lin-Hao Zhang, Qi-Wei Zhang, Xian-Peng Zhang, Yu-Liang Zhang, Zhi-Yong Zhang, Lu-Ping Zhou, Zhi-Hao Zhou, and Ke-Jun Zhu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zhi-Zhou Ren, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Jing-Yu Tang, Ke-Jun Zhu, and Chang-Qing Feng are editorial board members for Nuclear Science and Techniques and were not involved in the editorial review, or the decision to publish this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11675155, 11790321, and 12075216) and the National Key Research and Development Plan (No. 2016YFA0401603).
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Ren, ZZ., Yang, YW., Chen, YH. et al. Measurement of the 232Th(n,f) cross section in the 1–200 MeV range at the CSNS Back-n. NUCL SCI TECH 34, 115 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-023-01271-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-023-01271-7