Neutron-induced fission cross section of ²⁴²Pu from 15 MeV to 20 MeV

¹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
² Neutron Metrology Group, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
³ European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate G.2, Retieseweg 111, 2440 Geel, Belgium

^a e-mail: nikola.jovancevic@df.uns.ac.rs

Published online: 13 September 2017

Abstract

Accurate nuclear-data needs in the fast-neutron-energy region have been recently addressed for the development of next generation nuclear power plants (GEN-IV) by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). This sensitivity study has shown that of particular interest is the ²⁴²Pu(n,f) cross section for fast reactor systems. Measurements have been performed with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons in the energy range from 15 MeV to 20 MeV produced by the Van de Graaff accelerator of the JRC-Geel. A twin Frisch-grid ionization chamber has been used in a back-to-back configuration as fission fragment detector. The ²⁴²Pu(n,f) cross section has been normalized to ²³⁸U(n,f) cross section data. The results were compared with existing literature data and show acceptable agreement within 5%.