Improving nuclear data accuracy of ²⁴¹Am and ²³⁷Np capture cross sections

¹ European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Geel, Belgium
² CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain
³ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
⁴ Kyoto University, Kumatori, Osaka, Japan
⁵ Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki, Japan
⁶ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Juelich, Germany
⁷ CEA, Irfu, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
⁸ CEA, Cadarache, France
⁹ CEA, LIST, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNE-LNHB), Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
¹⁰ Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, Obninsk, Russia
¹¹ OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
¹² Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany

^a e-mail: gasper.zerovnik@ec.europa.eu

Published online: 13 September 2017

Abstract

In the framework of the OECD/NEA WPEC subgroup 41, ways to improve neutron induced capture cross sections for ²⁴¹Am and ²³⁷Np are being sought. Decay data, energy dependent cross section data and neutron spectrum averaged data are important for that purpose and were investigated. New time-of-flight measurements were performed and analyzed, and considerable effort was put into development of methods for analysis of spectrum averaged data and re-analysis of existing experimental data.