Measurement of 242Pu(n,f) in the 1-2 MeV energy range

Ludovic Mathieu; Mourad Aïche; Paola Marini; Olivier Bouland; Carole Chatel; Serge Czajkowski; Deby Kattikat-Melcom; Teresa Kurtukian; Stephan Oberstedt; Igor Tsekhanovich

doi:10.1051/epjconf/202429401006

All issues

Volume 294 (2024)

EPJ Web of Conf., 294 (2024) 01006

Abstract

Open Access

Issue		EPJ Web of Conf. Volume 294, 2024 WONDER-2023 - 6^th International Workshop On Nuclear Data Evaluation for Reactor applications


Article Number		01006
Number of page(s)		8
Section		Microscopic and Integral Nuclear Data Measurements
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202429401006
Published online		17 April 2024

EPJ Web of Conferences 294, 01006 (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202429401006

Measurement of ²⁴²Pu(n,f) in the 1-2 MeV energy range

Ludovic Mathieu¹, Mourad Aïche¹, Paola Marini¹, Olivier Bouland², Carole Chatel³, Serge Czajkowski¹, Deby Kattikat-Melcom¹, Teresa Kurtukian¹, Stephan Oberstedt⁴ and Igor Tsekhanovich¹

¹ Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, LP2I, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France
² CEA, DES, IRESNE, DER, SPRC, Physics Studies Laboratory, Cadarache, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France
³ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC/DRS UMR 7178, 23 Rue du Loess, F-67037 Strasbourg, France
⁴ European Commission, Joint Research Centre, 2440 Geel, Belgium

Published online: 17 April 2024

Abstract

The design of new generation fast nuclear reactors requires highly accurate cross-section measurements in the MeV energy region. The ²⁴²Pu fission cross section is of particular interest for Pu incineration and nuclear waste production. There are discrepancies around 1 MeV incident neutron energy between libraries and among experimental data. Some data suggest the presence of a strong structure between 1 and 1.2 MeV whereas it is barely visible on some other data and its shape is very different among evaluations. The large majority of the ²⁴²Pu(n,f) measurements have been carried out with respect to the ²³⁵U(n,f) secondary-standard cross section. This introduces a strong correlation between measurements from different research teams. Moreover, this reference cross section exhibits structures, in particular a steep increase of +10% at 1 MeV. Therefore, we aim to re-measure the ²⁴²Pu(n,f) cross section relative to the primary-standard ¹H(n,n)p cross section, by using a proton recoil detector. This standard has a very high accuracy (0.4%), is not used for other ²⁴²Pu measurements, and is structureless. An experiment has been carried out in October 2022 at the MONNET facility in JRC Geel, with incident neutron energies from 0.9 MeV to 2.0 MeV. The experimental setup will be presented, and the analysis procedure will be detailed.

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