Measurement of ${}^{232}\mathrm{Th}(n,\gamma )$ reaction cross sections in the neutron energy range of 11–19 MeV

The cross sections for the ${}^{232}\mathrm{Th}(n,\gamma )$ reaction have been measured in the neutron energy range of 11–19 MeV by using activation and offline $\gamma$-ray spectrometric techniques. The neutrons of desired energy were obtained by the ${}^7\mathrm{Li}(p,n)$ reaction using a proton beam of 13–21 MeV from the 14UD BARC-TIFR Pelletron facility at Mumbai, India. The ${}^{232}\mathrm{Th}(n,\gamma )$ reaction cross sections were calculated using the computer code talys-1.8. The uncertainties in the measurement have been studied using covariance analysis of the experimental data. The results from the present work have been compared with the evaluated data of ENDF/B-VII.1 and JENDL-4.0 as well as the theoretically calculated values based on talys-1.8, and were found to be in good agreement. The outcome of the present work is important for the development of future fast reactors and accelerator driven subcritical systems (ADSs).

Figure 1

Experimental setup used for the irradiations.

Figure 2

Neutron spectra generated from the ${}^7\mathrm{Li}(p,n)$ reaction using 16 and 21 MeV protons.

Figure 3

Comparison of the present experimental ${}^{232}\mathrm{Th}{(n,\gamma )}^{233}\text{Th}$ reaction cross sections with the literature data [22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 49], evaluated data [38, 43], and theoretical values [54].

Figure 4

Comparison of ${}^{232}\mathrm{Th}{(n,2n)}^{231}\text{Th}$ reaction cross sections with the literature data [24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 50, 51, 52, 53], evaluated data [38, 43], and theoretical values [54].