Spallation Neutron Production by 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 GeV Protons on Pb Targets

Spallation neutron production in proton induced reactions on Pb targets at 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 GeV has been measured at the SATURNE accelerator. Double-differential cross sections were obtained over a broad angular range from which averaged neutron multiplicities per reaction were inferred for energies above 2 MeV. The results are compared with calculations performed with a high energy transport code including two different intranuclear cascade (INC) models: it is shown that the Cugnon INC model gives a better agreement with the data than the Bertini one, mainly because of improved nucleon-nucleon cross sections and Pauli blocking treatment.