CANO-OTT , D.

Accurate and reliable neutron capture cross section data for actinides are necessary for the proper design, safety regulation and precise performance assessment of transmutation devices such as Fast Critical Reactors or Accelerator Driven Systems. In particular, the neutron capture cross sections of 237Np, 240Pu and 243Am play a key role in the...

The spent fuel of current nuclear reactors contains fissile plutonium isotopes that can be combined with 238U to make mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. In this way the Pu from spent fuel is used in a new reactor cycle, contributing to the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy. The use of MOX fuels in thermal and fast reactors requires accurate...

Background: The design of new nuclear reactors and transmutation devices requires to reduce the present neutron cross section uncertainties of minor actinides. Purpose: Improvement of the Am243(n,γ) cross section uncertainty. Method: The Am243(n,γ) cross section has been measured at the n-TOF facility at CERN with a BaF2 total absorption...

The neutron capture cross section of 237Np was measured between 0.7 and 500 eV at the CERN n-TOF facility using the 4π BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter. The experimental capture yield was extracted minimizing all the systematic uncertainties and was analyzed together with the most reliable transmission data available using the sammy code. The...

New neutron cross section measurements of minor actinides have been performed recently in order to reduce the uncertainties in the evaluated data, which is important for the design of advanced nuclear reactors and, in particular, for determining their performance in the transmutation of nuclear waste. We have measured the 241 Am(n,γ) cross...

The radiative capture cross section of a highly pure (99.999%), 6.125(2) grams and 9.56(5)× 10−4 atoms/barn areal density 238U sample has been measured with the Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) in the 185 m flight path at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF. This measurement is in response to the NEA High Priority Request list,...

Accurate neutron capture cross section data for minor actinides (MAs) are required to estimate the production and transmutation rates of MAs in light water reactors with a high burnup, critical fast reactors like Gen-IV systems and other innovative reactor systems such as accelerator driven systems (ADS). Capture reactions of 244Cm open the...

The neutron capture reactions of the 244Cm and 246Cm isotopes open the path for the formation of heavier Cm isotopes and heavier elements such as Bk and Cf in a nuclear reactor. In addition, both isotopes belong to the minor actinides with a large contribution to the decay heat and to the neutron emission in irradiated fuels. There are only two...

The measurement of the capture cross-section of fissile elements, of utmost importance for the design of innovative nuclear reactors and the management of nuclear waste, faces particular difficulties related to the γ-ray background generated in the competing fission reactions. At the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n TOF we have combined...