Decays of the Three Top Contributors to the Reactor ν¯e High-Energy Spectrum, Rb92 , Y96gs , and Cs142 , Studied with Total Absorption Spectroscopy

Rasco, B. C.; Wolińska-Cichocka, M.; Fijałkowska, A.; Rykaczewski, Krzysztof P.; Karny, Marek; Grzywacz, Robert Kazimierz; Goetz, K. C.; Gross, Carl J.; Stracener, Daniel W.; Zganjar, E. F.; Batchelder, Jon C.; Blackmon, J. C.; Brewer, Nathan T.; Go, S.; Heffron, Blaine; King, T.; Matta, James T.; Miernik, Krzysztof; Nesaraja, Caroline D.; Paulauskas, S. V.; Rajabali, M. M.; Wang, E. H.; Winger, J. A.; Xiao, Y.; Zachary, C. J.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.092501

Title: Decays of the Three Top Contributors to the Reactor ${\bar{ν}}_{e}$ High-Energy Spectrum, ${}^{92}{Rb}$ , ${}^{96 gs}Y$ , and ${}^{142}{Cs}$ , Studied with Total Absorption Spectroscopy

Journal Article · Mon Aug 22 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.092501· OSTI ID:1491328

Rasco, B. C. ^[1]; Wolińska-Cichocka, M. ^[2]; Fijałkowska, A. ^[3];

^[4]; Karny, Marek ^[2];

^[5]; Goetz, K. C. ^[6]; Gross, Carl J. ^[4];

^[4]; Zganjar, E. F. ^[7]; Batchelder, Jon C. ^[8]; Blackmon, J. C. ^[7]; Brewer, Nathan T. ^[1]; Go, S. ^[6]; Heffron, Blaine ^[5]; King, T. ^[6];

^[4]; Miernik, Krzysztof ^[2];

^[4]; Paulauskas, S. V. ^[6] more »

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Univ. of Warsaw, Warsaw (Poland); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Warsaw, Warsaw (Poland); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville, TN (United States)
Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State, MS (United States)

Here, we report total absorption spectroscopy measurements of ⁹²Rb, ⁹⁶^gsY, and ¹⁴²Cs β decays, which are the most important contributors to the high energy ν¯_e spectral shape in nuclear reactors. These three β decays contribute 43% of the ¯νe flux near 5.5 MeV emitted by nuclear reactors. This ν¯_e energy is particularly interesting due to spectral features recently observed in several experiments including the Daya Bay, Double Chooz, and RENO Collaborations. Measurements were conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory by means of proton-induced fission of ²³⁸U with on-line mass separation of fission fragments and the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer. We observe a β-decay pattern that is similar to recent measurements of ⁹²Rb, with a ground-state to ground-state β feeding of 91(3)%. We verify the ^96gsY ground-state to ground-state β feeding of 95.5(20)%. Our measurements substantially modify the β-decay feedings of ¹⁴²Cs, reducing the β feeding to ¹⁴²Ba states below 2 MeV by 32% when compared with the latest evaluations. Our results increase the discrepancy between the observed and the expected reactor ν¯_e flux between 5 and 7 MeV, the maximum excess increases from ~10% to ~12%.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; FG02-96ER40983; FG02-96ER40978; FG02-96ER41006; FG05-88ER40407 (VU)

OSTI ID:: 1491328

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1328606

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 117, Issue 9; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 48 works

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