The 237U(n,f) Cross Section
The purpose of this note is to combine existing information on the {sup 237}U(n,f) cross section to determine if some consistency can be obtained for the neutron induced fission excitation of {sup 237}U. The neutron induced fission cross section of the 6.8 day {sup 237}U was measured directly by McNally et al. in 1968 using the Pommard nuclear device test. At the same time critical assembly measurements were done at Los Alamos using the Flattop assembly. A previous measurement was also made at LASL in 1954 with two different neutron sources, each peaked near 200 keV. The results were 0.66 {+-} 0.10 b and 0.70 {+-} 0.07 b for the (n,f) cross section. More recently Younes and Britt have reanalyzed direct reaction charged particle data of Cramer and Britt that had determined the fission probability of the {sup 238}U compound nucleus as a function of nuclear excitation energy. They have combined fission probabilities with calculated neutron absorption cross sections, including corrections for the differences in angular momentum between the direct and neutron induced reactions. From this analysis they have extracted equivalent {sup 237}U(n,f) cross sections. The technique for extracting surrogate (n,f) cross sections from (t,pf) data has been demonstrated in a recent publication for the test case {sup 235}U(n,f). In addition to this experimental information, Lynn and Hayes have recently done a new theoretical study of the fission cross sections for a series of isotopes in this region. A summary plot of the data is shown in Fig. 1. Below 0.5 MeV the McNally, Cowan, and Younes-Britt results are in reasonable agreement. The average cross section in the Younes-Britt results, for En = 0.1 to 0.4 MeV, is 0.80 times the McNally values which is well within the errors of the McNally experiment. Above 0.5 MeV the McNally results diverge toward higher values. It should be noted that this divergence begins approximately at the {sup 237}Np threshold and that {sup 237}Np is the daughter of the 6.8 day {sup 237}U decay.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 15003856
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-152621; TRN: US1005094
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Deducing the 237U(n,f) cross-section using the Surrogate Ratio Method
Deducing the 237U(n,f) cross-section using the Surrogate Ratio Method