Measurement of the U 235 ( n , f ) prompt fission neutron spectrum from 10 keV to 10 MeV induced by neutrons of energy from 1 MeV to 20 MeV
Abstract
The characterization of fission-driven nuclear systems primarily relies on calculations of neutron-induced chain reactions, and these calculations require evaluated nuclear data as input. Calculation accuracy heavily depends on input nuclear data evaluation accuracy, and thus high precision on the experimental input to the nuclear data evaluation is essential for fundamental quantities like the energy spectrum of neutrons emitted from neutron-induced fission (i.e., the prompt fission neutron spectrum, PFNS). Despite decades of measurement efforts, prior to the measurements described in this work there were only three literature data sets for the 235U(n,f) PFNS at incident neutron energies above 1.0 MeV considered reliable for inclusion in nuclear data evaluations and no reliable data sets above 3.0 MeV incident neutron energy. In this work we report on new measurements of the 235U(n,f) PFNS spanning a grid of 1.0–20.0 MeV in incident neutron energy and 0.01–10.0 MeV in outgoing (PFNS) neutron energy. These measurements were carried out at the Weapons Neutron Research facility at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center and used a multifoil parallel-plate avalanche counter target with both a Li-glass and a liquid scintillator detector array in separate experiments to span the quoted outgoing neutron energy ranges. The PFNS results are shown in terms of the energy spectra themselves as well as the average PFNS energy $$(\langle{E}\rangle)$$ and ratios of $$\langle{E}\rangle$$ at forward and backward angles. Here, the results are compared with literature data and selected nuclear data evaluations. Generally, the data agree with the ENDF/B-VIII.0 evaluation below 5.0-MeV incident neutron energy and more closely with the JEFF-3.3 evaluation above 5.0 MeV, though no evaluations considered for comparison in this work agree with the data across all of the incident and outgoing neutron energies shown, especially in regions where the third-chance fission process becomes available. Additionally, we show a ratio of the present PFNS results for 235U(n, f) with a recent and highly correlated experiment to measure the 239Pu(n, f) PFNS at the same experimental facility and with nearly identical equipment and analysis procedures. Many observations reported in this work are the first of their kind and represent significant advancements for knowledge of the 235U(n, f) PFNS.
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- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1864123
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1992259
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-832316; LA-UR-22-21847
Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9985; 1049801; TRN: US2305681
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344; 89233218CNA000001
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review. C
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 105; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9985
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; Fission; Energy sources; Nuclear power; Nuclear reactions; Neutron physics; Nuclear engineering; Nucleon induced nuclear reactions; Nuclear mass ranges; Radiation detectors
Citation Formats
Kelly, Keegan John, Gomez, Jaime A., Devlin, Matthew James, O'Donnell, John M., Neudecker, Denise, Lowell, Amy Elizabeth, Haight, Robert Cameron, Wu, Ching-Yen, Henderson, Roger, Kawano, Toshihiko, Bennett, Eames Alexander, Mosby, Shea Morgan, Ullmann, John Leonard, Fotiades, Nikolaos, Henderson, Jack, Taddeucci, Terry Nicholas, Lee, Hye Young, Talou, Patrick, and White, Morgan Curtis. Measurement of the U235(n,f) prompt fission neutron spectrum from 10 keV to 10 MeV induced by neutrons of energy from 1 MeV to 20 MeV. United States: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1103/physrevc.105.044615.
Kelly, Keegan John, Gomez, Jaime A., Devlin, Matthew James, O'Donnell, John M., Neudecker, Denise, Lowell, Amy Elizabeth, Haight, Robert Cameron, Wu, Ching-Yen, Henderson, Roger, Kawano, Toshihiko, Bennett, Eames Alexander, Mosby, Shea Morgan, Ullmann, John Leonard, Fotiades, Nikolaos, Henderson, Jack, Taddeucci, Terry Nicholas, Lee, Hye Young, Talou, Patrick, & White, Morgan Curtis. Measurement of the U235(n,f) prompt fission neutron spectrum from 10 keV to 10 MeV induced by neutrons of energy from 1 MeV to 20 MeV. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevc.105.044615
Kelly, Keegan John, Gomez, Jaime A., Devlin, Matthew James, O'Donnell, John M., Neudecker, Denise, Lowell, Amy Elizabeth, Haight, Robert Cameron, Wu, Ching-Yen, Henderson, Roger, Kawano, Toshihiko, Bennett, Eames Alexander, Mosby, Shea Morgan, Ullmann, John Leonard, Fotiades, Nikolaos, Henderson, Jack, Taddeucci, Terry Nicholas, Lee, Hye Young, Talou, Patrick, and White, Morgan Curtis. Wed .
"Measurement of the U235(n,f) prompt fission neutron spectrum from 10 keV to 10 MeV induced by neutrons of energy from 1 MeV to 20 MeV". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevc.105.044615. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1864123.
@article{osti_1864123,
title = {Measurement of the U235(n,f) prompt fission neutron spectrum from 10 keV to 10 MeV induced by neutrons of energy from 1 MeV to 20 MeV},
author = {Kelly, Keegan John and Gomez, Jaime A. and Devlin, Matthew James and O'Donnell, John M. and Neudecker, Denise and Lowell, Amy Elizabeth and Haight, Robert Cameron and Wu, Ching-Yen and Henderson, Roger and Kawano, Toshihiko and Bennett, Eames Alexander and Mosby, Shea Morgan and Ullmann, John Leonard and Fotiades, Nikolaos and Henderson, Jack and Taddeucci, Terry Nicholas and Lee, Hye Young and Talou, Patrick and White, Morgan Curtis},
abstractNote = {The characterization of fission-driven nuclear systems primarily relies on calculations of neutron-induced chain reactions, and these calculations require evaluated nuclear data as input. Calculation accuracy heavily depends on input nuclear data evaluation accuracy, and thus high precision on the experimental input to the nuclear data evaluation is essential for fundamental quantities like the energy spectrum of neutrons emitted from neutron-induced fission (i.e., the prompt fission neutron spectrum, PFNS). Despite decades of measurement efforts, prior to the measurements described in this work there were only three literature data sets for the 235U(n,f) PFNS at incident neutron energies above 1.0 MeV considered reliable for inclusion in nuclear data evaluations and no reliable data sets above 3.0 MeV incident neutron energy. In this work we report on new measurements of the 235U(n,f) PFNS spanning a grid of 1.0–20.0 MeV in incident neutron energy and 0.01–10.0 MeV in outgoing (PFNS) neutron energy. These measurements were carried out at the Weapons Neutron Research facility at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center and used a multifoil parallel-plate avalanche counter target with both a Li-glass and a liquid scintillator detector array in separate experiments to span the quoted outgoing neutron energy ranges. The PFNS results are shown in terms of the energy spectra themselves as well as the average PFNS energy $(\langle{E}\rangle)$ and ratios of $\langle{E}\rangle$ at forward and backward angles. Here, the results are compared with literature data and selected nuclear data evaluations. Generally, the data agree with the ENDF/B-VIII.0 evaluation below 5.0-MeV incident neutron energy and more closely with the JEFF-3.3 evaluation above 5.0 MeV, though no evaluations considered for comparison in this work agree with the data across all of the incident and outgoing neutron energies shown, especially in regions where the third-chance fission process becomes available. Additionally, we show a ratio of the present PFNS results for 235U(n, f) with a recent and highly correlated experiment to measure the 239Pu(n, f) PFNS at the same experimental facility and with nearly identical equipment and analysis procedures. Many observations reported in this work are the first of their kind and represent significant advancements for knowledge of the 235U(n, f) PFNS.},
doi = {10.1103/physrevc.105.044615},
journal = {Physical Review. C},
number = 4,
volume = 105,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Wed Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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