A general framework for describing photofission observables of actinides at an average excitation energy below 30 MeV * *Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11675075), Independent research project of key laboratory of plasma physics, CAEP (JCKYS2021212009) and Hengyang Municipal Science and Technology Project (202150054076)

Abstract

A reasonable prediction of photofission observables plays a paramount role in understanding the photofission process and guiding various photofission-induced applications, such as short-lived isotope production, nuclear waste disposal, and nuclear safeguards. However, the available experimental data for photofission observables are limited, and the existing models and programs have mainly been developed for neutron-induced fission processes. In this study, a general framework is proposed for characterizing the photofission observables of actinides, including the mass yield distributions (MYD) and isobaric charge distributions (ICD) of fission fragments and the multiplicity and energy distributions of prompt neutrons (np ) and prompt γ rays (γ p ). The framework encompasses various systematic neutron models and empirical models considering the Bohr hypothesis and does not rely on the experimental data as input. These models are then validated individually against experimental data at an average excitation energy below 30 MeV, which shows the reliability and robustness of the general framework. Finally, we employ this framework to predict the characteristics of photofission fragments and the emissions of prompt particles for typical actinides including 232Th, 235, 238U and 240Pu. It is found that the 238U(γ, f) reaction is more suitable for producing neutron-rich nuclei compared to the 232Th(γ, f) reaction. In addition, the average multiplicity number of both np and γ p increases with the average excitation energy.