Analysis of neutron induced (n,γ) and (n,2n) reactions on 232Th from reaction threshold to 20 MeV

Abstract

Excitation functions for 232Th(n,γ) and 232Th(n,2n) reactions from reaction threshold to 20 MeV were calculated using TALYS-1.9 nuclear code by invoking suitable options for the level densities, optical model potentials, pre-equilibrium effects and γ-ray strength functions. In earlier studies, theoretical plots for 232Th(n,γ) and 232Th(n,2n) reaction cross-sections were obtained by using EMPIRE 3.2 and TALYS 1.9 codes with default parameters, however none of the reported plots could match with the corresponding experimental cross-sections reported in EXFOR data particularly between 14-20 MeV. The results of the present study reveal that by using a combination of specific input parameters in TALYS 1.9 code, the theoretical evaluation of the cross sections favour a higher pre-equilibrium rate for the harder spectrum. Moreover the estimated cross-sections match fairly well with the corresponding experimental data (EXFOR database) as well as with the evaluated data files (ENDF/VII.0, JENDL-4.0). The results of the present study are important for the validation of nuclear model approaches with increased predictive power for (n,xn) cross-sections and particularly for the application of thorium based fuel in Accelerator-Driven Sub-critical System.