Benchmarking of 232Th evaluation by a 14.8 MeV neutron leakage spectra experiment with slab samples

Abstract

An integral benchmark experiment for neutron leakage spectra from ThO2 samples has been performed with a 14.8MeV D-T neutron source at China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) to validate the evaluated nuclear data related to the design of Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR). The leakage spectra from ThO2 samples were measured at 60° and 120° emission angles with the Time of Flight (TOF) method. The measured spectra are well reproduced as a whole by the Monte Carlo neutron transport code simulations with the ENDF/B-VII.1, JENDL-4.0 and CENDL-3.1 evaluated nuclear data, while some discrepancies in the major reaction channels including (n,el), (n,inl), (n,2n) and (n,3n), still exist. Detailed information on the neutron product distribution with the evaluated data from the above three libraries is presented to explain the discrepancies. From the comparisons, the data of the above three libraries need to be improved as required in different energy ranges.