Determination of the cross-section for (n,p) and (n,α) reactions on 153Eu at neutron energies from 13 to 15 MeV

Abstract

The cross-sections of 153Eu(n,p)153Sm and 153Eu(n,α)150Pm reactions have been measured experimentally. Monoenergetic neutron beams were produced via the 3H(d,n)4He reaction using the K-400 neutron generator at China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP). The activity of the reaction products were measured using high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy. Using the 27Al(n,α)24Na reaction as the neutron fluence standard, the experimental cross-sections of the reactions 153Eu(n,p)153Sm and 153Eu(n,α)150Pm were obtained and the results are 3.6 ± 0.5, 3.8 ± 0.6, 4.5 ± 0.7 mb and 1.25 ± 0.07, 1.46 ± 0.08, 1.71 ± 0.11 mb at neutron energies 13.5 ± 0.2, 14.1 ± 0.2, 14.8 ± 0.2 MeV, respectively. These experimentally measured cross-sections were discussed and compared with some previously reported experimental results from the literature and with the evaluation data obtained from ENDF/B-VIII.0, JEFF-3.3, JENDL-4.0, RUSFOND and CENDL-3, in addition to the theoretical results obtained by using the nuclear-reaction modeling tool TALYS-1.95.