Measurement of the 232Th(n, γ)/58Ni(n, p) reaction rate ratio in the leakage neutron field of a fast burst reactor

Abstract

The γ-ray activities of the activation products from 232Th(n, γ) and 58Ni(n, p) reactions were measured to obtain the reaction rates. The measurement was performed after irradiating a ThO2 tablet and a nickel foil in the leakage neutron field of the Chinese fast burst reactor II. The normalized reaction rates were calculated on the basis of the ENDF/B-VII.1, CENDL-3.1, JENDL-4.0, and BROND-2.2 databases. The experimental 232Th(n, γ)/58Ni(n, p) reaction rate ratio was found to be 4.37 with an uncertainty of 3.8%, consistent with each ratio calculated based on the ENDF/B-VII.1, JENDL-4.0, and BROND-2.2 databases, but was 11.2% larger than the ratio calculated based on the CENDL-3.1 database.