Method Developing and Testing for Inelastic Scattering Measurements at the GELINA Facility

Abstract

Accurate inelastic scattering measurements are of interest to improving modelling and simulation of advanced reactor systems through better nuclear data (OECD-NEA, High priority request list for nuclear data http://www.nea.fr/html/dbdata/hprl/). Two setups are available at IRMM for measurements of inelastic scattering with the (n, n′γ)-technique. The first the GAINS gammaarray for inelastic neutron scattering at a 200 m station consists of eight high purity germanium detectors, has high incident neutron energy resolution and is therefore tailored for inelastic scattering measurements. The second, at a 30 m station was developed by IPHC with the purpose of studying actinides for the Th/U cycle and emphasizing besides (n, n′γ) also (n, 2nγ) reactions. In the recent past a number of efforts were started to investigate the uncertainties and corrections required to obtain reliable results and to investigate the limits of accuracy of this technique. A joint effort is described that has led to an improved understanding of the fission chambers used. In particular, the important corrections to the efficiency for fission fragment loss were investigated.