(p,α) Reaction Cross Sections Calculations of Fe and Ni Target Nuclei Using New Developed Semi-empirical Formula

Abstract

Iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) are important fusion structural materials in reactor technology. The gas production in the metallic structure arising from many different types of nuclear reactions has been a significant damage mechanism in structural components of fusion reactors. The hydrogen and its isotopes at high temperatures leave out of the metallic lattice but the alpha (α) particles that remain in the lattice generate helium (He) gas bubbles. In other words, the α particles can cause serious changes in the physical and mechanical properties of the fusion structural materials. In this study, the excitation functions of 54,57Fe(p,α) and 58,60,61,64Ni(p,α) reactions have been investigated in the incident proton energy range of 10–40 MeV to estimate the radiation damage effects on fusion structural materials used in the construction of the first walls and core of the reactor. The calculations of (p,α) reaction cross sections on 54,57Fe and 58,60,61,64Ni have been made by using PCROSS code and CEM95 code. The full exciton and cascade exciton model (CEM95) for pre-equilibrium calculations and Weisskopf-Ewing model for equilibrium calculations are used. Besides, the semi-empirical cross section formula with new coefficient obtained by Tel et al. (Pramana J Phys 74:931–943, 2010) has been applied for (p,α) reactions at 17.9 MeV proton incident energy.