Abstract
Properties of fission in Th-232 and U-233 were studied at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center at incident neutron energies from subthermal to 40 MeV. Fission fragments are observed in coincidence using a twin ionization chamber with Frisch grids. The average total kinetic energy released from fission and fragment mass distributions are calculated from observations of energy deposited and conservation of mass and momentum. Accurate experimental measurements of these parameters are necessary to better understand the fission process in isotopes relevant to the thorium fuel cycle, in which Th-232 is used as a fertile material to generate the fissile isotope of U-233. This process mirrors the uranium breeder process used to produce Pu-239 with several potential advantages including the comparative greater abundance of thorium, inherent nuclear weapons proliferation resistance, and reduced actinide production. Thus, there is increased interest in the thorium fuel cycle to meet future energy demands and improve safety and security while increasing profitability for the nuclear power industry. This research is ongoing and preliminary results are presented.
Highlights
A significant amount of energy is released in nuclear fission and the majority of that energy is in the form of kinetic energy of the fission fragments formed after scission
The average value of this total kinetic energy (TKE) distribution has been shown by previous experiments to have a dependence on incident neutron energy and it has been well measured at thermal energy, this dependency has not been well characterized at higher incident neutron energies [4]
Properties of fission in Th-232 and U-233 are studied at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) at neutron energies from thermal to 40 MeV
Summary
A significant amount of energy is released in nuclear fission and the majority of that energy is in the form of kinetic energy of the fission fragments formed after scission. The average value of this TKE distribution has been shown by previous experiments to have a dependence on incident neutron energy and it has been well measured at thermal energy, this dependency has not been well characterized at higher incident neutron energies [4]. This process mirrors the uranium breeder process used to produce Pu-239 with several potential advantages including the comparatively greater abundance of Th, inherent nuclear weapons proliferation resistance, and reduced actinide production [5]. For these reasons, there is increased interest in the Th fuel cycle to meet future energy demands and improve safety and security while increasing profitability for the nuclear power industry
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
