Total neutron cross-section measurements of 236U in the energy range 40 eV to 4.1 keV

Abstract

Transmission measurements have been performed on 236U using the time-of-flight technique with a 100 m flight path of the 80 MeV electron linear accelerator of CBNM. The Γ n values have been evaluated for 185 resonances in the energy range 40 eV to 4.1 keV. Assuming only s-wave contributions in the analysis range, the average level spacing, the average reduced neutron width and the strength function were determined to be D = 16.2 ± 0.8 eV, Γ n 0 = 1.61 ± 0.18 meV and S 0 = (1.00 ± 0.1) × 10 −4, respectively. The method of Fuketa and Harvey was used to consider missed resonances. Finally, Dyson's Δ 3 and W statistics, including the method of Bollinger et al., were applied to bring the presence of p-wave resonances in the analysis range into evidence.