Fission Actinides Research Articles

Ternary fission of a heavy nuclear system within a three-center shell model

Background: Since more than 40 years of theoretical and experimental studies of true ternary fission, one is still quite far from its understanding. The true ternary fission channel, being strongly suppressed by the macroscopic properties of the potential energy, may, however, be present with a significant probability due to shell effects.Purpose: Development of a model for the multidimensional potential energy suitable for analysis of the nucleus-nucleus collisions with the possibility of ternary exit channel. Study of the potential possibility of fission of actinides into three heavy fragments.Method: The asymmetric three-center shell model of deformed nucleus is developed in this paper. The model can be applied for analysis of ternary as well as binary fission processes.Results: The potential energy surfaces for few ternary combinations in the fission channel are calculated for the $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$ nucleus. Their properties are discussed.Conclusions: The potential energy structures are compared with the experimental observations. It was found that the potential energy has pronounced valleys favorable for ternary fission with formation of doubly magic tin as one of the fragments and two other lighter fragments. The positions of the found fission valleys are in a good agreement with the experimental data.

Geant4 simulation of 238U(n,f) reaction induced by D-T neutron source

Knowledge of actinides (n,f) fission process induced by neutron is of importance in the field of nuclear power and nuclear engineering, especially for reactor applications. In this work, fission characteristics of 238U(n,f) reaction induced by D-T neutron source were simulated with Geant4 code from multiple perspectives, including the fission production yields, total nubar, kinetic energy distribution, fission neutron spectrum and cumulative γ-ray spectrum of the fission products. The simulation results agree well with the experimental nuclear reaction data (EXFOR) and evaluated nuclear data (ENDF). Mainly, this work was to examine the rationality of the parametric nuclear fission model in Geant4 and to direct our future experimental measurements for the cumulative fission yields of 238U(n,f) reaction.

Comparison of yields of neutron-rich nuclei in proton- and photon-induced U238 fission

A comparative study of fission of actinides specially $^{238}$U, by proton and bremsstrahlung photon is performed. Relative mass distribution of $^{238}$U fission fragments have been explored theoretically for both proton and photon induced fission. The integrated yield along with charge distribution of the products are calculated to find out the neutron richness in comparison to the nuclei produced by r-process in nucleosynthesis. Some r-process nuclei in intermediate mass range for symmetric fission mode are found to be produced almost two order of magnitude more for proton induced fission than photofission, although rest of the neutron rich nuclei in the asymmetric mode are produced in comparable proportion for both the processes.

New neutron-rich isotope production in 154 Sm+ 160 Gd

Deep inelastic scattering in $^{154}$Sm+$^{160}$Gd at energies above the Bass barrier is for the first time investigated with two different microscopic dynamics approaches: improved quantum molecular dynamics (ImQMD) model and time dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) theory. No fusion is observed from both models. The capture pocket disappears for this reaction due to strong Coulomb repulsion and the contact time of the di-nuclear system formed in head-on collisions is about 700 fm/c at an incident energy of 440 MeV. The isotope distribution of fragments in the deep inelastic scattering process is predicted with the simulations of the latest ImQMD-v2.2 model together with a statistical code (GEMINI) for describing the secondary decay of fragments. More than 40 extremely neutron-rich unmeasured nuclei with $58 \le Z\le 76$ are observed and the production cross sections are at the order of ${\rm \mu b}$ to mb. The multi-nucleon transfer reaction of Sm+Gd could be an alternative way to synthesize new neutron-rich lanthanides which are difficult to be produced with traditional fusion reactions or fission of actinides.

Investigations of fission characteristics and correlation effects

We review the experimental results on the P-even and P-odd angular correlations of fission fragments in the fission of the 235U and 239Pu nuclei induced by unpolarized and polarized resonance neutrons, and on the TRI and ROT effects in the ternary and binary fission of actinides induced by polarized thermal neutrons. Also reported are the measured yields of prompt and delayed neutrons per fission event. The experimental data are analyzed within a novel theoretical framework developed by the JINR—RNC KI Collaboration, whereby the reduction of the multidimensional phase space of fission fragments to the JπK-channel space is consistently validated and the role of resonance interference in the observed correlation effects is revealed.

High-spin structure ofXe134

Author(s): Vogt, A; Birkenbach, B; Reiter, P; Blazhev, A; Siciliano, M; Valiente-Dobon, JJ; Wheldon, C; Bazzacco, D; Bowry, M; Bracco, A; Bruyneel, B; Chakrawarthy, RS; Chapman, R; Cline, D; Corradi, L; Crespi, FCL; Cromaz, M; De Angelis, G; Eberth, J; Fallon, P; Farnea, E; Fioretto, E; Freeman, SJ; Gadea, A; Geibel, K; Gelletly, W; Gengelbach, A; Giaz, A; Gorgen, A; Gottardo, A; Hayes, AB; Hess, H; Hua, H; John, PR; Jolie, J; Jungclaus, A; Korten, W; Lee, IY; Leoni, S; Liang, X; Lunardi, S; Macchiavelli, AO; Menegazzo, R; Mengoni, D; Michelagnoli, C; Mijatovic, T; Montagnoli, G; Montanari, D; Napoli, D; Pearson, CJ; Pellegri, L; Podolyak, Z; Pollarolo, G; Pullia, A; Radeck, F; Recchia, F; Regan, PH; Sahin, E; Scarlassara, F; Sletten, G; Smith, JF; Soderstrom, PA; Stefanini, AM; Steinbach, T; Stezowski, O; Szilner, S; Szpak, B; Teng, R; Ur, C; Vandone, V; Ward, D; Warner, DD; Wiens, A; Wu, CY | Abstract: Detailed spectroscopic information on the N∼82 nuclei is necessary to benchmark shell-model calculations in the region. The nuclear structure above long-lived isomers in Xe134 is investigated after multinucleon transfer (MNT) and actinide fission. Xenon-134 was populated as (i) a transfer product in Xe136+U238 and Xe136+Pb208 MNT reactions and (ii) as a fission product in the Xe136+U238 reaction employing the high-resolution Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA). Trajectory reconstruction has been applied for the complete identification of beamlike transfer products with the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA. The Xe136+Pt198 MNT reaction was studied with the γ-ray spectrometer GAMMASPHERE in combination with the gas detector array Compact Heavy Ion Counter (CHICO). Several high-spin states in Xe134 on top of the two long-lived isomers are discovered based on γγ-coincidence relationships and information on the γ-ray angular distributions as well as excitation energies from the total kinetic energy loss and fission fragments. The revised level scheme of Xe134 is extended up to an excitation energy of 5.832 MeV with tentative spin-parity assignments up to 16+. Previous assignments of states above the 7- isomer are revised. Latest shell-model calculations employing two different effective interactions reproduce the experimental findings and support the new spin and parity assignments.

Dependence of Fission-Fragment Properties On Excitation Energy For Neutron-Rich Actinides

Experimental access to full isotopic fragment distributions is very important to determine the features of the fission process. However, the isotopic identification of fission fragments has been, in the past, partial and scarce. A solution based on the use of inverse kinematics to study transfer-induced fission of exotic actinides was carried out at GANIL, resulting in the first experiment accessing the full identification of a collection of fissioning systems and their corresponding fission fragment distribution. In these experiments, a U-238 beam at 6.14 AMeV impinged on a carbon target to produce fissioning systems from U to Am by transfer reactions, and Cf by fusion reactions. Isotopic fission yields of Cf-250, Cm-244, Pu-240, Np-239 and U-238 are presented in this work. With this information, the average number of neutrons as a function of the atomic number of the fragments is calculated, which reflects the impact of nuclear structure around Z=50, N=80 on the production of fission fragments. The characteristics of the Super Long, Standard I, Standard II, and Standard III fission channels were extracted from fits of the fragment yields for different ranges of excitation energy. The position and contribution of the fission channels as function of excitation energy are presented.

Testing actinide fission yield treatment in CINDER90 for use in MCNP6 burnup calculations

Most of the development of the MCNPX/6 burnup capability focused on features that were applied to the Boltzman transport or used to prepare coefficients for use in CINDER90, with little change to CINDER90 or the CINDER90 data. Though a scheme exists for best solving the coupled Boltzman and Bateman equations, the most significant approximation is that the employed nuclear data are correct and complete. The CINDER90 library file contains 60 different actinide fission yields encompassing 36 fissionable actinides (thermal, fast, high energy and spontaneous fission). Fission reaction data exists for more than 60 actinides and as a result, fission yield data must be approximated for actinides that do not possess fission yield information. Several types of approximations are used for estimating fission yields for actinides which do not possess explicit fission yield data. The objective of this study is to test whether or not certain approximations of fission yield selection have any impact on predictability of major actinides and fission products. Further we assess which other fission products, available in MCNP6 Tier 3, result in the largest difference in production. Because the CINDER90 library file is in ASCII format and therefore easily amendable, we assess reasons for choosing, as well as compare actinide and major fission product prediction for the H. B. Robinson benchmark for, three separate fission yield selection methods: (1) the current CINDER90 library file method (Base); (2) the element method (Element); and (3) the isobar method (Isobar). Results show that the three methods tested result in similar prediction of major actinides, Tc-99 and Cs-137; however, certain fission products resulted in significantly different production depending on the method of choice.

Studies on Neutron, Photon (Bremsstrahlung) and Proton Induced Fission of Actinides and Pre-Actinides

We present the yields of various fission products determined in the reactor neutron, 3.7-18.1 MeV quasi-mono energetic neutron, 8-80 MeV bremsstrahlung and 20-45 MeV proton induced fission of 232Th and 238u using radiochemical and off-line beta or gamma ray counting. The yields of the fission products in the bremsstrahlung induced fission natPb and 209Bi with 50-70 MeV and 2.5 GeV based on off-line gamma ray spectrometric technique were also presented. From the yields of fission products, the mass chains yields were obtained using charge distribution correction. From the mass yield distribution, the peak-to-valley (P/V) ratio was obtained. The role of excitation energy on the peak-to-valley ratio and fine structure such as effect of shell closure proximity and even-odd effect of mass yield distribution were examined. The higher yields of the fission products around A=133-134, 138-140 and 143-144 and their complementary products explained from the nuclear structure effect and role of standard I and II mode of asymmetric fission. In the neutron, photon (bremsstrahlung) and proton induced fission, the asymmetric mass distribution for actinides (Th, u) and symmetric distribution for pre-actinides (Pb, Bi) were explained from different type of potential fission barrier.

Some aspects of fission and quasifission processes

The discovery of nuclear fission in 1938–1939 had a profound influence on the field of nuclear physics and it brought this branch of physics into the forefront as it was recognized for having the potential for its seminal influence on modern society. Although many of the basic features of actinide fission were described in a ground-breaking paper by Bohr and Wheeler only six months after the discovery, the fission process is very complex and it has been a challenge for both experimentalists and theorists to achieve a complete and satisfactory understanding of this phenomenon. Many aspects of nuclear physics are involved in fission and it continues to be a subject of intense study even three quarters of a century after its discovery. In this talk, I will review an incomplete subset of the major milestones in fission research, and briefly discuss some of the topics that I have been involved in during my career. These include studies of vibrational resonances and fission isomers that are caused by the second minimum in the fission barrier in actinide nuclei, studies of heavy-ion-induced fission in terms of the angular distributions and the mass–angle correlations of fission fragments. Some of these studies provided evidence for the importance of the quasifission process and the attendant suppression of the complete fusion process. Finally, some of the circumstances around the establishment of large-scale nuclear research in India will be discussed.

A Sample of the Results of the First SOFIA Experiment

The first SOFIA experiment (Studies On FIssion with Aladin) was performed in August 2012 at GSI. The fission of several neutron-deficient actinides and pre-actinides was induced in flight at 700 A MeV by electromagnetic excitation. The use of inverse kinematics provides both high detection and high geometrical efficiency. The complete identification of both fission fragments in coincidence (nuclear charge and mass) was obtained over a broad range of fissioning nuclei. After a short introduction and descrip- tion of the experimental setup, the quality of the charge and mass separation is presented, followed by some results concerning the Coulex-induced fission of 234U and 235U.

Even-odd Effects in the Prompt Emission in Fission of Even-even Actinides

The even-odd effects in prompt emission received less attention compared to the extensively studied Z even-odd effects in fragment distributions. In this context, the present work is focusing on the even-odd effects (in both Z and N) appearing in the prompt emission of even-even nuclei fissioning spontaneously (252Cf, 236,238,240,242,244Pu) and by thermal neutron induced fission (233,235U, 239Pu). The study shows that these effects are mainly due to the Z even-odd effects in fragment distributions and ΔZ and the N even-odd effects in average neutron separation energies. The most pronounced even-odd effect in prompt emission is observed for the prompt neutron multiplicity, its global size decreasing with increasing fissility. The N even-odd effect in <Sn>, influences the global even-odd effect in prompt neutron multiplicity often in an opposite way compared to the Z even-odd effect. The global N even-odd effect in <Sn> is considerably higher in the case of 236-244Pu(SF) compared to other neutron induced fissioning nuclei with comparable mass. <ν>(TKE) shows an increase of the Z even-odd effect with increasing TKE. Compared to 233,235U(nth,f), 239Pu(nth,f) and 252Cf(SF) for which these effects show a decrease for heavier fissioning systems, in the case of 236-244Pu(SF) this behaviour is not visible. The comparison of even-odd effects of 240Pu(SF) and 239Pu(nth,f) showed i) a higher even-odd effect in Y(Z) and ΔZ for SF confirming the Z even-odd effect decrease with increasing excitation energy and ii) the higher N even-odd effect in <Sn> for SF impacts the prompt emission leading to a lower Z even-odd effect in prompt neutron multiplicity of 240Pu(SF) compared to 239Pu(nth,f).

Fission Yields of Minor Actinides at Low Energy Through Multi-nucleon Transfer Reactions of $^{238}$U on $^{12}$C

First preliminary results of fragments distribution as a function of the excitation energy for different fissioning systems from U to Cm and Cf-250 are presented. A new method based on inverse kinematics to study transfer-induced fission of minor actinides was carried out in GANIL in 2008, and again in 2011. In these experiments, a U-238 beam at 6.1 A MeV impinged on a carbon target to produce fissioning systems by multi-nucleon transfer reactions, resulting in the first experiments accessing the full identification of a collection of fissioning systems and their corresponding fission fragments distribution. The excitation energy is deduced from the detection of the recoil nucleus in an angular DE-E stripped silicon telescope, and the identification of the fragments is made possible by the VAMOS spectrometer.

On Microscopic Energy Corrections Around Scission Configuration

The spontaneous fission of actinides is analysed by the macroscopic - microscopic method based on the Lublin Strasbourg Drop model and the two deformed Nilsson wells or Yukawa folded single particle potentials. The microscopic corrections are obtained within the Strutinsky prescription and the BCS theory. In the scission point the shell correction possess the additive property but this is not true for pairing correlations during asymmetric fission. Here the shape dependent pairing force of the δ or Gogny type should be used and the pairing strength should grow with increasing deformation of fissioning nucleus. The examples of sponta- neous fission results are presented. The possibility of β decay accompanying the spontaneous fission is noticed.

Validation of minor actinides fission neutron cross-sections

Verification of neutron fission cross-sections of minor actinides from some recently available evaluated nuclear data libraries was carried out by comparison of the reaction rates calculated by the MCNP6.1 computer code to the experimental values. The experimental samples, containing thin layers of 235U, 237Np, 238,239,240,241Pu, 242mAm, 243Cm, 245Cm, and 247Cm, deposited on metal support and foils of 235U (pseudo-alloy 27Al + 235U), 238U, natIn, 64Zn, 27Al, and multi-component sample alloy 27Al + 55Mn + natCu + natLu + 197Au, were irradiated in the channels of the tank containing fluorine salts 0.52NaF + 0.48ZrF4, labelled as the Micromodel Salt Blanket, inserted in the lattice centre of the MAKET heavy water critical assembly at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow. This paper is a continuation of earlier initiated scientific-research activities carried out for validation of the evaluated fission cross-sections of actinides that were supposed to be used for the quality examination of the fuel design of the accelerator driven systems or fast reactors, and consequently, determination of transmutation rates of actinides, and therefore, determination of operation parameters of these reactor facilities. These scientific-research activities were carried out within a frame of scientific projects supported by the International Science and Technology Center and the International Atomic Energy Agency co-ordinated research activities, from 1999 to 2010. Obtained results confirm that further research is needed in evaluations in order to establish better neutron cross-section data for the minor actinides and selected nuclides which could be used in the accelerator driven systems or fast reactors.

Neutron-induced Fission Measurements at the Time-of-Flight Facility nELBE

Neutron-induced fission of 242Pu is studied at the photoneutron source nELBE. The relative fast neutron fission cross section was determined using actinide fission chambers in a time-of-flight experiment. A good agreement of present nuclear data with evalua- tions has been achieved in the range of 100 keV to 10 MeV.

Prompt neutron multiplicity in correlation with fragments from spontaneous fission ofCf252

The spontaneous fission of $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$ serves as an excellent benchmark of prompt emission in fission since experimental data can be obtained without the need of an incident beam. With the purpose of providing experimental data on the prompt fission neutron properties in correlation with fission-fragment characteristics, an experiment on $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$(SF) has been performed. In addition, the experiment serves as a benchmark of setup and analysis procedures for measurements of fluctuations in the prompt-neutron properties as a function of incident neutron energy in fission of the major actinides $^{235}\mathrm{U}$ and $^{239}\mathrm{Pu}$. The experiment employs a twin Frisch grid ionization chamber as fission-fragment detector while neutrons were counted by using a liquid scintillator placed along the symmetry axis of the ionization chamber. Average neutron multiplicity has been obtained as a function of fission-fragment mass and total kinetic energy (TKE). The average multiplicity as a function of mass agrees well with available data in the literature in the mass range from 80 to 170 u. The existence of additional sawtooth structures in the far asymmetric mass region could not be confirmed, although the statistical accuracy of the present experiment is as good as the previous study where such structures have been reported [Nucl. Phys. A 490, 307 (1988).]. The available data in the literature on the TKE dependence of the multiplicity show strong deviations. Therefore, effort was focused on investigating experimental factors in low-efficiency neutron-counting experiments that may lead to faulty determination of this dependence. Taking these factors into account, a result that agrees well with data from high-efficiency neutron-counting experiments is obtained. The experimental arrangement allows determination of the angle between the detected neutron and the fission axis, which permits the neutron properties to be transformed into the fission-fragment rest frame. Fission neutron emission spectra in the fragment center-of-mass frame have thereby been obtained as a function of the fission-fragment mass and TKE.

Fission induced by nucleons at intermediate energies

Monte Carlo calculations of fission of actinides and pre-actinides induced by protons and neutrons in the energy range from 100 MeV to 1 GeV are carried out by means of a recent version of the Li\`ege Intranuclear Cascade Model, INCL++, coupled with two different evaporation-fission codes, GEMINI++ and ABLA07. In order to reproduce experimental fission cross sections, model parameters are usually adjusted on available (p,f) cross sections and used to predict (n,f) cross sections for the same isotopes.

Fission at intermediate nucleon energies

In the present work Monte Carlo calculations of fission of actinides and pre- actinides induced by protons and neutrons in the energy range from 100 MeV to 1 GeV are carried out by means of a recent version of the Liège Intranuclear Cascade Model, INCL++, coupled with different evaporation-fission codes, in particular GEMINI++ and ABLA07. Fission model parameters are adjusted on experimental (p, f) cross sections and used to predict (n, f) cross sections, in order to provide a theoretical support to the campaign of neutron cross section measurements at the n_TOF facility at CERN.

Accurate Fission Data for Nuclear Safety

The Accurate fission data for nuclear safety (AlFONS) project aims at high precision measurements of fission yields, using the renewed IGISOL mass separator facility in combination with a new high current light ion cyclotron at the University of Jyväskylä. The 30 MeV proton beam will be used to create fast and thermal neutron spectra for the study of neutron induced fission yields. Thanks to a series of mass separating elements, culminating with the JYFLTRAP Penning trap, it is possible to achieve a mass resolving power in the order of a few hundred thousands. In this paper we present the experimental setup and the design of a neutron converter target for IGISOL. The goal is to have a flexible design. For studies of exotic nuclei far from stability a high neutron flux (1012 neutrons/s) at energies 1 – 30 MeV is desired while for reactor applications neutron spectra that resembles those of thermal and fast nuclear reactors are preferred. It is also desirable to be able to produce (semi-)monoenergetic neutrons for benchmarking and to study the energy dependence of fission yields. The scientific program is extensive and is planed to start in 2013 with a measurement of isomeric yield ratios of proton induced fission in uranium. This will be followed by studies of independent yields of thermal and fast neutron induced fission of various actinides.