First results of the Am-241(n,f) cross section measurement at the Experimental Area 2 of the n_TOF facility at CERN
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Eleme, Z.; Ogállar Ruiz, Francisco; Porras Sánchez, José Ignacio; Praena Rodríguez, Antonio Javier; Torres Sánchez, PabloEditorial
EDP Sciences
Date
2020-09-30Referencia bibliográfica
EPJ Web of Conferences 239, 05014 (2020). [https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202023905014]
Sponsorship
European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning MIS-5000432; European Commission under the CHANDA project (7th Framework Programme)Abstract
Feasibility, design and sensitivity studies on innovative nuclear reactors that could address the issue of nuclear waste transmutation using fuels enriched in minor actinides, require high accuracy cross section data for a variety of neutron-induced reactions from thermal energies to several tens of MeV. The isotope Am-241 (T-1/2= 433 years) is present in high-level nuclear waste (HLW), representing about 1.8 % of the actinide mass in spent PWR UOx fuel. Its importance increases with cooling time due to additional production from the beta-decay of Pu-241 with a half-life of 14.3 years. The production rate of 241Am in conventional reactors, including its further accumulation through the decay of Pu-241 and its destruction through transmutation/incineration are very important parameters for the design of any recycling solution. In the present work, the Am-241(n,f) reaction cross-section was measured using Micromegas detectors at the Experimental Area 2 of the n_TOF facility at CERN. For the measurement, the U-235(n,f) and U-238(n,f) reference reactions were used for the determination of the neutron flux. In the present work an overview of the experimental setup and the adopted data analysis techniques is given along with preliminary results.