Activation cross sections of proton induced nuclear reactions on palladium up to 80MeV

Activation cross sections of proton induced nuclear reactions on palladium were measured up to 80MeV by using the stacked foil irradiation technique and gamma ray spectrometry. The beam intensity, the incident energy and the energy degradation were controlled by a method based on flux constancy via normalization to the excitation functions of monitor reactions measured in parallel. Excitation functions for direct and cumulative cross-sections were measured for the production of (104m,104g,105g,106m,110m)Ag, (100,101)Pd, (99m,99g,100,101m,101g,102m,102g,105)Rh and (103,97)Ru radioisotopes. The cross section data were compared with the theoretical predictions of TENDL-2014 and -2015 libraries. For practical applications thick target yields were derived from the measured excitation functions. Application in the field of medical radionuclide production is shortly discussed.

Activation cross-sections of deuteron induced reactions on (nat)Gd up to 50 MeV

Activation cross-sections are presented for the first time for (nat)Gd(d,xn)(161,160,156(m+)), (154,154m1,154m2,153,152(m+),151(m+))Tb, (nat)Gd(d,x)(159,153,151)Gd and (nat)Gd(d,x)(156)Eu reactions from their respective thresholds up to 50 MeV. The cross-sections were measured by the stacked-foil irradiation technique and by using high resolution γ-ray spectrometry. The measured values were compared with the results of theoretical models calculated by the computer codes ALICE-D, EMPIRE-D and TALYS (data from TENDL library). Integral yields of the reaction products were deduced from the excitation functions.

Non-destructive and radiochemical determination of the neutron-induced production cross section of I-129 from Te and other neutron-induced cross sections on Te at 14.7 MeV

Cross sections of twelve neutron-induced reactions on tellurium at 14.7 MeV have been determined. Among them are the (n,2n) cross sections for the production of both 129Te isomers which were determined using gamma ray spectrometry. These reactions dominate the cosmogenic production of 129I in meteoroids and are therefore of special importance. In addition, the neutron-induced cross section on Te at 14.7 MeV for the production of 129I was also determined directly by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) after radiochemical separation. The results for the production cross section of 129I determined by the two methods agree within 5%.

Cross sections for the formation of long-lived radionuclides10Be,26Al and36Cl in 14.6 MeV neutron induced reactions determined via accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)

Cross sections for the neutron induced production of the long-lived radionuclides10Be (from carbon),26Al (from aluminium) and36Cl (from potassium) were determined, and upper limits for the formation of10Be from nitrogen and oxygen were estimated. Target samples were irradiated with 14.6±0.2 MeV neutrons in Debrecen, Hungary. After radiochemical separations and preparation of suitable samples at Köln, Germany, the above mentioned long-lived radionuclides were measured via ultrasensitive accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) in Zürich, Switzerland. Our cross section value for the27Al(n,2n)26Al reaction is within the range of the reported AMS data. For the other two reactions, viz.13C(n,α)10Be and39K(n,α)36Cl, our work describes the first results obtained via measurement of the product nuclides. The experimental results for all the three investigated reactions fall within the range of values obtained from semi-empirical systematics described in the literature.

A comparison of the neutron thermalization and reflection methods used for bulk hydrogen analysis

The advantages and limitations of the slowing down of epithermal neutrons and the thermal neutron reflection methods were compared for bulk hydrogen analysis. In both cases, the same sample dimensions were used, i.e. 10cm diameter and 8cm height. It was found that the sensitivity of the slowing down method is higher by a factor of approximately 20 in average and the matrix effect can be neglected as compared to the neutron reflection technique. The simultaneous application of the two methods renders the determination of the H content and the C/H atomic ratio possible. The effect of spatial distribution of hydrogen in the matrix to be investigated on the number of reflected neutrons was also studied.

Space charge effect on the electrostatic collection of thoron decay products

Investigations on electrostatic collection of thoron decay products as a function of field strength in a special source-electrode arrangement have been performed. Yields of the decay products vs. field strength were measured by solid state silicon and CR-39 track-etched detectors. Results show a significant space charge effect on the yield of collected products if an insulator is placed between the electrodes. The intensities of the collected thoron daughters are influenced strongly by the air stream present in the cell.

Nuclear data for production of the therapeutic radionuclides 32P, 64Cu, 67Cu, 89Sr, 90Y and 153Sm via the (n,p) reaction: evaluation of excitation function and its validation via integral cross-section measurement using a 14 MeV d(Be) neutron source

Nuclear data for production of the therapeutic radionuclides 32P, 64Cu, 67Cu, 89Sr, 90Y and 153Sm via (n,p) reactions on the target nuclei 32S, 64Zn, 67Zn, 89Y, (90)Zr and 153Eu, respectively, are discussed. The available information on each excitation function was analysed. From the recommended data set for each reaction the average integrated cross section for a standard 14 MeV d(Be) neutron field was deduced. The spectrum-averaged cross section was also measured experimentally. A comparison of the integrated value with the integral measurement served to validate the excitation function within about 15%. A fast neutron source appears to be much more effective than a fission reactor for production of the above-mentioned radionuclides in a no-carrier-added form via the (n,p) process. In particular, the possibility of production of high specific activity 153Sm is discussed.

Determination of hydrogen content in bulk samples using the neutron activation method

The applicability of a new irradiation facility for bulk hydrogen analysis based on the activation method using thermal and epithermal neutrons has been tested for cylindrical samples of 8 cm diameter and 10 cm high. A definite correlation was found between the relative excess flux values, R and the total hydrogen contents, N(H) of the samples. Analytical expressions obtained for R vs. N(H) function indicate the possible use of this method even in the case of approximately kg weight and liter sample dimensions. The large sample has a special advantage if the determination of the hydrogen concentration, C(H) is in question.

Activation cross-sections of long-lived products of proton-induced nuclear reactions on zinc

In the frame of a systematic study of excitation functions induced by medium energy protons, the activation cross-sections on natural zinc were investigated for different applications. Excitation functions for production of 66,67Ga, 62,65,69mZn, 64Cu, 57Ni, 55,56,57,58Co and 52,54Mn radioisotopes were measured by the stacked foil technique in the energy range of 26-67 MeV. Results were compared with the earlier reported experimental data and theoretical calculations based on the ALICE-IPPE code. Experimental data are presented for the first time for most of the products in the investigated energy range. Applications of the measured data for validating the cross-sections on highly enriched isotopic Zn targets and for thin layer activation method are discussed.

Investigations on landmine detection by neutron-based techniques

Principles and techniques of some neutron-based methods used to identify the antipersonnel landmines (APMs) are discussed. New results have been achieved in the field of neutron reflection, transmission, scattering and reaction techniques. Some conclusions are as follows: The neutron hand-held detector is suitable for the observation of anomaly caused by a DLM2-like sample in different soils with a scanning speed of 1m(2)/1.5 min; the reflection cross section of thermal neutrons rendered the determination of equivalent thickness of different soil components possible; a simple method was developed for the determination of the thermal neutron flux perturbation factor needed for multi-elemental analysis of bulky samples; unfolded spectra of elastically backscattered neutrons using broad-spectrum sources render the identification of APMs possible; the knowledge of leakage spectra of different source neutrons is indispensable for the determination of the differential and integrated reaction rates and through it the dimension of the interrogated volume; the precise determination of the C/O atom fraction requires the investigations on the angular distribution of the 6.13MeV gamma-ray emitted in the (16)O(n,n'gamma) reaction. These results, in addition to the identification of landmines, render the improvement of the non-intrusive neutron methods possible.

Advantages and limitations of thermal and epithermal neutron activation analysis of bulk samples

Systematic investigations have been carried out to extend the thermal neutron activation method for elemental analysis of bulk samples. A new method developed for the determination of the flux perturbation factor renders the thermal and epithermal neutron activation analyses of bulky samples of unknown compositions possible both in hydrogenous and in graphite moderators. The flux perturbation, F, depression, H, and self-absorption, G, factors are given for different samples. The limitation of the epithermal neutron activation analysis for hydrogenous bulky samples is also discussed.

Investigations on neutron-induced prompt gamma ray analysis of bulk samples

A systematic investigation was carried out for the improvement of the prompt gamma interrogation method used for contraband detection by the pulsed fast/thermal neutron analysis (PFTNA) technique. Optimizations of source detector shielding and geometry, role of the type and dimension of the gamma detector, attenuation of neutrons and gamma rays in bulky samples were also studied. Results obtained for both the shielding materials and elemental content of cocaine simulants have been compared with the values calculated by the MCNP-4A code.

Measurements and calculations of neutron spectra modified by iron slabs bombarded by neutrons with energies up to 14 MeV

Neutron spectra behind iron slabs of different thicknesses have been measured in the energy range from 1.6 to 14 MeV using a proton recoil spectrometer and 2H(d, n)3He and 9Be(d, n)10B neutron sources. The measured results have been compared with the predicted ones using the three dimensional Monte Carlo code MCNP 4A and pointwise cross sections from the ENDF/B-IV and ENDF/B-VI data files. The results show that the ENDF/B-IV calculations are in better agreement with the experiment than those obtained by using the ENDF/B-VI cross section data.

Investigations on thermal neutron reflection by activation method

The prompt neutron detection and the foil activation methods were compared for the determination of the reflection cross-section of thermal neutrons and the hydrogen content of bulk samples. The advantages and limitations of the two methods are discussed.