14.77 MeV neutron-induced nuclear reaction cross sections for zinc, yttrium, and molybdenum targets*

Abstract

The cross sections for neutron-induced nuclear reactions on natural zinc, yttrium and molybdenum targets were measured at 14.77 ± 0.17 MeV neutron energy by the activation technique, offline gamma-ray spectrometry along with a detailed covariance analysis. The uncertainty in statistical model calculations of cross sections for (n,2n), (n,p), (n,α) and (n,γ) reactions for natural zinc, yttrium and molybdenum from 13 to 17 MeV neutron energy was calculated with the TALYS-1.96 nuclear code. The measured cross sections of the present study are compared with experimental cross sections reported in the EXFOR database, cross sections calculated with the TALYS-1.96 and EMPIRE-3.2.3 nuclear codes and evaluated nuclear data from the TENDL-2019, JENDL-5 and ENDF/B-VIII.0 libraries.