Determination of the ratios of the average plutonium-239 and neptunium-237 fission cross-sections to the average uranium-235 fission cross-section in quinta neutron field

Abstract

The ratios of the average 239 Pu and 237 Np fission cross-sections to the average 235 U fission crosssection were determined experimentally. Experiments with U-assembly QUINTA were carried out using the accelerator complex "Nuclotron" of the Veksler and Baldin Laboratory of High Energy Physics (VBHEP) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) (Dubna, Russia). Experiments were conducted in the frame of the project "E&T RAW". It is based on so called Relativistic Nuclear Technology (RNT) proposed recently [1] by one of the institutions (CPTP "Atomenergomash", Moscow) participating in "E&T RAW" collaboration. The assembly was irradiated by deuterons and carbon ions with energies 2 and 4 GeV/A. Comparison between experimental results and MCNPX calculations are presented. Accumulation and burning of plutonium, neptunium and others isotopes influences the neutron balance of the assembly that attracts an interest in such measurements.