Measurement of the 244Cm and 246Cm neutron-induced cross sections at the n_TOF facility

Abstract

The neutron capture reactions of the 244Cm and 246Cm isotopes open the path for the formation of heavier Cm isotopes and of heavier elements such as Bk and Cf in a nuclear reactor. In addition, both isotopes belong to the minor actinides with a large contribution to the decay heat and to the neutron emission in irradiated fuels proposed for the transmutation of nuclear waste and fast critical reactors. The available experimental data for both isotopes are very scarce. We measured the neutron capture cross section with isotopically enriched samples of 244Cm and 246Cm provided by JAEA. The measurement covers the range from 1 eV to 250 eV in the n_TOF Experimental Area 2 (EAR-2). In addition, a normalization measurement with the 244Cm sample was performed at Experimental Area 1 (EAR-1) with the Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC).