Том 79, № 9-10 (2016)

The mass-energy distributions and cross sections of proton-induced fission of ²³²Th have been measured at the proton energies of 7, 10, 13, 20, 40, and 55 MeV. Experiments were carried out at the proton beam of the K-130 cyclotron of the JYFL Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä and U-150m cyclotron of the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The yields of fission fragments in the mass range A = 60–170 a.m.u. have been measured up to the level of 10−4%. The three humped shape of the mass distribution up has been observed at higher proton energies. The contribution of the symmetric component grows up with increasing proton incident energy; although even at 55 MeV of proton energy the shoulders in the mass energy distribution clearly indicate the asymmetric fission peaks. Evolution of shell structure was observed in the fission fragment mass distributions even at high excitation energy.

Isomeric ratios of ¹⁷⁹Hf^m2,g yields in the (γ, n) reaction and the cross section for the ¹⁷⁹Hf^m2 population in the (α, p) reaction are measured for the first time at the end-point energies of 15.1 and 17.5 MeV for bremsstrahlung photons and 26 MeV for alpha particles. The results are σ = (1.1 ± 0.11) × 10⁻²⁷ cm² for the ¹⁷⁶Lu(α, p)¹⁷⁹Hf^m2 reaction and Y_m2/Y_g = (6.1 ± 0.3) × 10⁻⁶ and (3.7 ± 0.2) × 10⁻⁶ for the ¹⁸⁰Hf(γ, n)¹⁷⁹Hf^m22 reaction at Е_ep =15.1 and 17.5 MeV, respectively. The experimental data on the relative ¹⁷⁹Hf^m2 yield indicate a single-humped shape of the excitation function for the ¹⁸⁰Hf(γ, n)¹⁷⁹Hf^m2 reaction. Simulation is performed using the TALYS-1.4 and EMPIRE-3.2 codes.

A new off-line timing method for PIN diode signals is presented which allows the plasma delay effect to be suppressed. Velocities of heavy ions measured by the new method are in good agreement within a wide range of masses and energies with velocities measured by time stamp detectors based on microchannel plates.

In this study, we theoretically analyze the processes in a plane-parallel high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The generating function of factorial moments describing the process of registration of low-energy X-rays by the HPGe detector with consideration of capture of charge carriers by traps is obtained. It is demonstrated that the coefficients of expansion of the average signal amplitude and variance in power series over the quantity inversely proportional to the bias voltage of the detector allow one to determine the Fano factor, the product of the charge carrier lifetime and mobility, and other characteristics of the semiconductor material of the detector.

We consider a method of detecting the ionizing component of solar cosmic rays (SCRs) with energy from tens of MeV to tens of GeV by measuring the energy loss of SCR protons and light nuclei in scintillators and the multiplicity of the local neutron generation in a converter. Scintillation detectors based on stilbene, lithium glass, and solid-state photomultiplier tubes are capable of detecting fast neutrons with a temporal resolution of 10 ns and rejecting the gamma-ray background in the measuring system. The method will allow investigating the nucleon components of primary SCRs in circumterrestrial space.

The system for real-time monitoring of radioactivity of a high-current proton linear accelerator detects secondary neutron emission from proton beam losses in transport channels and measures the activity of radionuclides in gas and aerosol emissions and the radiation background in the environment affected by a linear accelerator. The data provided by gamma, beta, and neutron detectors are transferred over a computer network to the central server. The system allows one to monitor proton beam losses, the activity of gas and aerosol emissions, and the radiation emission level of a linear accelerator in operation.

The results of calculating the degree of ionization, the pressure, and the specific internal energy of aluminum plasma in a wide temperature range are presented. The TERMAG computational code based on the Thomas–Fermi model was used at temperatures Т > 105 K, and the ionization equilibrium model (Saha model) was applied at lower temperatures. Quantitatively similar results were obtained in the temperature range where both models are applicable. This suggests that the obtained data may be joined to produce a wide-range equation of state.

Momentum distributions of nuclear fragments at an angle of 3.5° in the interaction of 0.6-GeV/nucleon carbon ions with a beryllium target are measured in the FRAGM experiment on the ITEP-TWAC facility. The measured spectra are used for testing predictions of four ion–ion interaction models: BC, QMD, INCL, and LAQGSM03.03, and for comparison with the analytical parameterization within the thermodynamic concept of fragmentation.

The results of efficiency calibration and verification of the in situ method with application of a handheld spectrometer with high-purity germanium detector are presented. The conducted studies show that the calibration of spectrometer efficiency with the use of the Monte Carlo method can be applied for measurement of the surface activity of radionuclides deposited on the ground with an uncertainty of not more than 22%.

In nuclear reactors, thermal neutron spectra are formed using moderators with small atomic weights. For fast reactors, inserting such moderators in the core may create problems since they efficiently decelerate the neutrons. In order to form an intermediate neutron spectrum, it is preferable to employ neutron moderators with sufficiently large atomic weights, using ²³³U as a fissile nuclide and ²³²Th and ²³¹Pa as fertile ones. The aim of the work is to investigate the properties of heavy neutron moderators and to assess their advantages. The analysis employs the JENDL-4.0 nuclear data library and the SCALE program package for simulating the variation of fuel composition caused by irradiation in the reactor. The following main results are obtained. By using heavy moderators with small neutron moderation steps, one is able to (1) increase the rate of resonance capture, so that the amount of fertile material in the fuel may be reduced while maintaining the breeding factor of the core; (2) use the vacant space for improving the fuel-element properties by adding inert, strong, and thermally conductive materials and by implementing dispersive fuel elements in which the fissile material is self-replenished and neutron multiplication remains stable during the process of fuel burnup; and (3) employ mixtures of different fertile materials with resonance capture cross sections in order to increase the resonance-lattice density and the probability of resonance neutron capture leading to formation of fissile material. The general conclusion is that, by forming an intermediate neutron spectrum with heavy neutron moderators, one can use the fuel more efficiently and improve nuclear safety.

The cross sections of nuclear reactions involving emission of clusters of light nuclei in proton collisions with a heavy-metal target are computed for incident-proton energies between 30 MeV and 2.6 GeV. The calculation relies on the ALICE/ASH and CASCADE/INPE computer codes. The parameters determining the pre-equilibrium cluster emission are varied in the computation.