Fast-neutron capture cross section data measurement of minor actinides for development of nuclear transmutation systems

Abstract

The neutron capture cross sections of 237Np, 243Am and 241Am in the keV energy region were measured by the time-of-flight method at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Characterization of the minor actinide samples were made to reduce the uncertainties of the cross section. A neutron beam filter system was developed and installed in ANNRI to solve the double-bunch mode issue of J-PARC. The pulse-height weighting technique was employed to determine the neutron capture cross sections. The neutron capture cross sections of 237Np, 243Am and 241Am were determined with higher accuracies than the past experiments.