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AbstractThe purpose of this safety study, carried out within the EURISOL Design Study, was to characterize the radiation environment and design the appropriate shielding of the new-generation radioactive ion beam postaccelerator. Both variants of linac layouts—without stripper (L#1) and with stripper (L#2)—were analyzed using the 132Sn25+radioactive beam of unprecedented intensity, namely, up to ~1013particles/s, as reference for simulations. In this work two scenarios were analyzed: (a) an accidental full beam loss during 1 s every day and (b) continuous beam loss of 10–4m–1, representing normal operation conditions. Representative loss positions along the accelerator at variable energies of 21, 45.5, 76, 115, and 150 MeVu–1were investigated. The lost ions were assumed to strike a stopping copper target. Dedicated simulations were performed by means of the PHITS code. The induced radioactivity in the accelerator components, concrete walls, and air inside the tunnel were estimated using the DCHAIN-SP-2001 code based on an external neutron source and spallation products derived from PHITS. Ambient dose equivalent rates due to the residual radiation were calculated with the MCNPX code using photon sources resulting from DCHAIN. The effect of implanted radioactive ions at low energies in the accelerator structure was also assessed.

AbstractRecently, new applications based on detection of delayed neutrons (DNs) or delayed photons produced during photofission have shown the need for new basic nuclear data. Indeed, available data for DNs are scarce, incomplete, and sometimes contradictory. An experimental campaign has been dedicated to DN measurements for some important actinides with a bremsstrahlung end-point energy spectrum up to 20 MeV. The experiments were carried out at the electron accelerator facility ELSA installed at the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA) center of Bruyères-le-Châtel, France. Delayed neutrons were measured by 12 3He counters embedded in an annular polyethylene cylinder. Delayed neutron absolute yields were determined. Different irradiation-decay time combinations allowed the extraction of the averaged six-group parameters of DNs. Similarly to the nuclear reactor physics, these groups are formed by lumping DN precursors according to their half-lives. The DN time dependence is then expressed by the sum of group contributions.In this paper, DN absolute yields and six-group parameters for 235U at 15 and 18 MeV and 237Np at 15 MeV are presented. The 235U and 237Np absolute DN yields are found slightly lower than those published in the literature. For 235U, the six-group parameters show no dependence on incident electron energy from 10 to 18 MeV. In addition, the group parameters are very close to those of 237Np. This work helped to resolve the discrepancies of the photofission DN parameters for 235U while the six-group parameters for 237Np are reported for the first time.

Abstract:: The prompt component at intermediate velocity of light charged particles is investigated. An improved coalescence model coupled to the intra-nuclear cascade code ISABEL is used to obtain light complex particle energy spectra and multiplicities as a function of impact parameter. The results are compared with experimental data from the 36Ar + 58Ni experiment at 95 MeV/nucleon, performed with the INDRA 4π detection system. The calculated prompt component is found to rather well reproduce proton spectra. For complex light charged particles the calculated components well populate the high energy part of spectra. Prompt emission can therefore explain the large transverse energies experimentally observed at mid-rapidity.

Recent experimental results concerning heavy systems (Pb+Au, Pb+Ag, Pb+Al, Gd+C, Gd+U, Xe+Sn, …) obtained at GANIL with the INDRA and NAUTILUS 4πarrays will be presented. The study of reaction mechanisms has shown the dominant binary and highly dissipative character of the process. The two heavy and excited fragments produced after the first stage of the interaction can decay into various decay modes from evaporation to multifragmentation including fission. However, deviations from this simple picture have been found by analyzing angular and velocity distributions of light charged particles, and fragments. Indeed, there is a certain amount of matter in excess emitted between the two primary sources suggesting either the existence of a mid-rapidity source similar to the one observed in the relativistic regime (participants) or a strong deformation induced by the dynamics of the collision (neck instability). This last possibility has been suggested by analyzing in detail the angular distributions of the fragments. More precisely, we observe an isotropic component which is compatible with the prediction of statistical models and a second one corresponding to breakup aligned with the recoil direction of the projectile like source which should be compared with the predictions of dynamical calculations based on microscopic transport models.

Abstract.: The formation and the deexcitation of the composite nucleus formed during the Ni + Al reaction at 28 A·MeV has been studied with the 4 π multidetector AMPHORA. A rigourous selection of the experimental data is described in order to extract a central collision sample. Then different models are compared to the data. The incomplete fusion process is in agreement with the data. The azimuthal angle correlations of He-Li and Li-Li pairs have been used to discriminate sequential or instantaneous emission. The sequential deexcitation is more consistent with all the data. The different analyses allow to describe all the characteristics of the compound nucleus and finally a fusion cross section of 300 ± 100 mbarn has been measured.