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The fission cross section of 245Cm was measured at the GELINA neutron facility of the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) in Geel, Belgium, as a function of the incident neutron energy. The energy of the neutrons is determined applying the time of flight method using a flight path length of about 9 m. A highly enriched 245Cm sample (98.48%) was mounted back-to-back with a 10B sample in the centre of a vacuum chamber together with two surface barrier detectors positioned outside the neutron beam. One detector measured the 10B(n,α)7Li reaction products for the neutron flux determination, while the second one registered the 245Cm(n,f) fragments. A control measurement has been performed replacing the 245Cm sample with a 235U sample in order to check that the well-known 235U(n,f) cross section can be reproduced. In comparison with previous 245Cm fission cross section measurements, our preliminary results show a nice improvement of the energy resolution, in particular below 20 eV where very few data are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last years, several Cm and Cf isotopes have been studied by our research group in the frame of a systematic investigation of gas emission characteristics in ternary fission. Here we report on new results on the energy distribution and the emission probability of 3H, 4He and He particles emitted in the spontaneous ternary fission of 250Cf (Eexc = 0 MeV) and in the neutron induced ternary fission of 249Cf (Eexc = 6.625 MeV). Both measurements were performed using suited and well-calibrated ΔE-E telescope detectors, at the IRMM (Geel, Belgium) for the spontaneous fission and at the very intense neutron beam PF1b at the Institute Laue-Langevin (Grenoble, France) for the neutron induced fission measurement. In this way, the existing database can be enlarged with new results for Z = 98 isotopes, which is important for the systematic investigation. Moreover, the investigation of the ‘isotope couple’ 249Cf(n,f)–250Cf(SF), together with corresponding data for other isotopes, will yield valuable information on the influence of the excitation energy on the particle emission probabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary fission is an important source of He and tritium gas in nuclear reactors and used fuel elements. Therefore a systematic study of the ternary fission yields for 4He and tritons (t) is being performed. In recent years the influence of the excitation energy of the fissioning nucleus on the triton emission probability (t/B) has been investigated for different Cm and Cf isotopes. In this paper we report on new results on the neutron induced fission of 243Cm. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The minor actinide waste produced in nuclear power plants contains various Cm-isotopes, and transmutation scenarios require improved fission cross section data. The available thermal neutron induced fission cross section data for 243Cm, 246Cm and 248Cm are not very accurate, so new cross section measurements have been performed at the high flux reactor of the ILL in Grenoble (France) under better experimental conditions (highly enriched samples, very intense and clean neutron beam). The measurements were performed at a neutron energy of 5.38 meV, yielding fission cross section values of (1240±28)b for 243Cm, (25±47)mb for 246Cm and (685±84)mb for 248Cm. From these results, thermal fission cross section values of (572±14)b; (12±25)mb and (316±43)mb have been deduced for 243Cm, 246Cm and 248Cm, respectively. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary fission constitutes an important source of helium and tritium gas production in nuclear reactors and in used fuel elements. Data related to this production are therefore requested by nuclear industry. In the present paper, we report results from measurements of the 4He and 3H emission probabilities (denoted LRA/B and t/B, respectively). These measurements concern both thermal neutron-induced fission reactions as well as spontaneous fission decays. For spontaneous fission, data are reported for nuclides ranging from 238Pu up to 252Cf. For thermal neutron-induced fission, results cover target nuclei between 229Th and 251Cf. Based on these and other results, semi-empirical relations are proposed. These correlations are only valid if spontaneous fission data and neutron-induced fission data are considered separately, which shows the impact of the fissioning nucleus-excitation energy on the ternary particle-emission process. In this way, t/B and LRA/B values could be evaluated for fissioning systems not investigated so far. These results could be used for the ternary fission-yield evaluation of the JEFF3.1 library. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]