Gamma-ray energies of short-lived Rb,Sr, and Y isotopes indicating delayed neutron emission to excited states

Gamma energies in the level schemes of ^95,96,97Sr, ^95,96,97Y, and ^95,97Zr are reported. Some of their excited levels are populated by delayed neutron emission. These nuclei were produced as daughters of Rb fission fragments originating from the reaction ²³⁵U(n, f). By thermal ionization they were separated from fission products having other nuclear charge states and by an on-line mass separator according to their respective masses.     

Fission decay properties of ultra neutron-rich uranium isotopes

The fission decay of highly neutron-rich uranium isotopes is investigated which shows interesting new features in the barrier properties and neutron emission characteristics in the fission process. ²³³U and ²³⁵U are the nuclei in the actinide region in the beta stability valley which are thermally fissile and have been mainly used in reactors for power generation. The possibility of occurrence of thermally fissile members in the chain of neutron-rich uranium isotopes is examined here. The neutron number N = 162 or 164 has been predicted to be magic in numerous theoretical studies carried out over the years. The series of uranium isotopes around it with N = 154–172 are identified to be thermally fissile on the basis of the fission barrier and neutron separation energy systematics; a manifestation of the close shell nature of N = 162 (or 164). We consider here the thermal neutron fission of a typical representative ²⁴⁹U nucleus in the highly neutron-rich region. Semiempirical study of fission barrier height and width shows that ²⁵⁰U nucleus is stable against spontaneous fission due to increase in barrier width arising out of excess neutrons. On the basis of the calculation of the probability of fragment mass yields and the microscopic study in relativistic mean field theory, this nucleus is shown to undergo exotic decay mode of thermal neutron fission (multi-fragmentation fission) whereby a number of prompt scission neutrons are expected to be simultaneously released along with the two heavy fission fragments. Such properties will have important implications in stellar evolution involving r-process nucleosynthesis.      

Der Zerfall des95Sr

The nuclide⁹⁵Sr was isolated by chemical separation methods after thermal neutron induced fission of²³⁵U. It's decay properties were investigated employing semiconductor spectrometers and coincidence techniques. A half-life of 24.4±0.2 sec was found. Out of 29 gamma rays, 25 transitions representing 97% of the observed gamma-ray intensity were placed in a decay scheme comprising 19 excited states of⁹⁵Y.     

Der Zerfall des94Sr

The nuclide⁹⁴Sr was isolated by chemical separation methods after thermal neutron induced fission of²³⁵U. Its decay properties were investigated employing semi-conductor spectrometers and coincidence techniques. A half-life of 74.1±0.3 sec was found. Besides the 1428.3 keV γ-ray we found 4 new γ-rays which could be placed in a decay scheme comprising three excited states of⁹⁴Y. The 1⁺ states in theuu-nuclides^90,92,94Y and^88,90,92Rb are compared.     

裂变产物衰变链设计

根据核科学参考文献库,对半衰期、缓发中子发射几率等进行了更新评价,采用系统学研究和理论研究相结合的评价方法对裂变产物中不确定的基态进行了自旋指定,对部分存在问题的数据进行了必要修正;对衰变子核存在同质异能态的放射性核素,根据衰变纲图和内转换系数重新计算得到退激至子核同质异能态和基态的分支比数据。在此基础上,结合现有核结构和衰变数据库,研制了裂变产物衰变链设计专用衰变数据库,按照衰变规律,建立了裂变产物衰变路径和衰变信息的完整衰变链,本工作为裂变产物分析和裂变产额研究提供了一个便利参考。     

Time features of delayed neutrons and partial emissive-fission cross sections for the neutron-induced fission of 232Th nuclei in the energy range 3.2–17.9 MeV

The energy dependence of the relative abundances of delayed neutrons and the energy dependence of the half-lives of their precursors in the neutron-induced fission of ²³²Th nuclei in the energy range 3.2–17.9 MeV were measured for the first time. A systematics of the time features of delayed neutrons is developed. This systematics makes it possible to estimate the half-life of delayed-neutron precursors as a function of the nucleonic composition of fissile nuclei by using a single parameter set for all nuclides. The energy dependence of the partial cross sections for emissive fission in the reaction ²³²Th(n, f) was analyzed on the basis of data obtained for the relative abundances of delayed neutrons and the aforementioned half-lives and on the basis of the created systematics of the time features of delayed neutrons. It was shown experimentally for the first time that the decrease in the cross section after the reaction threshold in the fission of ²³²Th nuclei (it has a pronounced first-chance plateau) is not an exclusion among the already studied uranium, plutonium, and curium isotopes and complies with theoretical predictions obtained for the respective nuclei with allowance for shell, superfluid, and collective effects in the nuclear-level density and with allowance for preequilibrium neutron emission     

Prescission neutrons in the fission of 235U and 252Cf nuclei

Experimental data obtained previously for the energy-angular distribution of neutrons originating from the fission of ²⁵²Cf (spontaneous fission) and ²³⁵U (thermal-neutron-induced fission) nuclei are analyzed, the angle being measured with respect to the direction of fission-fragment motion. A regularity common to all independent experiments is revealed: at an angle of about 90°, there exists an excess of neutrons (30% for ²⁵²Cf and 60% for ²³⁵U) that does not admit explanation within the model of neutron emission from fully accelerated fragments. Two possible explanations of this experimental fact—neutron emission during the acceleration process and the existence of an additional source of neutrons (predominantly, prescission neutrons)—are considered. It is shown that the latter conjecture describes the observed features for both nuclei more adequately. The total yield of prescission neutrons and their energy and angular distributions are determined.     

Emission properties of fission fragments and their isomeric ratios

The properties of neutron emission from fragments formed in the spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf and in the thermal-neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U are analyzed on the basis of the statistical model of nuclear reactions. Upon extracting the mean excitation energies of fission fragments from experimental data on the mean multiplicities of neutrons, the observables of neutron emission can be described over wide ranges of total kinetic energies and masses. The observed values of mean fragment spins are also reproduced. A method for calculating the isomeric ratios of the independent yields of fission fragments that is based on the cascade-evaporation model of excited-nucleus decay is employed to describe experimental data on ²³⁵U fission induced by thermal neutrons and on ²³⁸U fission induced by alpha particles. The effect exerted on the isomeric ratios for fission fragments by two different assumptions on the spin distributions of primary-fragment populations—the assumption of the distribution associated with rotational degrees of freedom and the assumption of the distribution associated with the internal degrees of freedom of fully accelerated fragments—is investigated.     

Quantum molecular dynamics approach to estimate spallation yield from<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> +<Superscript>208</Superscript>Pb reaction at 800 MeV

The spallation yield of neutrons and other mass fragments produced in 800 MeV proton induced reaction on²⁰⁸Pb have been calculated in the framework of quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) model. The energy spectra and angular distribution have been calculated. Also, multiplicity distributions of the emitted neutrons and kinetic energy carried away by them have been estimated and compared with the available experimental data. The agreement is satisfactory. A major contribution to the neutron emission comes from statistical decay of the fragments. For mass and charge distributions of spallation products the QMD process gives rise to target-like and projectile-like fragments only.     

Study of fusion cross-section in heavy-ion fusion-fission reactions at around fusion barrier energies using the Langevin dynamical approach

The neutron detector with ³He -filled counters placed in the focal plane of the VASSILISSA separator is used for measuring the average number and determining the multiplicity distribution of prompt neutrons from the spontaneous fission of heavy short-lived isotopes. The test reaction $\ensuremath \mathrm{{}^{48}Ca}+\mathrm{{}^{206}Pb}=2{\rm n}+\mathrm{{}^{252}No}$ is used for tuning the separator settings and calibrating the detector system with the spontaneous fission of the ²⁵²No . The average neutron number per ²⁵²No spontaneous fission event is as large as $\ensuremath \bar{\nu}=4.06 \pm 0.12$ . The short-lived heavy isotope ²⁴⁴Fm , produced in the complete fusion reaction ⁴⁰Ar + ²⁰⁶Pb , is investigated. The average number of neutrons per spontaneous fission of ²⁴⁴Fm from the experimental data ( $\ensuremath \bar{\nu}=3.3 \pm 0.3$ is determined for the first time.     

Identification of a new isotope,168Dy

A previously unreported nuclide,¹⁶⁸Dy, has been identified and found to have a half-life of 8.5+-0.5 min. The activity was produced in the spontaneous fission of²⁵²Cf and transported via a He jet system to a rapid radiochemical separative facility where the Dy fraction was removed from the mixed fission products. The assignment of this activity to¹⁶⁸Dy decay was based on the presence of five γ rays in the chemically separated Dy fraction which were associated with the decay of an 8.5-min activity and on the observation of the grow-in and subsequent decay of the daughter, 2.98-min¹⁶⁸Ho, with approximately an 8-min half-life. The γ-ray emission probabilities have been determined.     

Characteristics of spontaneous fission of <Superscript>250</Superscript>No

This study describes an experiment on investigating the properties of spontaneous fission of shortlived neutron-deficient nuclei synthesized in the reaction of complete fusion ⁴⁸Ca + ²⁰⁴Pb = ²⁵²No*. The experiment is performed using the SHELS separator and the beam of multicharged ions at U-400 accelerator (LNR, JINR). Two activities undergoing spontaneous fission, which can be related to the ground and isomeric states of ²⁵⁰No nucleus, are registered. The half-lives, total kinetic energies of fission fragments, and neutron multiplicities are measured for the short-lived nuclei. The average number of neutrons per fission for the activity with t _1/2 = 5.1 ± 0.3 μs is = 4.38 ± 0.13 μs, and for nuclei with the half-life t _1/2 = 36 ± 3 μs it is xxxxx.     

Shell effects in fusion-fission of heavy and superheavy nuclei

The process of fusion-fission of heavy and superheavy nuclei (SHE) with Z=82?122 formed in the reactions with ⁴⁸Ca and ⁵⁸Fe ions at energies near and below the Coulomb barrier has been studied. The experiments were carried out at the U-400 accelerator of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR) and at the XTU Tandem accelerator of the National Laboratory of Legnaro (LNL) using the time-of-flight spectrometer of fission fragments CORSET and the neutron multi-detector DEMON. As a result of the experiments, mass and energy distributions (MED) of fission fragments, fission, quasi-fission and evaporation residues cross sections, multiplicities of neutrons and γ quanta and their dependence on the mechanism of formation and decay of compound systems have been studied.     

Evaluating the yield of transuranium nuclides with masses of up to A = 270 via pulsed nucleosynthesis

A model of the creation of transuranium isotopes of up to A = 270 under conditions of pulse nucleosynthesis in a neutron flux with densities of up to ??10²⁵ neutron cm^?2 is considered. The pulse process allows us to divide it in time into two stages: the process of multiple neutron captures (t < 10^?6 s) and the subsequent ??-decay of neutron-excess nuclei. The modeling of the transuranium yields takes into account the adiabatic character of the process, the probability of delayed fission, and the emission of delayed neutrons. A target with a binary composition of ²³⁸U and ²³⁹Pu, ²⁴⁸Cm, and ²⁵¹Cf isotopes is used to predict the yields of heavy and superheavy isotopes.     

Cumulative fission yield measurements with 14.7 MeV neutrons on 238U

The fission yield data in the 14 MeV energy neutron induced fission of ²³⁸U play an important role in decay heat calculations and generation-IV reactor designs. In order to accurately measure fission product yields (FPYs) of ²³⁸U induced by 14 MeV neutrons, the cumulative yields of fission products ranging from ⁹²Sr to ¹⁴⁷Nd in the ²³⁸U(n, f) reaction with a 14.7 MeV neutron were determined using an off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique. The 14.7 MeV quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam was provided by the K-400 D-T neutron generator at China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP). Fission products were measured by a low background high purity germanium gamma spectrometer. The neutron flux was obtained from the ⁹³Nb (n, 2n)^92mNb reaction, and the mean neutron energy was calculated using the cross-section ratios for the ⁹⁰Zr(n, 2n)⁸⁹Zr and ⁹³Nb(n, 2n)^92mNb reactions. With a series of corrections, high precision cumulative yields of 20 fission products were obtained. Our FPYs for the ²³⁸U(n, f) reaction at 14.7 MeV were compared with the existing experimental nuclear reaction data and evaluated nuclear data, respectively. The results will be helpful in the design of a generation-IV reactor and the construction of evaluated fission yield databases.     

关於热能中子所致铀235分裂时发出的中子数目的讨论

An investigation on the average number v of prompt neutrons emitted per thermal neutron induced fission of U²³⁵ has been made with the Fermi gas statistical model. Weizsacker-Fermi semi-empirical mass equation has been used in calculating the neutron binding energies of the fission fragments. Using Stern's value for the mass of U²³⁵, the total excitation energy E_e of the fission fragments has been estimated to be of the order of 10 to 20 Mev for different hypotheses regarding the primary fission products. The results of calculation (given in the third table) show that only the hypothesis of equal radioactive chain lengths together with the assumption (A) that the excitation energy E_e is shared by the two fragments in proportion to their masses yields values of v exceeding 2. The latter assumption is not in accord with the experimental finding of Fraser that the light fragment group emits on the average 30% more neutrons than does the heavy. However, a shift of mass of U²³⁵ towards larger values or of kinetic energy of fission fragments towards lower values so that 5 Mev more excitation energy is available would make v considerably larger than 2 even with the assumption (B) that the excitation energy is shared by the two fragments in inverse proportion to their masses, thus making possible conformity with Fraser's discovery. Even then, in no case has the value of v thus calculated exceeded 3 (as shown in the fourth table), which may then be taken as a theoretical upper bound for the value of ν for thermal neutron induced fission of U²³⁵. The results of this investigation are thus seen to be in harmony with the recently announced experimental value 2.5 ±0.1 for ν.     

Search for T-odd left-right asymmetry of prompt neutron emission in binary fission of the 233U and 239Pu nuclei by slow polarized neutrons

We report preliminary results of measuring the T-odd left-right asymmetry of prompt neutron emission in binary fission of the ²³³U and ²³⁹Pu nuclei by slow polarized neutrons. Assuming that about 35% of prompt neutrons are emitted from the “neck,” one can conclude that the emission asymmetry of scission neutrons in ²³³U is an order of magnitude lower than the asymmetry of α-particle emission in ternary fission.     

Energy spectra of delayed neutrons from separated fission products: (III). The precursors 88Br, 90Br, 138I, 140I, 142(Xe+Cs) and 144Cs

Energy spectra of delayed neutrons from the mass-separated fission products ^{88. 90}Br, ^{138, 14}I, ¹⁴²(Xe+Cs) and ¹⁴⁴Cs have been measured. Average level spacings, neutron envelopes and P_n values were calculated and compared with the experimental data. The neutron envelopes are well reproduced for all precursors except ⁹⁰Br and ¹⁴⁰I. For the latter the neutron window predicted by various mass formulae is too wide and a considerable reduction was found necessary to bring calculated envelopes in agreement with the experimental distributions.     

Study of the Mo-Ba partition in 252Cf spontaneous fission

Measurements of fission fragment yields and neutron multiplicities have been carried out for the Mo-Ba fragment pairs in the spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf, using the γ-ray spectroscopy technique to analyze γ-γ-γ coincidence data. Prompt γ -ray multiplicities were also measured as a function of the number of neutrons emitted in the fission process leading to the Mo-Ba partition. We do not observe the enhancement in the yields of events with high neutron emission multiplicity (ν_n > 7) that has been associated to a second fission mode leading to the production of hyperdeformed Ba fragments, as reported in some earlier studies. The average γ-ray multiplicity is found to be rather weakly dependent on the number of neutrons emitted in the fission process. Received: 21 July 1999 / Revised version: 19 November 1999     

Fusion-fission of heavy and superheavy nuclei

The process of fusion-fission of heavy and superheavy nuclei (SHE) with Z=82–122 formed in the reactions with ⁴⁸Ca and ⁵⁸Fe ions at energies near and below the Coulomb barrier has been studied. The experiments were carried out at the U-400 accelerator of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR) and at the XTU Tandem accelerator of the National Laboratory of Legnaro (LNL) using the time-of-flight spectrometer of fission fragments CORSET and the neutron multidetector DEMON. As a result of the experiments, mass and energy distributions (MED) of fission fragments; fission, quasifission, and evaporation residue cross sections; and multiplicities of neutrons and γ-quanta and their dependences on the mechanism of formation and decay of compound systems have been studied.