KeV-region analysis of the neutron capture cross-section of Np

Rovira Leveroni, G.   ; Katabuchi, Tatsuya*; Tosaka, Kenichi*; Matsuura, Shota*; Kodama, Yu*; Nakano, Hideto*; Iwamoto, Osamu  ; Kimura, Atsushi   ; Nakamura, Shoji  ; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki  

Neutron capture cross-section measurements for Np have been conducted with the Accurate Neutron Nucleus Reaction Measurement Instrument (ANNRI) at the Materials and Life Science Facility (MLF) of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) using neutrons with energy ranging from thermal energy to 1 MeV. A Time of Flight (TOF) method using a NaI(Tl) detector was employed for these measurements and the data were analyzed based on the pulse-height weighting technique in order to derive the neutron capture cross-section. The absolute capture cross-section was determined using the whole shape of the first resonance from JENDL-4.0 together with the total neutron flux derived from a Au sample measurement in which the first resonance was completely saturated. Both normalization techniques present agreement within 2%. The present results are also compared evaluated data libraries. There is a discrepancy of 10-25% discrepancy from 0.5 to 20 keV with JENDL-4.0. Nonetheless, above this energy, the JENDL-4.0 seems to reproduce the present data better as the results agree within uncertainties up to 500 keV. The cross-section results contain errors below 4% from 0.5 to 30 keV. However, the total uncertainty increases to over 8% over that energy. Along with the cross section measurement, theoretical calculations were performed to reproduce the present results.