Neutron capture cross-section measurement by mass spectrometry for Pb-204 irradiated in JRR-3

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Kimura, Atsushi; Endo, Shunsuke; Shizuma, Toshiyuki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(9), p.1133 - 1142, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2023.2172088

In recent years, research has been advanced on lead-cooled fast reactors and accelerator drive systems, and it is required to improve the accuracy of the neutron capture cross section of Pb isotopes. Although Pb has a small natural abundance, it is of importance because it produces the long-lived radionuclide Pb (17.3 million years) by neutron capture reaction. However, it is difficult to measure its cross section by a conventional activation method using a nuclear reactor because the induced radioactivity of Pb is weak. Hence, the cross-section measurement was performed by applying mass spectrometry. This presentation gives the details of the experiment and the results obtained in the neutron capture cross-section measurement of Pb using mass spectroscopy.

Isomer production ratio of the Cd()Cd reaction in an -process branching point

Hayakawa, Takehito*; Toh, Yosuke; Kimura, Atsushi; Nakamura, Shoji; Shizuma, Toshiyuki*; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Chiba, Satoshi*; Kajino, Toshitaka*

Physical Review C, 103(4), p.045801_1 - 045801_5, 2021/04

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.103.045801

Quasifree neutron knockout reaction reveals a small -Orbital component in the Borromean nucleus B

Yang, Z. H.*; Kubota, Yuki*; Corsi, A.*; Yoshida, Kazuki; Sun, X.-X.*; Li, J. G.*; Kimura, Masaaki*; Michel, N.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Yuan, C. X.*; et al.

Physical Review Letters, 126(8), p.082501_1 - 082501_8, 2021/02

AA2020-0819.pdf:1.29MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.082501

A quasifree (,) experiment was performed to study the structure of the Borromean nucleus B, which had long been considered to have a neutron halo. By analyzing the momentum distributions and exclusive cross sections, we obtained the spectroscopic factors for and orbitals, and a surprisingly small percentage of 9(2)% was determined for . Our finding of such a small component and the halo features reported in prior experiments can be explained by the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum, revealing a definite but not dominant neutron halo in B. The present work gives the smallest - or -orbital component among known nuclei exhibiting halo features and implies that the dominant occupation of or orbitals is not a prerequisite for the occurrence of a neutron halo.

Measurements of thermal-neutron capture cross-section of cesium-135 by applying mass spectrometry

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Kimura, Atsushi; Iwamoto, Osamu; Uehara, Akihiro*; Fujii, Toshiyuki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 57(4), p.388 - 400, 2020/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1691077

The thermal-neutron capture cross-section () and resonance integral(I) were measured for the Cs(n,)Cs reaction by an activation method and mass spectrometry. We used Cs contained as an impurity in a normally available Cs standard solution. An isotope ratio of Cs and Cs in a standard Cs solution was measured by mass spectrometry to quantify Cs. The analyzed Cs samples were irradiated at the hydraulic conveyer of the research reactor in Institute for Integral Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. Wires of Co/Al and Au/Al alloys were used as neutron monitors to measure thermal-neutron fluxes and epi-thermal Westcott's indices at an irradiation position. A gadolinium filter was used to measure the , and a value of 0.133 eV was taken as the cut-off energy. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to measure induced activities of Cs, Cs and monitor wires. On the basis of Westcott's convention, the and I values were derived as 8.570.25 barn, and 45.33.2 barn, respectively. The obtained in the present study agreed within the limits of uncertainties with the past reported value of 8.30.3 barn.

Enhancement of element production by incomplete fusion reaction with weakly bound deuteron

Wang, H.*; Otsu, Hideaki*; Chiga, Nobuyuki*; Kawase, Shoichiro*; Takeuchi, Satoshi*; Sumikama, Toshiyuki*; Koyama, Shumpei*; Sakurai, Hiroyoshi*; Watanabe, Yukinobu*; Nakayama, Shinsuke; et al.

Communications Physics (Internet), 2(1), p.78_1 - 78_6, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-019-0165-1

Searching for effective pathways for the production of proton- and neutron-rich isotopes through an optimal combination of reaction mechanism and energy is one of the main driving forces behind experimental and theoretical nuclear reaction studies as well as for practical applications in nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste. We report on a study on incomplete fusion induced by deuteron, which contains one proton and one neutron with a weak binding energy and is easily broken up. This reaction study was achieved by measuring directly the cross sections for both proton and deuteron for Pd at 50 MeV/u via inverse kinematics technique. The results provide direct experimental evidence for the onset of a cross-section enhancement at high energy, indicating the potential of incomplete fusion induced by loosely-bound nuclei for creating proton-rich isotopes and nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste.

Measurements of thermal-neutron capture cross-section and resonance integral of neptunium-237

Nakamura, Shoji; Kitatani, Fumito; Kimura, Atsushi; Uehara, Akihiro*; Fujii, Toshiyuki*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 56(6), p.493 - 502, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2019.1598304

The thermal-neutron capture cross-section()and resonance integral(I) were measured for the Np(n,)Np reaction by an activation method. A method with a Gadolinium filter, which is similar to the Cadmium difference method, was used to measure the with paying attention to the first resonance at 0.489 eV of Np, and a value of 0.133 eV was taken as a cut-off energy. Neptunium-237 samples were irradiated at the pneumatic tube of the Kyoto University Research Reactor in Institute for Integral Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. Wires of Co/Al and Au/Al alloys were used as monitors to determine thermal-neutron fluxes and epi-thermal Westcott's indices at an irradiation position. A -ray spectroscopy was used to measure activities of Np, Np and neutron monitors. On the basis of Westcott's convention, the and I values were derived as 186.96.2 barn, and 100990 barn, respectively.

Progress of neutron-capture cross-section measurements promoted by ImPACT project at ANNRI in MLF of J-PARC

Nakamura, Shoji; Kimura, Atsushi; Hales, B. P.; Iwamoto, Osamu; Shibahara, Yuji*; Uehara, Akihiro*; Fujii, Toshiyuki*

JAEA-Conf 2018-001, p.199 - 203, 2018/12

https://doi.org/10.11484/jaea-conf-2018-001

Study on cross-section measurements has been promoted for Cs among long-lived fission products in ImPACT Project. The feasibility study on Se sample preparation also has been conducted to measure its cross sections in future. During the feasibility study, we started the neutron-capture cross-section measurements of stable Se isotopes. This paper reports research progresses on preparation of a radioactive Cs sample, neutron irradiation experiments with the Cs sample, and cross-section measurements of stable Se isotopes.

Measurements of neutron total and capture cross sections of Am with ANNRI at J-PARC

Terada, Kazushi*; Kimura, Atsushi; Nakao, Taro*; Nakamura, Shoji; Mizuyama, Kazuhito*; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki; Iwamoto, Osamu; Harada, Hideo; Katabuchi, Tatsuya*; Igashira, Masayuki*; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 55(10), p.1198 - 1211, 2018/10

AA2017-0628.pdf:2.06MB

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2018.1485519

Inspection and repair techniques in reactor vessel of the experimental fast reactor JOYO; Development of devices for retrieving bent MARICO-2 subassembly and completion of retrieval work

Ashida, Takashi; Nakamura, Toshiyuki*; Ito, Hideaki

JAEA-Technology 2017-024, 198 Pages, 2017/11

JAEA-Technology-2017-024.pdf:55.8MB
JAEA-Technology-2017-024-appendix(CD-ROM)-1.zip:298.09MB
JAEA-Technology-2017-024-appendix(CD-ROM)-2.zip:210.77MB

In the experimental fast reactor Joyo, the disconnecting of an irradiation test subassembly MARICO-2 (Material Testing Irradiation Rig with Temperature Control) from its holding mechanism was conducted in May 2007. After the operation, the rotating plug was rotated despite the fact that the test subassembly was not disconnected completely. Consequently, top of wrapper tube of the MARICO-2 subassembly was bent onto the in-vessel storage rack. Since the overhanging part of the subassembly was in the height in which contacts with the upper core structure, it had damaged the bottom surface of the upper core structure. As the result, it was necessary to replace the damaged upper core structure and to retrieve the bent MARICO-2 subassembly for Joyo restart. Retrieval devices for MARICO-2 subassembly consist of a gripper mechanism to lift subassembly together with transfer pot, a guide tube built-in a pantograph mechanism to adjust lifting axis and safety mechanisms to prevent or mitigate falling of MARICO-2 subassembly, a retrieval cask and so on. Design of the retrieval devices have been verified in ex-vessel partial or full-scale mock-up tests and in-vessel function tests. In 2014, MARICO-2 subassembly was successfully retrieved from the reactor vessel by applying these retrieval devices. Then, retrieved subassembly was transported to a hot-cell facility for post-irradiation examinations. Devices have demonstrated expected performance under the actual environmental conditions of a sodium cooled fast reactor. This is a synthetic report about the retrieval work of the deformed and irradiated test subassembly in Joyo. This report includes the detail design and fabrication of the special retrieval device, results of tests for confirmation including the mock-up tests in manufacturer's factory, and results of MARICO-2 retrieval work from the reactor vessel.

High-precision mass analysis of RI sample for cross-section measurements

Nakamura, Shoji; Shibahara, Yuji*; Uehara, Akihiro*; Fujii, Toshiyuki*; Kimura, Atsushi; Hales, B. P.; Iwamoto, Osamu

KURRI Progress Report 2016, P. 66, 2017/07

http://www.rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/PUB/report/PR/ProgRep2016/CO2.pdf

In the ImPACT project, high-precision mass analysis was performed on a Cs standard solution for using Cs included in the standard solution as an impurity to measure the Cs cross-sections. A Cs standard solution of only 10Bq (pg order) was analyzed, and the isotope ratio of Cs and Cs was obtained with an accuracy of 0.5%.