Cross-section measurements for the 58,60,61Ni(n, α)55,57,58Fe reactions at 8.50, 9.50 and 10.50 MeV neutron energies *

Abstract

Abstract Cross sections of the 58,60,61Ni(n, α)55,57,58Fe reactions were measured at 8.50, 9.50 and 10.50 MeV neutron energies based on the HI-13 tandem accelerator of China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) with enriched 58Ni, 60Ni, and 61Ni foil samples with backings. A twin gridded ionization chamber (GIC) was used as the charged particle detector, and an EJ-309 liquid scintillator was used to obtain the neutron energy spectra. The relative and absolute neutron fluxes were determined via three highly enriched 238U3O8 samples inside the GIC. The uncertainty of the present data of the 58Ni(n, α)55Fe reaction is smaller than most existing measurements. The present data of 60Ni(n, α)57Fe and 61Ni(n, α)58Fe reactions are the first measurement results above 8 MeV. The present experimental data could be reasonably reproduced by calculations with TALYS-1.9 by adjusting several default values of theoretical model parameters.