Measurement of the neutron-induced fission cross section of Th 230 at the CERN n_TOF facility

The neutron-induced fission cross section of 230 Th has been measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF located at CERN. The experiment was performed at the experimental area EAR-1 with a neutron flight path of 185 m, using Micromegas detectors for the detection of the fission fragments. The 230 Th(n, f ) cross section was determined relative to the 235 U(n, f ) one, covering the energy range from the fission threshold up to 400 MeV. The results from the present work are compared with existing cross-section datasets and the observed discrepancies are discussed and analyzed. Finally, using the code EMPIRE 3.2.3 a theoretical study, based on the statistical model, was performed leading to a satisfactory reproduction of the experimental results with the proper tuning of the respective parameters, while for incident neutron energy beyond 200 MeV the fission of 230 Th was described by Monte Carlo simulations.This project received funding from the Euratom “Support safe operation of nuclear systems” program 2014–2018 under Grant Agreement No. 847552 (SANDA) and by the funding agencies of the participating institutes. This research is imple- mented through the IKY scholarships program and cofinanced by the European Union (European Social Fund ’ESF) and Greek national funds through the action entitled “Reinforce- ment of Postdoctoral Researchers - 2nd call (MIS 5033021)”, in the framework of the Operational Programme “Human Resources Development Program, Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework.Article signat per 137 autors/es: V. Michalopoulou, A. Stamatopoulos, M. Diakaki, A. Tsinganis, R. Vlastou, M. Kokkoris, N. Patronis, Z. Eleme, D. Macina, L. Tassan-Got, N. Colonna, E. Chiaveri, A. Ventura, P. Schillebeeckx, J. Heyse, G. Sibbens, G. Alaerts, A. Borella, A. Moens, D. Vanleeuw, O. Aberle, V. Alcayne, S. Amaducci, J. Andrzejewski, L. Audouin, V. Babiano-Suarez, M. Bacak, M. Barbagallo, S. Bennett, E. Berthoumieux, J. Billowes, D. Bosnar, A. Brown, M. Busso, M. Caamaño, L. Caballero, F. Calviño, M. Calviani, D. Cano-Ott, A. Casanovas, F. Cerutti, G. Cortés, M. A. Cortés-Giraldo, L. Cosentino, S. Cristallo, L. A. Damone, P. J. Davies, M. Dietz, C. Domingo-Pardo, R. Dressler, Q. Ducasse, E. Dupont, I. Durán, B. Fernández-Domínguez, A. Ferrari, P. Finocchiaro, V. Furman, K. Göbel, R. Garg, A. Gawlik-Ramiega, S. Gilardoni, I. F. Gonçalves, E. González-Romero, C. Guerrero, F. Gunsing, H. Harada, S. Heinitz, D. G. Jenkins, A. Junghans, F. Käppeler, Y. Kadi, A. Kimura, I. Knapová, Y. Kopatch, M. Krticka, D. Kurtulgil, I. Ladarescu, C. Lederer-Woods, H. Leeb, J. Lerendegui-Marco, S. J. Lonsdale, A. Manna, T. Martínez, A. Masi, C. Massimi, P. Mastinu, M. Mastromarco, E. A. Maugeri, A. Mazzone, E. Mendoza, A. Mengoni, P. M. Milazzo, F. Mingrone, J. Moreno-Soto, A. Musumarra, A. Negret, R. Nolte, F. Ogállar, A. Oprea, A. Pavlik, J. Perkowski, C. Petrone, L. Piersanti, E. Pirovano, I. Porras, J. Praena, J. M. Quesada, D. Ramos-Doval, T. Rauscher, R. Reifarth, D. Rochman, Y. Romanets, C. Rubbia, M. Sabaté-Gilarte, A. Saxena, D. Schumann, A. Sekhar, A. G. Smith, N. V. Sosnin, P. Sprung, G. Tagliente, J. L. Tain, A. Tarifeño-Saldivia, Th. Thomas, P. Torres-Sánchez, J. Ulrich, S. Urlass, S. Valenta, G. Vannini, V. Variale, P. Vaz, D. Vescovi, V. Vlachoudis, A. Wallner, P. J. Woods, T. Wright, and P. Žugec.Postprint (published version