Determination of the neutron capture cross sections of 232Th at 14.1 MeV and 14.8 MeV using the neutron activation method

Abstract

The 232Th(n,{\gamma})233Th neutron capture reaction cross sections were measured at average neutron energies of 14.1 MeV and 14.8 MeV using the activation method. The neutron flux was determined using the monitor reaction 27Al(n,{\alpha})24Na. The induced gamma-ray activities were measured using a low background gamma ray spectrometer equipped with a high resolution HPGe detector. The experimentally determined cross sections were compared with the literatures data, evaluated data of ENDF/B-VII, JENDL-4.0, and CENDL-3.1. The Excitation functions of 232Th(n,{\gamma}) reaction were also calculated theoretically using the TALYS 1.6 computer code.