Excitation functions and isotopic effects in (n, p) reactions for stable iron isotopes from reaction threshold to 20 MeV

Structural materials are used to make the core and several other essential parts of a nuclear reactor. Stainless steel, Streicher are the main off-core structural materials for thermal reactors and are essential materials for fast neutron reactors. The excitation functions for (n,p) reactions from reaction threshold to 20 MeV on four stable isotopes viz; 54Fe, 56Fe, 57Fe and 58Fe were calculated using Talys-1.2 nuclear model code. With a minimal effort on parameter fitting and only one free parameter called shell damping factor has been adjusted to get excellent agreement between the calculated and the experimental data. This is very importance to the validation of nuclear model approaches with increase predictive power. Measurement of excitation curves for the (n,p) reaction on chains of isotopes have revealed an interplay of the compound nucleus and the pre-equilibrium mechanisms