Evaluation of the excitation function for the dosimetry reaction La-139(n,g)La-140

The activation detectors on the basis of La-139(n,g)La-140 reaction are used very often in the reactor dosimetry for determination of thermal and epithermal components of neutron spectra. At present, the cross section data for this reaction are absent in the IRDF-90 ver.2 file and in the national dosimetry files such as ENDF/B-VI Dosimetry File and JENDL-3.2 Dosimetry File. The evaluation of the La-139(n,g)La-140 reaction excitation function for the Russian Reactor Dosimetry File (RRDF-96) was carried out in the energy region 1.000E-05 eV - 20 MeV. The capture cross section in the energy range from 0.00001 eV to 160 keV is given through the evaluated MLBW resolved and unresolved resonance parameters. Small background cross section was added in the resolved resonance region for taking into account the non-statistical reaction mechanism contribution. Data for En=160 keV - 1.2 MeV were obtained from evaluated average parameters in the unresolved resonance region with taking into account the competition with the neutron inelastic channels. The La-139 radiative capture cross section between 1.2 MeV and 7.6 MeV was evaluated by means of statistical analysis of the experimental data. Above 7.6 MeV the data fit was joint to the theoretical capture cross sections calculated between 7.6 and 20 MeV. Theoretical results were normalized to the evaluated value obtained from analysis experimental data at En= 14.4 - 14.8 MeV. The results of the present evaluation were compared with the ENDF/B-VI cross section data and the recommended values of resonance integral and capture cross section at En=0.0253 eV. (author)