Measurement of ²³²Th (n, γ) reaction cross sections

Bowman and C. Rubbia et al have proposed the concept of Accelerator-Driven Sub- critical reactor Systems (ADSs) based on Thorium as a fuel material and can be more efficient than conventional reactors if operates with fast neutrons. The ADSs have attractive features for the elimination of troublesome long-lived minor actinides and fission products of the spent fuel, as well as for nuclear energy generation utilizing Thorium as fuel. Enormous amount of experimental work has been carried out on neutron induced reactions of actinides around thermal energies. However, experimental nuclear data in medium to fast neutron induced reactions are rare and very much limited. Keeping this in mind, we measured ²³²Th (n, α) reaction cross-sections at 16 and 21 MeV proton energies using off line gamma ray spectroscopy. The desired energy neutrons were generated using ⁷Li (p, n)⁷Be reaction at BARC-TIFR Pelletron facility at Mumbai, India. The results were compared with existing data available in EXFOR data base and with the theoretical nuclear modular codes; TALYS1.6 and EMPIRE-3.2.2 as well. The present work will be useful in the future development of ADSs, Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWR) and fast reactors. (author)