New experimental determination of the neutronic resonance parameters of 237Np below 500 eV

For studies of future nuclear reactors dedicated to nuclear waste transmutation, an improvement of the accuracy of the neutron radiative capture cross section of 237Np appears necessary. In the framework of a collaboration between the Commissariat a l'Energie atomique (CEA) and Institute for Reference Materials and Measurement (IRMM, Geel, Bergium), a new determination of the resonance parameters of 237Np has been performed. Two types of experiments are carried out at GELINA, the IRMM pulsed neutron source, using the time of flight method: a transmission experiment which is related to the neutron total cross section and a capture experiment which gives the neutron radiative capture cross section. The resonance parameters presented in this work are extracted from the transmission data between 0 and 500 eV with the least square code REFIT, using the Reich-Moore formalism. In parallel, the Doppler effect is investigated. The commonly used free gas model appears inadequate below 20 eV for neptunium dioxide at room temperature. By the use of the program DOPUSH, which calculates the Doppler broadening with a harmonic crystal model according to Lamb's theory, we are able to produce abetter fit of the experimental data for the resonances of 237Np in NpO2 at low energy or temperatures. In addition to the resonance parameters, a study of their mean value and distribution is included in this work. (authors)