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Prompt capture gammas are an important part of the fission reactor gamma field. Because some of the structural materials after neutron capture can emit photons with high energies forming the dominant component of the gamma spectrum in the high energy region, the following study of the high energy capture gamma was carried out. High energy gamma radiation may play a major role in areas of the radiation sciences as reactor dosimetry. The HPGe measurements and calculations of the high-energy aluminum capture gamma were performed at two moderator levels in the VR-1 pool-type reactor. The result comparison for nominal levels was within two sigma uncertainties for the major 7.724 MeV peak. A larger discrepancy of 60% was found for the 7.693 MeV peak. The spectra were also measured using a stilbene detector, and a good agreement between HPGe and stilbene was observed. This confirms the validity of stilbene measurements of gamma flux. Additionally, agreement of the wide peak measurement in 7–9.2 MeV by stilbene detector shows the possibility of using the organic scintillators as an independent power monitor. This fact is valid in these reactor types because power is proportional to the thermal neutron flux, which is also proportional to the production of capture gammas forming the wide peak.

Lead is an important material, both for fusion or fission reactors. The cross sections of natural lead should be validated because lead is a main component of lithium-lead modules suggested for fusion power plants and it directly affects the crucial variable, tritium breeding ratio. The presented study discusses a validation of the lead transport libraries by dint of the activation of carefully selected activation samples. The high emission standard 252Cf neutron source was used as a neutron source for the presented validation experiment. In the irradiation setup, the samples were placed behind 5 and 10 cm of the lead material. Samples were measured using a gamma spectrometry to infer the reaction rate and compared with MCNP6 calculations using ENDF/B-VIII.0 lead cross sections. The experiment used validated IRDFF-II dosimetric reactions to validate lead cross sections, namely 197Au(n, 2n)196Au, 58Ni(n,p)58Co, 93Nb(n, 2n)92mNb, 115In(n,n')115mIn, 115In(n,γ)116mIn, 197Au(n,γ)198Au and 63Cu(n,γ)64Cu reactions. The threshold reactions agree reasonably with calculations; however, the experimental data suggests a higher thermal neutron flux behind lead bricks. The paper also suggests 252Cf isotropic source as a valuable tool for validation of some cross-sections important for fusion applications, i.e. reactions on structural materials, e.g. Cu, Pb, etc.

Copper is an important structural material in various nuclear energy applications, therefore the correct knowledge of copper cross sections is crucial. The presented paper deals with a validation of different copper transport libraries by means of activation of selected samples. An intense 252Cf(sf) source with a reference neutron spectrum was used as a neutron source. After irradiation, the samples were measured using a high purity germanium detector and the dosimeter reaction rates were inferred. These experimental data were compared with MCNP6 calculations using CENDL-3.1, JENDL-4.0, ENDF/B-VII.1, ENDF/B-VIII.0, JEFF-3.2 and JEFF-3.3 evaluated Cu transport libraries. The experiment specifically focuses on 58Ni(n,p)58Co, 93Nb(n,2n)92mNb, 197Au(n,g)198Au and 55Mn(n,g)56Mn dosimetry reactions. Evaluated activation cross sections of these dosimetric reactions were taken from the IRDFF-II library. The best library performance depends on the energy region of interest.

Silicon, especially silicon in the form of SiO2, is a major component of rocks. Final spent fuel storages, which are being designed, are located in suitable rock formations in the Earth's crust. Reduction of the uncertainty of silicon neutron scattering and capture is needed; improved silicon evaluations have been recently produced by the ORNL/IAEA collaboration within the INDEN project. This paper deals with the nuclear data validation of that evaluation performed at the LR-0 reactor by means of critical experiments and measurement of reaction rates. Large amounts of silicon were used both as pure crystalline silicon and SiO2 sand. The critical moderator level was measured for various core configurations. Reaction rates were determined in the largest core configuration. Simulations of the experimental setup were performed using the MCNP6.2 code. The obtained results show the improvement in silicon cross-sections in the INDEN evaluations compared to existing evaluations in major libraries. The new Thermal Scattering Law for SiO2 published in ENDF/B-VIII.0 additionally reduces the discrepancy between calculation and experiments. However, an unphysical peak is visible in the neutron spectrum in SiO2 obtained by calculation with the new Thermal Scattering Law.

Liquid organic scintillators are important devices for measurements of neutron radiation. Currently, large-scale liquid organic scintillators have capabilities of detecting neutrons, but the determination of the neutron energy spectra is a challenge. This work aims to measure the responses of two liquid two-component scintillators to mono-energetic neutron radiation and to determine their light output function, which is necessary for proper neutron energy spectra determination. Both scintillators are composed of the solvent di-iso-propyl-naphthalene (DIPN) mixed isomers. The first scintillator, labeled PYR5/DIPN, contains the luminophore 1-phenyl-3-(2,4,6-trimethyl-phenyl)-2-pyrazoline with a concentration of 5 g/L. The second scintillator labeled THIO5/DIPN contains the luminophore 2,5-bis(5-tert-butyl-benzoxazol-2-yl)thiophene also with a concentration of 5 g/L. The responses to neutron energies of 1.5 MeV, 2.5 MeV, and 19 MeV are measured at PTB in Braunschweig. The responses to neutron energies of 2.45 MeV and 14 MeV were measured at CTU in Prague using DD and DT reactions. The responses to a silicon filtered beam were measured at Research Centre Řež. The measurements were processed using a two-parameter spectrometric system NGA-01 to discriminate neutrons from gamma rays. The obtained responses are dominated by recoil protons from elastic collisions of neutrons with hydrogen atoms. The edge of the response of recoil protons gives information about the light output of neutrons, compared to gamma rays for the same radiation energy. The light output function for protons in the PYR5/DIPN scintillator is L(Ep)=0.6294Ep−1.00(1−exp(−0.4933Ep0.95)). The light output function for protons in the THIO5/DIPN scintillator is L(Ep)=0.6323Ep−1.00(1−exp(−0.4986Ep0.9883)). The light output functions well resemble the standard shape, and they are quite similar to each other. That suggests a weak influence of the luminophore on the light output function. The light output functions are ready to be incorporated to the response matrix for the neutron energy spectra determination.