Study of the 241Am(n,2n)240Am reaction cross section in the energy range of E n = 8.8−11.1 MeV.

The measurement of the cross section of the reaction 241Am(n,2n)240Am has been performed at neutron energies from 8.8 to 11.1 MeV, implementing the activation technique. The neutron beam was produced at the TANDEM accelerator of NCSR “Demokritos” by the 2H(d,n)3He reaction, using a deuterium gas target. During the 5-day long irradiation, the neutron beam fluctuations were monitored in 100 seconds intervals by a BF3 counter connected with a multiscaling unit. The radioactive target consisted of a 37 GBq 241Am source enclosed in a Pb container. A natural Au foil, a 27Al foil and a 93Nb foil were used as reference materials for the neutron flux determination. After the end of the irradiation the activity induced at the target and the reference foils, was measured off-line by a 56% HPGe detector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]