Research of spallation reaction on plutonium target irradiated by protons with energy of 660 MeV

Abstract

Relevance. This paper describes the measurement of the cross sections of the fission and fragmentation reactions of a plutonium target irradiated with a series of protons characterized by an energy of 660 MeV at the Phazotronaccelerator of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. Purpose. The experiment focuses on the determination of short-lived radionuclides. Methods. The experimental sample was measured in offline mode using gamma spectrometry with an HPGe detector. The reaction rates of the formed residual nuclei were studied. The products of the spallation reaction were determined with the help of the direct kinematics method. The DEIMOS32 software was used to process γ-spectra.Results. As a result of the interaction of nuclear elements with protons, nuclei were formed in the239Pu sample. Those nuclei were identified using the TJ02000321–V3 software. The reaction products were identified based on gamma energies, intensity, and half-life after the measurement set. During the study of the gamma spectra determined for the irradiated plutonium target, it was possible to establish 50 gamma lines and reveal 31nuclides by energy and half-life cycles from 14.4 m to 3.19 h. The measured nuclear reaction cross-sections can serve as reference data for theoretical simulations of the interaction of protons with 239Pu and they can be a supplement to the nuclear databases. Conclusions. The obtained experimental result is compared with the simulation on MCNP 6.1. The data overall correspond to the expected range, but it still needs more evaluation. The next logical step is to search for primary products (mother nuclei) and compare the obtained experimental data with the results of computer simulations