No abstract available

[en] Intensive neutron beams with energies up to 33 MeV are produced using cyclotron driven broad-spectrum and quasi-monoenergetic neutron generators at the NPI CAS. The neutron beams are well characterized with the TOF and PRT measurements. The segmented Fe-CH2 collimator is used to collimate the neutron beam and two detection systems are being developed for the studies of the reactions with neutrons. The first one is the detection system of the charged particles at different angles from the (neutron, charged particle) reactions in a vacuum chamber, the second is an array of four HPGe detectors for the detection of direct and delayed gamma photons produced in reactions of the studied material with neutrons. The advanced bunching system is also being developed at the U120M cyclotron. It will allow to direct a short (few ns long) pulse of accelerated particles to the neutron converter with the 1 µs delay between bunches. Together with 7 m long flight path this extension will open new possibilities in the cross section measurements.

[en] Good knowledge of cross section neutron induced reactions on Zr becomes of importance due to the use of zirconium as structural material in reactors, its applicability in neutron dosimetry and the theoretical model testing. Thin Zr foils (0.05 mm thickness, 99.2% purity) were irradiated in the quasi-monoenergetic p-Li neutron fields, the proton beams from NPI CAS variable-energy cyclotron U120M at proton energies 20.33, 22.44, 24.69, 27.64, 29.85, 32.31 and 35.11 MeV. Li target with carbon stopper was used for the generation of neutron flux. The reaction ⁷Li (p,n) produces the high-energy quasi-monoenergetic neutrons with a tail to lower energies. The flux density and neutron spectra were evaluated by MCNPX code and validated with set of measurements including Time-Of-Flight and Proton recoil Telescope and additional activation monitors. The pneumatic tranfer system enables the investigation of short living isotopes. The foil activity determination was performed by the nuclear spectrometry method employing two calibrated HPGe detectors. The reaction rates for ^natZr(n,*)^89m,89g,89Zr, ^{87m,87,88,89m,90m,91m,92,93,94,95}Y and ^87m,91,92Sr were obtained and cross sections were extracted. The preliminary results are discussed.

[en] The proton, deuteron and alpha induced reactions are of a great interest for the assessment of induced radioactivity of accelerator components, targets and beam stoppers as well as isotope production for medicine and also to nuclear astrophysics. We present a new irradiation chamber for activation measurements, that forms a prolongation of long-term experimental activities using stacked-foil activation technique in NPI CAS, Řež. The chamber is based on an airlock system and is coupled to a pneumatic transfer system delivered by KIT Karlsruhe. This system is installed in GANIL/SPIRAL2-NFS and will be used for proton, deuteron and alpha particle activation measurements with long- and short-lived isotopes.

[en] Highlights: • Activation cross section measurement. • Proton-induced reactions on Li and Ta. • p+Li neutron generator. The experimental data on cross sections are necessary to clarify existing ideas on the mechanisms of nuclear reactions and for testing of nuclear models. Proton-induced reaction on ⁷Li serves as a source of quasi-monoenergetic neutrons which are widely used in the measurement of cross sections for neutron induced reactions. Tantalum plays an important role in technology and nuclear facilities mainly for its low induced activity (screens, degraders). In order to investigate the important nuclides, we have carried out the irradiation experiments with the variable-energy cyclotron U-120M of the NPI CAS Řež. The cross section of the reaction ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be(ground state+0.43 MeV) and the cross sections of the nuclides ^180,178mTa, ¹⁷⁸W and ¹⁷⁵Hf from reactions on natural tantalum were investigated, of which ¹⁸¹Ta(p,n)^180gTa for the first time. The stacked-foil technique was utilized. The comparison of new results with prior data and predictions of evaluations is discussed.

[en] Fast neutron generators driven by isochronous cyclotron U-120M developed at Nuclear Physics Institute were used for neutron cross-section measurements. The target station with 2 mm thin lithium was used to produce pulsed beams of fast quasi-monoenergetic neutrons in the ⁷Li(p,n) reaction. The Time-of-Flight technique was used to determine the exact neutron energy spectra. The transmission measurements on liquid oxygen were conducted for several neutron peak energies between 18 and 27 MeV and the cross-sections for reaction ^natO(n,tot) were derived.