[en] The paper gives an overview of the economic and energy situation in Pakistan. It discusses the evolution of the gross domestic product (GDP) and of the primary energy consumption in the country. The indigenous energy resources are briefly described. Some of the results of the study carried out for assessment and projections of the medium to long term energy demand based on the MEDEE approach are outlined. The paper also includes the long term electrical energy and power forecasts made by the national electric utility - Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). (author). 13 refs, 3 figs, tabs

[en] In spite of the fact that the traditional fuels meet about one third of the country's energy requirements, Pakistan still remains heavily dependent on imported energy to the extent of one third of its total commercial energy needs. This paper analyses the prospects of energy demand and supply over the next fifteen years and shows that with the expected possible exploitation of indigenous resources of fossil, hydro, nuclear and traditional fuels the country is likely to remain significantly dependent on imported commercial fuels. The possibilities of how bio technologies can help in enhancing the energy self sufficiency of the country by increasing supplies of traditional and commercial fuels, are outlined. (author)

[en] The feasibility studies of the slowed down beam setup involving deceleration of a ⁶⁴Ni beam at 250 MeV/u to 13 MeV/u in a thick Al degrader was performed at the FRagment Separator (FRS) at GSI. The experimentally measured energy spread and the nuclear reaction yields in the degrader are in good agreement with simulations. (authors)

No abstract available

[en] An upbend in the low-energy region of the γ-ray strength function has been observed previously in ^151,153Sm isotopes. This enhancement of the γSF for energies below 2 MeV has profound implications on the neutron capture rates important for modeling the astrophysical r-process. A series of theoretical and experimental studies have been focused to understand the origin of this phenomenon. In this talk, the results of the measurements of γSF for ^{147,149,151,153}Sm isotopes are discussed. The nuclei of interest were populated via (p,d) reactions on pure ^{148,150,152,154}Sm targets and the reaction products were recorded by the Hyperion γ-ray array. The observed systematic highlights the interplay between scissors mode and the upbend. A Shell-model comparison shows reasonable agreement with the experimental γSFs and confirms the correspondence between the upbend and scissors mode

[en] The γ-strength functions and level densities in the quasicontinuum of ^147,149Sm isotopes have been extracted from particle-γ coincidences using the Oslo method. The nuclei of interest were populated via (p,d) reactions on pure ^148,150Sm targets and the reaction products were recorded by the Hyperion array. An upbend in the low-energy region of the γSF has been observed. The systematic analysis of the γSF for a range of Sm isotopes highlights the interplay between scissors mode and the upbend. In conclusion, shell-model calculations show reasonable agreement with the experimental γSFs and confirm the correspondence between the upbend and scissors mode.

[en] Complete text of publication follows. The 'true ternary fission', the case when the fragments have similar masses, started to be investigated soon after the discovery of fission. It became immediately clear that it was a very rare phenomenon. In low energy fission the most detailed studies were performed by Muga et al., resulting in true ternary fission yields of about 10^-6 per binary for ²⁵²Cf spontan fission and for thermal neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U,²³⁹Pu and ²⁴¹Pu. Later it was shown that scattering of the fragments have not been effectively eliminated in the work. The results were not confirmed as well by radiochemicalm and mass-spectrometric studies. Thus the question is opened so far. During the last decade number of experiments was devoted to search for a new type of spontaneous ternary decay channel of ²⁵²Cf. It is called 'collinear cluster tripartition' (CCT), because the decay fragments fly apart almost collinearly. In the early experiments at the FOBOS spectrometer at the FLNL of the JINR(Dubna, Russia) some unusual structures were observed in the mass-mass plot of fission fragments (FF) of ²⁴⁸Cm and ²⁵²Cf nuclei. These structures had the yield level of ∼ 10^-5 - 10^-6 with respect to conventional binary fission and were treated as an indication of CCT. In collaboration with FLNR(JINR) we started to study this type of exotic decay mode in low excited nuclear systems in the Cyclotron Laboratory of ATOMKI, Debrecen. The fission was induced by low energy deutron beam (E_d = 9.64 MeV) on ²³²Th target. In order to demonstrate the CCT in a direct way we were aiming at detecting the three fission fragments in coincidence. Using 3 x 3 Si detectors at both arms of a TOF-E spectrometer, two fragments going to similar direction with a relative angle of ≥ 1 deg could be separately detected. The MCP based position sensitive start and stop detectors were similar to that is described in ref. [7]. Deatiled investigations of the features of the observed phenomenon for evolving its physical model is believed to be a natural goal of the forthcoming experiments

[en] SPIRAL2 or FAIR will be able to deliver beams of radioactive isotopes of low energy (less than 10 MeV/n). The emittance of these new beams will impose the use of beam tracking detectors to reconstruct the exact impact position of the nuclei on the experimental target. However, due to their thickness, the classical detectors will generate a lot of energy and angular straggling. A possible alternative is the SED principle (Secondary Electron Detector). It consists of an emissive foil placed in beam and a detector for the secondary electrons ejected by the passing of the nuclei through the foil. An R and D program has been initiated at CEA Saclay to study the possibility to use low pressure gaseous detectors as SED for beam tracking. Some SED have been already used on the VAMOS spectrometer at GANIL since 2004. We have constructed new detectors on this model to measure their performances in time and spatial resolution, and counting rate. Other detector types are also under study. For the first time, a test with different micromegas detectors at 4 Torr has been realized. A comparison on the time resolution has been performed between wire chamber and micromegas at very low pressure. The use of micromegas could be promising to improve the counting rate capability and the robustness of beam tracking detectors.

No abstract available

[en] The β-decay intensity of "7"0Co was measured for the first time using the technique of total absorption spectroscopy. The large β-decay Q value [12.3(3) MeV] offers a rare opportunity to study β-decay properties in a broad energy range. Two surprising features were observed in the experimental results, namely, the large fragmentation of the β intensity at high energies, as well as the strong competition between γ rays and neutrons, up to more than 2 MeV above the neutron-separation energy. The data are compared to two theoretical calculations: the shell model and the quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA). Both models seem to be missing a significant strength at high excitation energies. Possible interpretations of this discrepancy are discussed. The shell model is used for a detailed nuclear structure interpretation and helps to explain the observed γ-neutron competition. The comparison to the QRPA calculations is done as a means to test a model that provides global β-decay properties for astrophysical calculations. Our work demonstrates the importance of performing detailed comparisons to experimental results, beyond the simple half-life comparisons. Finally, a realistic and robust description of the β-decay intensity is crucial for our understanding of nuclear structure as well as of r-process nucleosynthesis.