Studies of neutron scattering off $^{54}$Fe with monoenergetic neutrons at 3 and 4 MeV

ORAL

Abstract

Accurate and precise neutron scattering data from $^{54}$Fe and other structural materials in the fast neutron energy region are essential for the optimization of current and future fission reactors. Neutron scattering and absorption by Fe affects the ideal operating parameters for the nuclear fission process and also affects the overall efficiency of the nuclear reactor. While neutron elastic crosssections for $^{54}$Fe at incident neutron energies between 3 and 4 MeV have been previously measured, the previous experiments tended towards larger error in the elastic, and there is a significant dearth of experimental data for the inelastic states. Neutron elastic and inelastic differential scattering crosssections of $^{54}$Fe have been measured at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory at the fast neutron energies of E$_{n}=$3 MeV and 4 MeV. Results from our measurements and comparisons to evaluated cross sections from the National Nuclear Data Center will be presented.

*This material is based on work supported by the Department of Energy under grant NEUP: NU-12-KY-UK-0201-05 and the Cowan Physics Fund at the University of Dallas.

Authors

  • Samuel Henderson

    • University of Dallas Department of Physics
  • Leslie Sidwell

    • University of Dallas Department of Physics
  • Sally Hicks

    • University of Dallas Department of Physics
  • Jeffrey Vanhoy

    • United States Naval Academy Department of Physics
  • Evaristo Garza

    • United States Naval Academy Department of Physics
  • Joshua Steves

    • United States Naval Academy Department of Physics
  • Steven Yates

    • University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Marcus McElistream

    • University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Erin Peters

    • University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry
  • Benjamin Crider

    • University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Tim Ross

    • University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Francisco Prados-Est\'evez

    • University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy