The average total neutron cross sections of 233U, 235U, and 239Pu were obtained from transmission measurements in the unresolved resonance region up to several hundred keV neutron energy. The method used for the calculation of the self-shielding effect is described. A statistical model analysis of the results was performed and the s-, p- and d-wave neutron strength functions were obtained.
The average 235U neutron total cross sections were obtained in the energy range 2 keV to 330 keV from high-resolution transmission measurements of a 0.033 atom/b sample. 1 The experimental data were corrected for the contribution of isotope impurities and for resonance self-shielding effects in the sample. The results are in very good agreement with the experimental data of Poenitz et al. 4 in the energy range 40 keV to 330 keV and are the only available accurate experimental data in the energy range 2 keV to 40 keV. ENDF/B-VI evaluated data are 1.7% larger. The SAMMY/FITACS code 2 was used for a statistical model analysis of the total cross section, selected fission cross sections and data in the energy range 2 keV to 200 keV. SAMMY/FITACS is an extended version of SAMMY which allows consistent analysis of the experimental data in the resolved and unresolved resonance region. The Reich-Moore resonance parameters were obtained 3 from a SAMMY Bayesian fits of high resolution experimental neutron transmission and partial cross section data below 2.25 keV, and the corresponding average parameters and covariance data were used in the present work as input for the statistical model analysis of the high energy range of the experimental data. The result of the analysis shows that the average resonance parameters obtained from the analysis of the unresolved resonance region are consistent with those obtained in the resolved energy region. Another important result is that ENDF/B-VI capture cross section could be too small by more than 10% in the energy range 10 keV to 200 keV.
The average[sup 235]U neutron total cross sections were obtained in the energy range 2 keV to 330 keV from high-resolution transmission measurements of a 0.033 atom/b sample. The experimental data were corrected for the contribution of isotope impurities and for resonance self-shielding effects in the sample. The results are in very good agreement with the experimental data of Poenitz et al. in the energy range 40 keV to 330 keV and are the only available accurate experimental data in the energy range 2 keV to 40 keV. ENDF/B-VI evaluated data are 1.7% larger. The SAMMY/FITACS code was used for a statistical model analysis of the total cross section, selected fission cross sections and[alpha] data in the energy range 2 keV to 200 keV. SAMMY/FITACS is an extended version of SAMMY which allows consistent analysis of the experimental data in the resolved and unresolved resonance region. The Reich-Moore resonance parameters were obtained from a SAMMY Bayesian fits of high resolution experimental neutron transmission and partial cross section data below 2.25 keV, and the corresponding average parameters and covariance data were used in the present work as input for the statistical model analysis of the high energy range of the experimental data. The result of the analysis shows that the average resonance parameters obtained from the analysis of the unresolved resonance region are consistent with those obtained in the resolved energy region. Another important result is that ENDF/B-VI capture cross section could be too small by more than 10% in the energy range 10 keV to 200 keV.
The resonance parameter analysis code SAMMY was used to perform consistent resonance analyses of several 235U and 239Pu fission and capture cross section and transmission measurements up to 110 eV for 235U and up to 1 keV for 239Pu. The method of analysis, the measurement selection and the results are briefly outlined in this paper.
Average values of the neutron total cross sections of {sup 233}U, {sup 235}U, {sup 238}U, and {sup 239}Pu have been obtained in the unresolved resonance energy range from high-resolution transmission measurements performed at ORELA in the past two decades. The cross sections were generated by correcting the effective total cross sections for the self-shielding effects due to the resonance structure of the data. The self-shielding factors were found by calculating the effective and true cross sections with the computer code SAMMY for the same Doppler and resolution conditions as for the transmission measurements, using an appropriate set of resonance parameters. Our results are compared to results of previous measurements and to the current ENDF/B-VI data.
