International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology 2007
DOI: 10.1051/ndata:07612

Measurements of thermal fission and capture cross sections of minor actinides within the Mini-INCA project

O. Bringer¹, I. AlMahamid², S. Chabod¹, F. Chartier³, E. Dupont¹, A. Letourneau¹, P. Mutti⁴, L. Oriol⁵, S. Panebianco¹ and Christian Veyssière<sup>1

1</sup>  CEA/DSM/DAPNIA-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
²  Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY 12201, USA
³  CEA/DEN/DPC-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁴  Institut Laue Langevin, 38000 Grenoble, France
⁵  CEA/DEN/DER-Cadarache, 13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France

aletourneau@cea.fr

Published online: 21 May 2008

Abstract
In the framework of nuclear waste transmutation studies, the Mini-INCA project has been initiated at CEA/DSM to determine optimal conditions for transmutation and incineration of Minor Actinides (MA) in high intensity neutron fluxes in the thermal region. Our experimental tool is based on alpha- and gamma-spectroscopy of irradiated samples and microscopic fission-chambers. It can provide both microscopic information on nuclear reactions (total and partial cross sections for neutron capture and/or fission reactions) and macroscopic information on transmutation and incineration potentials. The ²³²Th, ²³⁷Np, ²⁴¹Am, and ²⁴⁴Cm transmutation chains have been explored in details, showing some discrepancies in comparison with evaluated data libraries but in overall good agreement with recent experimental data.

© CEA 2008