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Experimental cross sections and mass distribution of fission products of thorium-232 irradiated with protons in energy range 20–140 MeV

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Abstract

Proton-induced fission of 232Th was studied in a wide proton energy range 20–140 MeV. A large amount of experimental cross sections for individual and cumulative formation of 232Th fission products were determined by means of stacked-foil irradiation followed by high-resolution γ-ray spectrometry. The obtained results were compared with available literature data and theoretical calculations performed with cascade–evaporation–fission model. The fission-product mass distribution in the given proton energy range was described with a three-peak curve representing asymmetric and symmetric fission modes. The fraction of symmetric fission mode increased along with the incident proton energy up to 60–70 MeV reaching a plateau at the value around 0.65.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the accelerator staff of Institute for Nuclear Research of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia for the assistance in preparation and irradiation of thorium targets. The authors are greatly thankful to A.K. Skasyrskaya (INR) for the help with computation of proton straggling and scattering.

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Correspondence to O. N. Libanova.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Cross sections for individual formation of fission products of proton-irradiated thorium

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Appendix 2: Cross sections for cumulative formation of fission products of proton-irradiated thorium

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Libanova, O.N., Ermolaev, S.V., Golubeva, E.S. et al. Experimental cross sections and mass distribution of fission products of thorium-232 irradiated with protons in energy range 20–140 MeV. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 324, 1435–1454 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07185-7

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