Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2016) 131: 371
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2016-16371-4

Review

Nuclear data activities at the n_TOF facility at CERN

¹ CEA Saclay, Irfu, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
² European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland
³ University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
⁴ Institut de Physique Nucléaire, CNRS-IN2P3, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91406, Orsay Cedex, France
⁵ Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
⁶ Technische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria
⁷ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy
⁸ Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal
⁹ Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
¹⁰ Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany
¹¹ University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
¹² University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
¹³ University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
¹⁴ Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
¹⁵ Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie (ENEA), Bologna, Italy
¹⁶ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
¹⁷ Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
¹⁸ INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy
¹⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Bari, Bari, Italy
²⁰ Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, India
²¹ National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
²² Instituto de Fısica Corpuscular, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
²³ Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villingen, Switzerland
²⁴ Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Dubna, Russia
²⁵ Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania
²⁶ Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE), Obninsk, Russia
²⁷ Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Tokai-mura, Japan
²⁸ European Commission JRC, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, B-2440, Geel, Belgium
²⁹ University of York, York, UK
³⁰ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
³¹ Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
³² School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
³³ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
³⁴ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Legnaro, Legnaro, Italy
³⁵ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, Trieste, Italy
³⁶ Dipartimento di Astronomia, Università di Trieste, Trieste, Italy
³⁷ Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bari, Italy
³⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy
³⁹ Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany
⁴⁰ University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
⁴¹ Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria
⁴² University of Granada, Granada, Spain
⁴³ Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, UK
⁴⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
⁴⁵ Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

^* e-mail: gunsing@cea.fr

Received: 2 June 2016
Accepted: 18 August 2016
Published online: 21 October 2016

Abstract

Nuclear data in general, and neutron-induced reaction cross sections in particular, are important for a wide variety of research fields. They play a key role in the safety and criticality assessment of nuclear technology, not only for existing power reactors but also for radiation dosimetry, medical applications, the transmutation of nuclear waste, accelerator-driven systems, fuel cycle investigations and future reactor systems as in Generation IV. Applications of nuclear data are also related to research fields as the study of nuclear level densities and stellar nucleosynthesis. Simulations and calculations of nuclear technology applications largely rely on evaluated nuclear data libraries. The evaluations in these libraries are based both on experimental data and theoretical models. Experimental nuclear reaction data are compiled on a worldwide basis by the international network of Nuclear Reaction Data Centres (NRDC) in the EXFOR database. The EXFOR database forms an important link between nuclear data measurements and the evaluated data libraries. CERN's neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF has produced a considerable amount of experimental data since it has become fully operational with the start of the scientific measurement programme in 2001. While for a long period a single measurement station (EAR1) located at 185 m from the neutron production target was available, the construction of a second beam line at 20 m (EAR2) in 2014 has substantially increased the measurement capabilities of the facility. An outline of the experimental nuclear data activities at CERN's neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF will be presented.