Neutron measurements for advanced nuclear systems: The n-TOF project at CERN

Abstract

A few years ago, the neutron time-of-flight facility n-TOF was built at CERN to address some of the urgent needs of high-accuracy nuclear data for Accelerator Driven Systems and other advanced nuclear energy systems, as well as for nuclear astrophysics and fundamental nuclear physics. Thanks to the characteristics of the neutron beam, and to state-of-the-art detection and acquisition systems, high quality neutron cross-section data have been obtained for a variety of isotopes, many of which radioactive. Following an important upgrade of the spallation target and of the experimental area, a new measurement campaign has started last year. After a brief review of the most important results obtained so far at n-TOF, the new features of the facility are presented, together with the first results on the commissioning of the neutron beam. The plans for future measurements, in particular related to nuclear technology are finally discussed. Show more