Reactor Irradiations of 242Pu, Comparison of Measured and Calculated Yields of 244Pu, 243Am and 244Cm, and Study of the Fission Product Yields

To find the optimum conditions for the production of 244Pu and to provide a test and/or correction factors for theoretical predictions, samples of approximately 1 mg 242Pu-oxide were irradiated and quantitatively analysed at the S.C.K./C.E.N, in Mol on behalf of C.B.N.M. Some important parameters were investigated by calculation and by experiment, namely the irradiation time, the neutron flux level and the neutron spectrum. The yield of 244Pu, 243Am and 244Cm, the depletion in 242 Pu, the yield of fission products and the material balance are linked, and are compared with calculation. These comparisons show that predictions made with unadapted cross-section sets overestimate the 244Pu yield. From the analysis of some fission products it was possible to deduce some mass chain yields for the fission of 245cm.