Cross-section measurements for ^58,60,61Ni(n, α)^55,57,58Fe reactions in the 4.50 – 5.50 MeV neutron energy region *

Abstract The cross sections at 5 energy points of the 58Ni(n, α)55Fe reaction were measured in the 4.50 MeV ≤ E n ≤ 5.50 MeV region while those for the 60Ni(n, α)57Fe and 61Ni(n, α)58Fe reactions were measured at E n = 5.00 and 5.50 MeV using the 4.5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator at Peking University. A gridded twin ionization chamber (GIC) was used as the detector, and enriched 58Ni, 60Ni, and 61Ni foil samples were prepared and mounted at the sample changer of the GIC. Three highly enriched 238U3O8 samples inside the GIC were used to determine the relative and absolute neutron fluxes. The neutron energy spectra were obtained through unfolding the pulse height spectra measured by the EJ-309 liquid scintillator. The interference from the low-energy neutrons and impurities in the samples has been corrected. The present data of the 60Ni(n, α)57Fe reaction are the first measurement results below 6.0 MeV, and those of the 61Ni(n, α)58Fe reactions are the first measurement results in the MeV region. The present results have been compared with existing measurements, evaluations, and TALYS-1.9 calculations.