²²⁹Pa cross section measurements via deuteron irradiation of ²³²Th

In this work, the previously unmeasured Th-232(d, 5n) Pa-229 reaction is reported at deuteron energies of 31.0, 35.2, 41.4, and 49.6 MeV. The irradiation took place at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron. The target processing and analysis were performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The experiment used four thin foils (approximate to 17 mg/cm(2)) of natural thorium metal in a stacked-target configuration, which were irradiated with a deuteron beam (1 mu A) for approximately 11 continuous hours. Column chromatography techniques were implemented to directly assay Pa-229 and its low intensity gamma-ray emissions. The measured peak of the excitation function of Th-232 (d, 5n) Pa-229 is 121.9 +/- 12.7 mb at E-d = 35.2 MeV. In addition to Pa-229, the production cross sections of the Th-232 (d, xn) Pa234-x reactions, where x = 1, 2, 4, and 6, are also reported and compared to previous measurements. The experimental cross sections were compared with calculated cross sections using several reaction modeling codes including PHITS, TALYS, ALICE, COH, and EMPIRE as well as the evaluated nuclear reaction database TENDL.