Experimental and Theoretical Determination of Helium Production in Copper and Aluminum by 14.8-MeV Neutrons

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Abstract
Fast-neutron-induced total helium production cross sections can be determined from a combination of spectrum-integrated measurements and theoretical calculations. The calculations provide information on the energy-dependent cross-section shape that is generally unavailable from the limited experimental data. The measurements in turn provide a normalization for the calculations. In the present work, total helium production cross sections for copper and aluminum bombarded with ~14.8-MeV neutrons from the T(d,n) reaction have been measured by high-sensitivity gas mass spectrometry, and independently calculated using the Hauser-Feshbach statistical model. The experimental results are 51 ± 3 mb for copper and 143 ± 7 mb for aluminum, with corresponding values of 50 and 139 mb obtained from the theoretical calculations. The agreement demonstrates that this statistical model has the potential to predict total helium production cross sections for fusion energy neutrons. Comparison of the experimental results with published cross-section evaluations for the primary Cu(n, α) and Al(n,α) reactions gives significant ~25- and ~28-mb helium production contributions, respectively, from reaction channels other than (n, α).