Measurement of 232 Th(n,5n γ) cross sections from 29 MeV to 42 MeV

The excitation function of the reaction 232 Th ( n , 5 nγ ) 228 Th from 29 to 42 MeV has been measured for the first time at the quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam of the UCL cyclotron CYCLONE employing the 7 Li(p,n) source reaction. Taking advantage of the good energy resolution of the planar High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors, prompt γ -ray spectroscopy was used to detect the γ -rays resulting from the decay of excited states of nuclei created by the (n, x n) reactions. The neutron beam was characterized by a combination of time of flight measurements carried out using a liquid scintillation detector and a 238 U fission ionization chamber. Fluence measurements were performed using a proton recoil telescope. The results are compared with TALYS-1.4 code calculations.