Cross-section measurements for the Ni-58,Ni-60,Ni-61(n, alpha)Fe-55,Fe-57,Fe-58 reactions at 8.50, 9.50 and 10.50 MeV neutron energies

Cross sections of the Ni-58,Ni-60,Ni-61(n, alpha)Fe-55,Fe-57,Fe-58 reactions were measured at 8.50, 9.50 and 10.50 MeV neutron energies based on the HI-13 tandem accelerator of China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) with enriched Ni-58, Ni-60, and Ni-61 foil samples with backings. A twin gridded ionization chamber (GIC) was used as the charged particle detector, and an EJ-309 liquid scintillator was used to obtain the neutron energy spectra. The relative and absolute neutron fluxes were determined via three highly enriched (U3O8)-U-238 samples inside the GIC. The uncertainty of the present data of the Ni-58(n, alpha)Fe-55 reaction is smaller than most existing measurements. The present data of Ni-60(n, alpha)Fe-57 and Ni-61(n, alpha)Fe-58 reactions are the first measurement results above 8 MeV. The present experimental data could be reasonably reproduced by calculations with TALYS-1.9 by adjusting several default values of theoretical model parameters.