Neutron-induced reaction cross-sections of 93Nb with fast neutron based on 9Be(p,n) reaction

The cross-sections of the 93Nb(n,2n)92mNb, 93Nb(n,3n)91mNb and 93Nb(n,4n)90Nb reactions with the average neutron energies of 14.4 to 34.0 MeV have been determined by using an activation and off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique. The fast neutrons were produced using the 9Be(p,n) reaction with the proton energies of 25-, 35- and 45-MeV from the MC-50 Cyclotron at the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS). The neutron flux-weighted average cross-sections of the 93Nb(n,xn;x=2-4) reactions were also obtained from the mono-energetic neutron-induced reaction cross-sections of 93Nb calculated using the TALYS 1.8 code, and the neutron flux spectrum based on the MCNPX 2.6.0 code. The present results for the 93Nb(n,xn;x=2-4) reactions are compared with the calculated neutron flux-weighted average values and found to be in good agreement.