The status of a new evaluation of astrophysical nuclear reaction rates, referred as NACRE-II, is reported. It includes 19 radiative capture and 15 transfer reactions on targets with mass numbers A < 16. This work is meant to supersede the NACRE compilation. Post-NACRE experimental data are taken into account. Extrapolations of the astrophysical S-factor to largely sub-Coulomb energies are based on the use of the potential model and of the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) for capture and transfer reactions, respectively. Adopted rates and their lower and upper limits are provided. Here, we illustrate with some results the general procedure followed in the construction of NACRE-II.

In the radiation fields of high energy accelerator facilities, high-altitude aircraft and space flights, high-energy neutron dosimetry of $20 MeV or more is a significant issue for radiological protection. We studied the feasibility of experimental measurements of linear energy transfer (LET) distributions for secondary charged particles induced by fast neutrons using CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors. In order to investigate a method of analyzing the CR-39 detectors that is appropriate for fast neutron dosimetry, two-layer CR-39 stacks were exposed to monochromatic neutrons (0.25, 0.55, 5, and 15 MeV) at the Fast Neutron Laboratory of Tohoku University in Japan. We also conducted Monte Carlo calculations to estimate the detection efficiency of the CR-39 detector for recoil protons. The CR-39 detectors treated by single-step chemical etching were used to obtain LET distributions for LET > 10 keV/mm-water. The results indicated that measurements of short-range particles are very important for obtaining the correct LET distributions. Using the measured LET distributions, we calculated neutron sensitivities, absorbed doses and dose equivalents based on the ICRP 60 Q-L relation and averaged quality factors. The dose equivalents were compared with the neutron fluence-to-dose equivalent conversion factors given by ICRP 74 and the averaged quality factors were compared with weighting factors given by ICRP 60 and ICRP 92.

A magnetic horn system to be operated at a pulsed current of 320 kA and to survive high-power proton beam operation at 750 kW was developed for the T2K experiment. The first set of T2K magnetic horns was operated for over 12 million pulses during the four years of operation from 2010 to 2013, under a maximum beam power of 230 kW, and 6.63 × 10 20 protons were exposed to the production target. No significant damage was observed throughout this period. This successful operation of the T2K magnetic horns led to the discovery of the ν µ → ν e oscillation phenomenon in 2013 by the T2K experiment. In this paper, details of the design, construction, and operation experience of the T2K magnetic horns are described.

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