Background: Neutron-induced fission cross-section data are needed in various fields of applied and basic nuclear science. However, cross sections of short-lived nuclei are difficult to measure directly due to experimental constraints. Purpose: The first experimental determination of the neutron-induced fission cross section of 239 Np at nonthermal energies was performed. This minor actinide is the waiting point to 240 Pu production in a nuclear reactor. Method: The surrogate ratio method was employed to indirectly deduce the 239 Np(n, f ) cross section. The surrogate reactions used were 236 U( 3 He, p) and 238 U( 3 He, p) with the reference cross section given by the well-known 237 Np(n, f ) cross section. The ratio of observed fission reactions resulting from the two formed compound nuclei, 238 Np and 240 Np, was multiplied by the directly measured 237 Np(n, f ) cross section to determine the 239 Np(n, f ) cross section. Results: The 239 Np(n, f ) cross section was determined with an uncertainty ranging between 4% and 30% over the energy range of 0.5-20 MeV. The resulting cross section agrees closest with the JENDL-4.0 evaluation.
Conclusions:The measured cross section falls in between the existing evaluations, but it does not match any evaluation exactly (with JENDL-4.0 being the closest match); hence reactor codes relying on existing evaluations may under-or overestimate the amount of 240 Pu produced during fuel burnup. The measurement helps constrain nuclear structure parameters used in the evaluations.