Measurement of the neutron-induced fission cross section of 230Th at the CERN n_TOF facility

The neutron-induced fission cross section of 230 Th has been measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility
n_TOF located at CERN. The experiment was performed at the experimental area EAR-1 with a neutron flight
path of 185 m, using Micromegas detectors for the detection of the fission fragments. The 230 Th(n, f ) cross
section was determined relative to the 235 U(n, f ) one, covering the energy range from the fission threshold up to
400 MeV. The results from the present work are compared with existing cross-section datasets and the observed
discrepancies are discussed and analyzed. Finally, using the code EMPIRE 3.2.3 a theoretical study, based on the
statistical model, was performed leading to a satisfactory reproduction of the experimental results with the proper
tuning of the respective parameters, while for incident neutron energy beyond 200 MeV the fission of 230 Th was
described by Monte Carlo simulations.